2023 High School Football Week 2

Scott Lowe and Dan Joyce look back on Spotswood’s big road win over Western Albemarle, and discuss the results of other games from the Valley District. They also discuss who they think are in and out of this week’s Shen Valley 7.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome back once again. Scott Loweand Dan Joyce talk in Valley District football
in the Shenandoah Elli District Football podcasthere on iHeartRadio. Scott, how are
you. I'm doing great? Andyou know, whatever that buzz was that
we had on Friday night, it'sjust it's still there, the adrenaline buzz
from seeing a great team like Spotswould win their first game of the year

(00:24):
beating Western Albemorrow in the final scorefifty two to fourteen. And you and
I would both agree people that wouldlook at us and say, oh,
that must have been no fun.That was a blowout. There was a
lot of great stuff to see,so much fun. Friday night. We
saw rain Dan with ninety yards runningand a touchdown reception. Elliot Brown,
he only completed two passes out offour. They were not going to throw

(00:46):
the ball Friday night. They didn'tneed to. But we already know when
Elliot Brown wants to throw the ball, he can do it. Both of
his completed passes were for touchdowns,including the ninety four yards. That was
amazing. If they've only got acomplete two passes, that's the way to
do it. He had He hadone hundred and twenty one yards on only

(01:07):
four attempts of Spotswood wants to throwtheir in capable hands that they sure didn't
need to throw the ball on Fridaybecause they had Parker Constable, who's turning
out to be the wrecking ball tobe named to be wrecking wreckoned with Yeah,
oh my god, district one hundredand seventy three yards four touchdowns,

(01:27):
had most of that before halftime.Yeah, yeah, I mean I don't
think he even played in the fourthquarter, right, but he was amazing
to watch and just those big runshe would break off and he's gone and
new Jalen Reese talking about gone.Yeah in mop up duty in Garbagetown what

(01:49):
you were calling Jailer's ninety six yardtouchdown run and got interested in the kicker
for the Spotswood Blazers, the effectclumb right, yeah, kaflomb I can
say it, right, Yeah.No, he was impressive, like that's
that's the next level leg. Yeah, they backed him up and he kicked
a thirty six yard field goal thathad maybe ten more yards to it,

(02:10):
you know, And since there areso many UH schools who don't have somebody
that's capable of kicking longer than justextraport point distance. That can win you
some tight games. I was justgonna say, it's such a great weapon
to have in your arsenal when you'rein a tight game and we're coming down
to the last moments. I gota kicker who can make this, yeah,

(02:32):
and put us over and you icethe other team. It's that's fantastic.
Also, was really impressed with Westernalbum Marle's punter. Yeah, and
we talked about him quite a bit. Unfortunately for Western Albumarle, but those
punts were ridiculous. Yeah, youjust don't see the special teams play like

(02:53):
that. If he wants to kickon Saturdays, I think you and I
have decided pretty much. Yeah,I mean where the coach's notice and he's
getting to look see Yeah, ButI mean at one point he kicked it.
It was so high and the spotswould return. Man was there and
ready to catch it, but waswaiting for so long that when it finally
got to him, there was aWestern warrior right there. It hit him

(03:15):
and I think it distracted him.It hit him in the chest and Western
ended up recovering the the punt andthen it couldn't convert with it, but
still yeah, but that's I meanin agreement that we respect the punting in
the kicking game, and you justdon't see that that was that was high
end college and thinking about going prosomeday. Punting. Yeah, it's pretty

(03:37):
good. Yeah no, but whata fun game. And just you know,
both teams. The score is alittle deceptive, like you said,
yeah, but because I think Western'sbetter than that. They played well,
but spotswould just played better, youknow. And we can talk about these
skill guys like rain D and ElliottBrown, Parker Constable, but you were

(03:58):
making the point all throughout the game. It's the offensive line. You know,
nine yards We've heard of three yardsin a cloud or dust. For
Spotswood. It was nine or tenyards on first day cloud and it's not
like they were moving kids half theirsize out of the way. Western's players
were just as big as Spotswoods.Yeah, so that was No, that's
really impressive. And I'll look forwardto a Spotswood TA matchup. It's gonna

