Photo by Brian Hoffman
The Lord Botetourt and James River football, volleyball and cross country seasons all open this week as the Virginia High School League fall schedule gets underway.
The two local volleyball teams were scheduled to play each other on Tuesday at Lord Botetourt. On Thursday the James River girls go to Bassett and next Tuesday, September 3, River and LB go head-to-head again in Springwood.
On Thursday of this week both cross country teams hit the trail for the first time. Both will be participating in the “Bengal Clash” at the Smith River Sports Complex in Martinsville. The event is hosted by Bassett High.
On Friday fans are ready for some football with LB opening at home against E.C. Glass and James River heading to Buffalo Gap. Both had scrimmages last week in their final tune-ups for the real deal, with Lord Botetourt scrimmaging at Jefferson Forest and River hosting Rockbridge County.
“We did alright,” said LB coach Jamie Harless. “We had a few more penalties than I like, but we’ll get that cleaned up this week.”
The game with Glass this Friday is one of the best matchups in the Roanoke Valley. Last year the Hilltoppers won the game in Lynchburg, 14-7, and LB lost just one more regular season game and went to the second round of the playoffs in Region 3D. Glass went to the Region 4D final before losing to Salem.
“Playing a good team early helps you find out about yourself,” said Harless. “Glass is a very good team and a much larger school.”
River is off to Buffalo Gap, a team the Knights edged 13-12 in their opener at home last year. The Bison are running a single-wing offense this season.
“They don’t run it like Giles, but it’s something we rarely see,” said River coach Tim Jennings. “We only found out last week they’re running that offense and it’s hard to prepare for. As long as we can do what we do, we’ll be fine.”
The Knights’ running game looked good in last week’s scrimmage with Rockbridge, rolling up over 500 yards between the varsity and junior varsity teams.
Look for a preview of all the fall sports team for LB and River in a special section of this week’s The Fincastle Herald.
