By Marty Gordon
The first week of high school football gets underway this week. All five of our area teams are slated to play with Auburn and Radford playing at home, while the other three (Christiansburg, Blacksburg and Eastern Montgomery) will hit the road.
Radford hosts George Wythe
In a VHSL benefit game against Union this past week, George Wythe’s Gatlin Hight scored a pair of touchdowns and rushed for 94 yards on 12 carries to lead the Maroons to a 29-15 win over Lee High.
Blacksburg travels to Giles.
The Spartans continue to fight the numbers game. Last year, the school did not have a junior varsity squad. This year because of the drop in school enrollment, Giles received approval to drop to Class 1 and join the Mt. Empire District.
Last week in a benefit game against Christiansburg, Giles gave up over 500 yards of total offense and for the first time in several years did not manage over 30 yards on the ground, via the Single-Wing offense.
At least 10 sophomores make up the Giles roster. Khalik Saunders led Giles with 19 yards rushing against in last week’s loss.
Christiansburg is at Floyd.
Because of a COVID incident at Floyd, this game has been moved from Friday night, Aug. 27, to Saturday, Aug. 28, at noon. The Blue Demons travel across the Little River to take on the Buffalos, who are coached by Winfred Beale, the longest active tenured coach in the state.
Christiansburg coach Alex Wilkens once played Beale, who heads into his 40th year of coaching with more than 200 wins and three trips to the state finals.
Eastern Montgomery at Holston
Jordan Ezzell and Gage Quina scored first-quarter touchdowns for Holston to highlight the Cavaliers’ 14-12 win at Honaker in a VHSL Benefit Game.
Narrows at Auburn.
Narrows is the defending Pioneer District champ and gives Auburn a tough start for the 2021 season.
