By Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
The Friday Night Lights are on, and all five our area high school football teams are ready to open the 2018 season. Both Radford and Auburn will open the season at home, while Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Eastern Montgomery hit the road.
Games this week:
George Wythe at Radford: GW finished 7-5 last season and included a 34-13 loss to Radford who finished 12-2 before losing in the playoffs to Graham. The Bobcats showed a lot of offense in 2018 outscoring their opponents 393 to 209.
Game time: 7 p.m.
Broadcast: 101.7, 103.5 and 1460 AM with Jeff Kleppin and Richie Davis.
Blacksburg at Giles: Blacksburg was 13-1 last year, losing in the state semifinals to Woodgrove 26-23. The Bruins outscored their opponents 472 to 182. Giles finished a down year with a 5-6 record including a 2018 opening 50-7 loss to Blacksburg. Giles was outscored 300 to 204 by its opponent.
Game time: 7 p.m.
Broadcast: 93.1 and 97.1 FM with Mark Fought making the call with Brad Epperley.
Christiansburg at Floyd: Christiansburg won two games last season, finishing with a loss to Lord Botetourt in the opening rounds of the Class 3 playoffs. One of the wins came 14-12 over Floyd, who finished 2-9. The Buffaloes lost 7-0 in a Benefit Game last week against Galax.
Game time: 7 p.m.
Broadcast: 100.7 FM with Marty Gordon and Darren Graham.
Narrows at Auburn: Narrows tallied a 10-3 record last season including downing Auburn twice—23-21 in the regular season and then 18-7 in the opening round of the 1A West playoffs. Auburn finished with a 5-6 record in 2018.
Game time: 7 p.m.
Broadcast: None.
Eastern Montgomery at Holston: Eastern Montgomery compiled a 3-8 record last season including a 25-8 loss to Holston, who finished 6-5. Montgomery was outscored 308 to 104 by its opponents.
Game time: 7 p.m.
Broadcast: None.