The James River football team will return from their bye week this Friday with a home game against Glenvar. The game will be played for the Virginia Media Rocking Chair, a piece of furniture the Knights have not had in nine seasons.
The Rocking Chair game was started in 1996 when Glenvar left the Pioneer District to join the Three Rivers. River and Glenvar had been big rivals in the Pioneer and the battle for the rocker was an attempt to keep the rivalry thriving. It was continued when James River joined Glenvar in the 3RD and the Highlanders have dominated the rivalry in recent years, winning the last nine meetings in a row.
The rocker, painted in the green and gold of Glenvar and the red and black of River, has resided in the GHS office since 2014. Glenvar coach Kevin Clifford painted the current chair after the original was broken, and it includes the scores of all the games since 1996.
“I haven’t seen that rocking chair for so long we don’t even talk about it,” said River coach Tim Jennings. “We won’t talk about it until we win it.”
The Knights will have their work cut out for them Friday night. Glenvar comes in at 6-1 and the Highlanders will be in a bad mood after losing for the first time last Friday. They dropped a 31-7 game to Alleghany in a battle of previously undefeated teams.
Meanwhile, River is looking to pick up their second win and break a five-game losing streak. The Knights will have to play their best to hang with Glenvar.
“Same stuff,” said Jennings. “We have to execute our game plan and minimize mistakes. Glenvar is going to come in loaded for bear but we had a very productive bye week and we’ll try to corral them.”