(04:21):
happen. It's gonna coming up,because I think that's gonna be something pretty
special. Well, speaking of TurnerAshby as well, Move along and what
happened on Friday. Now Turner Ashbyis two and azero and they handed Wilson
Memorial their first loss of the season. They got the big names you talked
about Turner Ashby Bo Baileory at afour yard TV in one hundred and eighteen

(04:42):
yards on the ground. I didsay TV. He did took a TV
and he probably has a TV.He probably does. But they've got the
MICA's Micah shank through for two twod's. I could almost talk two hundred
nineteen yards in the air. Wow, and ran for over one hundred yards
at a TV. Great game forhim in three hundred all purpose yards.
That's insane, incredible. Michael Matthewswith ten catches, he had a touchdown

(05:05):
reception one hundred and nineteen yards.You know that's more offensive talent for any
one of those guys could power ateam to a winning record. They've got
all three at Turner Ashby. Ohboy, Friday Night's gonna be fun.
Yeah. When Week over them playedMonicello, East Strock and Central went at

(05:26):
it and Central proof that they fornow belong at the top of the DNR.
Shen Valley said, Yeah, theFalcons, Devon Ridgeley and also Tyler
Forbes there running led the way forEastroc junior quarterback Parker sever He ran for
a touchdown, he threw for onethe only two scores that East Stronk got
in that game. Once again,they just ran up against a buzz saw

(05:49):
Falcons looking although early in that gamee Strock was up Yeah, I think
they were up fourteen nothing at onepoint, and when that score came in,
you and I kind of looked ateach other like what the heck right,
you know, and another one thatwe look at well, So Laray

(06:10):
and Buffalo gap twenty two to nothing, twenty two to twenty two at the
half. As a matter of fact, at one point, Larray was down
twenty two to six early in thesecond quarter and that was all the point
Buffalo would get from that point on. That's what a comeback. Yeah,
it was a comeback. Plus thedefense just held. They give up by
that point, three touchdowns and twopoints for conversion, twenty two points in

(06:34):
the first twenty minutes or so withthe game. Yeah, and somehow another
lay figured it out. Let's see, Connor Lawrence had more than an hundred
and fifty yards rushing for the gapfor East Rock quarterback Aiden oh, this
is Aidan Haddock for Laray is aninth grader that's starting at quarterbacks. You're

(07:00):
kidding me through for two tds andrunning back Cason Bryant had a couple of
tds. He's a sophomore. SoLarrey wins in overtime twenty eight to twenty
two. Got it done when theyneeded to get it done in overtime.
You gotta wonder what was said inthe locker room at halftime you're down twenty
two six. Yeah, And becauseI've seen it happen before where a team

(07:21):
just says, you know what,this is not how it's going down.
I need to play, and theycapable of playing, and everybody locks in
and gets together and you come backfrom that kind of deficit to win the
game in ot That's incredible, itreally is. And so we're looking forward.
We've got Turner Ashby coming up onFriday night. We'll talk about that

(07:42):
game coming up a little bit more, but they're going to be opening the
doors for Monicello, and Monticello willcome into that game. Two and oh,
and they came from behind to beatWaynesboro the final. They're twenty seven
to seventeen. Yeah, No,that was surprising because for most of the
game Waynesboro was in charge and allof a sudden Manicello flipped the switch and
looks like they kind of went bananas. Looks like they did with that Riverheads

(08:05):
back in the win column. Theybeat Taswell thirty five to seven, not
your traditional Riverheads score. Stewart Draftbeat Surrey County sixty two twenty one.
Gosh, this one where Stewart Straftwas down early and made their statement.
Alligaty Highlands looking like a pretty goodteam. They beat four Defiance there now

(08:26):
two and oh the final score thirtyfour to six. Four Defiance is a
team I think is better than theirown and two Ridge absolutely on Page County.
In Bath County it was all Bathfifty two to thirty eight. Not
a lot of defense in that game. Wore Manassas Park beat William and Rowe
sixty one to nothing. Yikes.So just handing one to the newest member

