For the third straight season, Holston High School is making an appearance in the Region C, Division 1 football playoffs. That experience has allowed the Cavaliers to approach tonight’s postseason
game with Rural Retreat with a business-like approach.
“We’ve had some pretty good practices this week,” said Holston head coach Jason Matlock. “Obviously, with the group we’ve had, we’ve had experience in the playoffs the past three years. They know
what to expect and know what it takes to advance at this level. They’ve been working hard to put themselves in the right position.”
Holston (9-1) will host fellow Hogoheegee District rival Rural Retreat (4-7) tonight in the regional semifinals. The Cavaliers received three touchdown passes and two TD runs from quarterback John Pratt in rolling to a 41-8 victory over Rural Retreat on Oct. 16.
“I think both teams are familiar with each other,” Matlock said. “We’re just going to treat it as another game. We’ve been preparing for them just like we did the last time and I’m sure they’ve been doing the same. They’ve improved a lot since we played them and we know they will come ready for it.”
Pratt has thrown 15 touchdown passes and rushed for 13 scores for the Cavs, while running back Jeffrey Bramlett finished the regular season with 1,162 rushing yards. Holston is also healthy heading into tonight’s game.
“[The bye week] was big for us,” Matlock said. “For the last 2-3 weeks of the season, it seemed like we’ve had 3-4 starters sick every game. Just to have a week to get everybody healthy and rested was important and allowed us to start preparing for our first playoff opponent.”
Bath County travels to Eastern Montgomery in the other Region C, Division 1 semifinal.
Region C, Division 2
Veteran Chilhowie High School head football coach Larry Russell has guided teams to the playoffs on multiple occasions. He knows that rematches with teams you beat in the regular season can be tricky.
The Warriors (7-3) will host Mountain Empire District champion Fort Chiswell (10-1) tonight in the Region C, Division 2 semifinals. The Warriors posted a 6-0 road win over the Pioneers on Sept. 18.
“Well, you can look at it as an advantage,” Russell said of the rematch. “We’ve seen each other play and we know their tendencies and vice versa. I’m looking forward to it; it should be a good game.”
Fort Chiswell earned its first playoff victory in 20 years last week with a convincing first-round win over James River. The Pioneers are led by head coach Stephen James, who actually played for Russell
during his prep career at George Wythe.
The Pioneers will likely be primed to avenge that loss from two months ago.
“It was a good defensive game,” Russell said. “We played hard and both teams played hard, neither one of us quit. We got them in the fourth quarter and we were fortunate to get that win … They are going to have a lot of incentive. We’re the blot on their record and they have a lot of incentive to pay us back.”
George Wythe (7-3) hosts Radford (8-3) in the other Division 2 semifinal, a rematch of one of the top regular season games in Southwest Virginia.
GW overcame a 19-0 deficit to post a 21-19 victory on Sept. 11 that was clinched when Randy Divers blocked a field goal attempt by Radford’s Michael Goodman.
Senior Brandon Atwell has been the playmaker all season for George Wythe, while Kevin Adkins (620 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns) is the leader for Radford.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement