Photo by Regina Devinney
The James River football team will play its season opener at home this Friday when the Auburn Eagles come to Springwood. Kickoff time is 7 p.m.
Auburn is coming off a 4-6 2025 season. They didn’t have enough boys to field a team in 2024 but have come back strong under coach Scott Mikowicz. River coach Jack Baker expects them to be much better than last year’s team, which the Knights beat in the 2025 season opener in Riner, 49-12.
“They have a lot of kids back,” said Baker. “They like to throw the ball and they have a good screen game. I expect it to be a hard-fought game.”
River is coming off a scrimmage with Nelson County last Thursday.
“I thought it was a good scrimmage,” he said. “We started out really well and moved the ball well on our first possession and scored. We had a good second possession but then we had a turnover and they had a big play on defense that gave them life.”
River had two scores to one for Nelson when the first teams were on the field.
“I saw some improvement,” said Baker. “We were about to look real good then a bad thing or two happened. The big thing is we got some good experience.”
The James River jayvee team will be at Northside to open their season on Thursday. Game time is 6 p.m. at Northside’s Hickam Field.
Look for a preview of the Knights in a special Fall Sports Preview section included in this week’s Fincastle Herald.