(08:54):
of the valley district there William andRoe King William and Clark County went at
at thirty were to six. Clarkcontinues there winning ways. They're possibly going
to make a debut into the ShinValley seventh. So yeah, and uh
score from Saturday, Handley over Harrisonburgforty nine to nothing and they got no
offense, you know, once againfour Harrisonburg. In this game for Harrisonburg,

(09:22):
they had only four first downs inoh dear, only four first downs
and something in the neighborhood of sixtyyards and once again no points. I
mean, the thing that's going onwith Harrisonburg right now, a former dominant
powers. Matter of fact, inour first year of doing a high school
football here for this radio station,this radio group, we took them all
the way to the state championship.Yeah. No, I still remember driving

(09:45):
down the road to the game.Yeah, and all the cars from Harrisonburg
that were you know, painted upwith like the you know, the paint
the chalk you can use on yourcar and not ruin the finish and they
were beeping in, honking and wavingat us as we went down because they
were excited we were coming down tocover the game. Well and Handley,
I mean they're good. Yeah,four hundred and eighty two yards total offense

(10:07):
they got done against harrison Burg's defense. And harrison Burg's offense just looks woeful
right now. Oh that's too bad, it really is. We'll have some
harrison Burg for you coming up ina couple of weeks. Maybe they can
settle some of that. Yeah,maybe get some things turned around. Taking
a look at Friday night schedule,we'll be on the air with Monicello at
Turner Ashby. Yeah, no,I'm looking forward to that. Monicello generally

(10:31):
brings a pretty good team over theMountain, and we've not seen them get
hammered too much. They've had somedown years. I mean I used to
call their games in another lifetime.Yeah, and they were always a strong
program. But like I said,I'm looking forward to seeing how they match
up against Turner ash because Turner Ashbyand Spotswood right now are looking like the

(10:52):
class of the district. When weput together our votes for the shen Valley
Seven for the Daily News Record,I don't think Broadways quite got it there
yet. No, but a goodwin for them over Strasburg. Who weren't
they in the shen Valley seven lastweek? Yes, they were. They
were. So for Broadway to comeup with that one twenty win, that's

(11:15):
that's impressive, right. I'm justthinking they haven't done enough yet. They'll
probably get a voter too. Idon't think they'll break into the shen Valley
seven just yet, but they've gota great opportunity on the road. At
Waynesboro on Friday night, Spotswood willbe taking on Wilson Memorial Turner Ash.
We played very well against Wilson,and we'll see how Spotswood plays against Wilson.

(11:37):
We'll be able to, you know, maybe draw some comparisons about just
how good UH spots would in Turnerashbr and how they'll match up late.
You know, it's funny as we'retalking about this, I'm formulating my shen
Valley seven for this week, okay, and trying to figure out where to
put Spotswood for me right now isthe big challenge. Yeah, well,

(11:58):
I thought they earned their way abit the way. Yes, No,
they look fantastic. I could nothave been more impressed. Looking at other
games coming up this weekend, PageCounty will be at East Rock Rockbridge hosts
Alleghany Highlands, William Monroe is atLarrey Stanton host Central Buffalo Gap host Clark

(12:18):
County, and Strassburg goes to rockRidge. Fort Defiances at Riverheads and Steorge
Straff will be hosting a very goodRussburg team. What about Harrisonburg. They've
got a bye week. And Ihate to say this after only two weeks,
but I think the Blue Streaks mightneed a bye week. Yeah,
they might be a good chance tokind of repackage reevaluate some things you mentioned

(12:39):
Stanton and who are they playing?They're playing they host Central Central. It's
going to be a pretty good game. Stan comes off a big win over
Rockbridge County forty two to nothing thispast Friday night and still but to go
up against Central now is gosh.Some of these teams they're starting schedules are
not very agreeable, like Fort Defianceand the Riverheads on Friday Night. It

