The first football scrimmages of the preseason will take place this week with Lord Botetourt on the road and James River at home.
The Cavaliers will hit someone in a different colored uniform for the first time on Thursday night when LB travels to Charlottesville. The Knights are hoping for a better season after finishing 1-9 last year and failing to make the Class 4, Region D playoffs. LB is coming off a season that saw the Cavs make the Class 3 semifinals before falling to Heritage in a close game. Thursday’s scrimmage is scheduled for 6 p.m.
James River will have a home scrimmage on Friday at 6:30 p.m. against Rockbridge County High School. River is coming off an 8-3 season and the Knights have a new head coach in Tim Jennings, who served as the defensive coordinator last year. Jennings had a nice turnout and the Knights have been working hard and are anxious to line up against someone else Friday night.
Both the Knights and Cavaliers will play benefit games on Friday, August 23, with River hosting Auburn and LB traveling to Magna Vista. The season opens for real on August 30 as the Cavaliers go to Brookville and River opens at Stuarts Draft.
The volleyball teams are also busy getting ready for the fall season. Lord Botetourt participated in a jamboree at Rockbridge County last Saturday and the jayvees are at Rockbridge this Saturday. Botetourt will host Brookville in a scrimmage on August 20 and open the season at Jefferson Forest on August 26.
Meanwhile, James River will host a jamboree in Springwood on Saturday, August 24. The Knights will join Abingdon, Auburn, Bassett, Fort Defiance, Hidden Valley, Jefferson Forest and Northside. River opens August 26 at Parry McCluer.
The golf teams opened their season last week and the cross country teams are a couple weeks away. The Knights will run at Giles on August 28 and the Lord Botetourt harriers will first take the gun on September 4 with the Radford Relays at Radford University.