(13:05):
just keeps coming a team that's probablybetter than their record. But I mean,
to their credit, they're taking atough schedule. You know, we're
playing better. Let's take on someof the tougher teams. Those are growing
pains for the program. And they'vegot some good talent down in Fort and
want to continue to see how they'vecontinued to succeed after having a couple of

(13:26):
windless years way back when. Butthey seem to have turned it around.
But still looking for their first winand it's going to be tough to get
that against the Riverheads in gladiators.So you know from my shenn Valley seven,
I went on heading and kept Centralnumber one Turner Ashby at number two,
Riverheads at three, and I movedSpotswood all the way up to number
four. Okay, that's where I'mat. I didn't fault Wilson Memorial too

(13:52):
much for getting beaten by such agood turner Ashby team. And I left
East Rock in the shen Valley sevenas well because they got beat by the
number one team and that was Central. So you know, the ones that
I think are probably not they've beengetting votes in Laray and Buffalo Gap and
and I'm not sure if I'm readyafter just one overtime when you know,

(14:16):
to put either of those in there, to put Laray in their cryet.
So you know, jam Bath Countycamp, they've been mopping people up around
here. They pounded Mountain View thefirst week and they took it to Paige
County the second week. And they'regood. They haven't always been good.
We don't count them in our shannValley seven votes for the Daily News record,

(14:37):
but you know it's so early inthe season, but there seems to
be some parody showing its way evenearly on. Again, I can't wait
to find out what happens later inthe season when Turner Ashby, if they
remain healthy and Spots would remain healthy, because that's going to be a game
that will likely decide the Valley thischampions. Yes this year, yes,

(15:01):
I said. And those two teams, I'm hoping they are so evenly matched
that just because one team will winduring the regular season does not mean that
that team would win again if theywere to meet in the playoffs. Well,
I've got Central Turner, Aspy,Riverhead, Spotswood, Astrock, Wilson,

(15:22):
and Clark County in my shen Valleyseven this time around, and we'll
see how that shakes out. Andwe open up the newspaper from the Daily
News Record. It's such a greatjump of covering not just to college football
in our area, the Dukes andthe Eagles, but also all of that
high school coverage and making sure thatthe stats are in there and given you

(15:45):
and I vote on the shen ValleySeven as well. Yeah, no,
I said, I'm pretty much withyou on your first six of your seven.
I'm not sure who I'm going to, I mean stand yes, but
then Strockbridge County. But I meanI don't know enough about Rockbridge County to
know if they're a you know,a strong program or not that they generally

(16:07):
come up and put on a goodshow when we've seen them play. But
I just don't know enough about them. And then, you know, living
in Stanton, of course, Iwould love to give that to Stanton,
just as you know, the hometowndiscount. But I'm not entirely sure.
I've been there a long time.You've seen this practice quite a bit.
Yeah, I've seen him practice.You know. I've gone to before we
started calling games. Most Friday nights, I made my way down to the

(16:30):
stadium because it's the five minute walkfrom my house. Great atmosphere, you
know. Yeah, and just gotto see some great football games your years.
They've gone to the postseason. Igenerally make it a point. And
it's funny because I see some otherbroadcasters who are not covering the playoffs.
We all sit together. It's kindof fun. They are great. We
think we should be making commentary andthen we're like, Okay, we don't

(16:51):
really need to do this. Wepaid to get in here, and it's
only it's only coming up on weekthree, so it's still a long series.
Most teams are not playing district gamesquite yet. Yeah no, but
I am definitely looking forward to Fridaynight, our first look at Turner Ashby
this year. Yeah, but wesaw those guys last year. Yeah,
but I mean it sounds like they'rebetter this year. It's still Micah Matthews,

(17:14):
but they're better. They're a yearbetter now, they are. And
because it's always we have a goodtime we go to Turner Ashby, they're
always very welcoming when we show up. So excited for that and just excited
we calling high school football again.Looking forward to Friday and nigh lights.
They're in Bridgewater at Turner Ashby HighSchool. All Right, he's Scott Low.
I'm Dan Joyce. Thanks for checkingout The Chin Too, a Valley

(17:34):
District high school football podcast on iHeartRadio.