Friday night’s high school scoreboard

GRETNA — It’s an odd feeling for a Gretna Hawk football team: Trying to bounce back from a regular-season loss more than once in a year.

It hasn’t happened since 2002, when the Hawks went 8-4. But that was exactly the task in front of Gretna this week. The Hawks were coming off a loss to Appomattox, the first Dogwood team other than William Campbell to defeat them in the last seven years. Gretna also lost its season opener at LCA.

And pity poor Chatham, which was on the other side of Gretna’s rebound effort. The Hawks scored two touchdowns before the Cavaliers could blink as Gretna cruised to a 52-0 victory that lasted less than two hours, thanks to a second-half running clock.

If football games were beauty pageants, Friday night’s Amherst-Rustburg matchup would not have even made it out of the first round.

But thankfully they’re not, and Amherst clinched another Seminole District championship with a 45-0 victory over the Red Devils.

RINGGOLD — Neal Thomas did not play like his heart was heavy and his mind was elsewhere. For the senior wide receiver, the plays that he made on offense and defense seem to come as naturally as they would in any other game.

Thomas, who lost his father earlier in the week, scored two touchdowns midway through the Raiders’ contest against Dan River that swung the tide toward the Appomattox sideline.

That momentum — and a key stop by the Raiders’ defense on a potential Dan River game-tying two-point conversion in overtime — gave the Raiders a 28-26 victory and ensured Appomattox a share of the Dogwood District title and a berth in the Region B, Division 2, playoffs.

Fourteen jumping jacks. That’s how many the Liberty Minutemen football team will do in practice.

The number is 14 because that is how long coach Chris Watts wants this season to be. A 14-game season for the Minutemen would mean a first-round bye in the playoffs and a run to the state championship game.

The playoff picture may still be uncertain, but with a 43-23 home win against Heritage on Friday, the Minutemen locked up that first-round bye and assured themselves of at least two more weeks of practice and sets of 14 jumping jacks.

FOREST — Early in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s Seminole District finale at Sabre Stadium, Brookville’s Deshon Foxx took a pitch from quarterback Kendall Becraft, just like he had three times before.

He had turned one into his second first-half touchdown, slanting inside the left pylon on fourth-and-goal from Jefferson Forest’s 2.

But this time, with the game tied at 20 and the Bees facing third-and-8 at JF’s 28, Foxx rolled to his right and unleashed a 30-yard spiral that hit Alec Thompson in stride in the right side of the end zone for the winning touchdown in a 27-20 triumph.

Brookville at Jefferson Forest and G-Dub at Fleming top the list of games this week. Staunton River still has a chance to get into the playoffs if they can win against Northside. Check back for scores and highlights. Don’t forget to make sure we’ve got your team’s score. You can call 540-981-9126.

At the start of this season, Appomattox second-year coach Ben Martin anticipated there would be five legitimate contenders in the seven-team Dogwood District race.

Two obvious candidates were Gretna and William Campbell, which have won the last nine district titles, capturing six state championships in the past seven seasons.

The rest included the Raiders, who last won a district title more than 10 years ago, Altavista which last made the regional playoffs nearly 20 years ago, and Dan River.

Preview capsules of Friday night’s football games involving area teams

ALTAVISTA — There was no thrilling comeback or heartbreaking loss for Nelson County on Thursday in the Dogwood District volleyball tournament championship match in Altavista, hosted by the Colonels.

Nelson County simply swept aside Altavista, the regular-season champion, to repeat as the tournament champions, 25-15, 25-20, and 25-20.

BEDFORD — To prepare for its first Seminole District tournament, E.C. Glass’s volleyball team scheduled a late-season match against its former Western Valley District nemesis, Patrick Henry.

The Group AAA tune-up, won by the Hilltoppers, helped them to play at a higher level in Thursday night’s championship match against Jefferson Forest at Liberty High School.

There will be plenty at stake tonight at 7 at Sabre Stadium when Jefferson Forest, which occupies the sixth and final spot in the Region III, Division 4, playoff race, hosts Brookville, rated third in Region III, Division 3.

But even if that wasn’t the case, there would still be a different vibe in the air for this Seminole District showdown.

Volleyball is a fast-paced game, and there is little time to play it safe. A perfect example was found in Dogwood District semifinal match between visiting Nelson County and William Campbell in Naruna on Wednesday.

The Generals won the first two games only to have the Governors (15-3) dominate the next three games and take the match 21-25, 22-25, 25-14, 25-18 and 15-11 and advance to the Dogwood District championship match today at 7 p.m. in Altavista, where they will face the Colonels.

DALEVILLE — A couple of brother-sister tandems were largely responsible for Jefferson Forest’s girls cross country team capturing its third consecutive Region III championship and the Cavaliers’ boys squad finishing runner-up for the second straight season, Wednesday at Lord Botetourt’s 3.1-mile Greenfield Park course.

Sophomore Mary Deis was the girls’ champion, winning in 20 minutes, 47 seconds, and senior brother Robert Deis placed an area-best fifth in the boys race in 17:28.

Wednesday’s high school scoreboard

Prep scoreboard for Tuesday’s games

BEDFORD — After splitting with newcomer E.C. Glass and finishing tied for first place in the Seminole District regular season, Jefferson Forest’s volleyball team won a coin flip to determine the top seed for this week’s district and next week’s Region III tournaments.

Thursday at Liberty, the two teams, who swept their semifinal opponents on Tuesday, will have the opportunity to settle the score on the court in the district championship match.

Win or lose, week 10 highlighted some outstanding individual efforts.

AMHERST — Jefferson Forest’s football team gave Amherst its toughest test of the season, Friday night at Lancer Stadium, before allowing the Lancers to capitalize on a couple of big plays and come away with a 30-0 victory, their second shutout of the season.

Brookville got back to the basics in practice, and it got back to its winning ways on the football field.

The Bees’ defense held E.C. Glass to 67 total yards and four first downs and their offense accounted for 342 yards in a 32-0 home victory Friday night.

NARUNA — Altavista had endured a lot of pain at the hands of William Campbell over the years, and plenty of humiliation.

The scores the last four seasons: 28-3, 56-0, 56-6, 70-0, all in favor of the Generals.

And when the Generals won those games, they made sure the Colonels knew how many points they scored, jumping up and down at the middle of the field once for each point tallied.

So it was with great satisfaction Friday night after Altavista’s convincing 28-6 victory that the Colonels gathered at one end of William Campbell’s stadium and jumped up and down 28 times.

CHATHAM — As Chatham’s defense time after time held Nelson County out of the end zone when the Governors were threatening in regulation, it was only fitting that the defense made two stands in overtime to give the offense a chance to get that elusive first win.

Chatham junior quarterback Cam McClellan scored on a touchdown run on the Cavaliers’ first play in the second overtime, sending Chatham to a thrilling 28-22 homecoming victory Friday night in a Dogwood District matchup.

Heritage scored 13 unanswered points in the second half to knock off Rustburg 34-14 in a Seminole District matchup at City Stadium on a decidedly emotional senior night for the Pioneers.

“We knew with all the injuries coming into the year that it was going to be rough, but they stuck it out,” Heritage coach Doug Smith said.

Friday night’s high school scoreboard

E.C. Glass plays Brookville, and Gretna travels to Appomattox in two of the big games this week. Send your scores in, or call to report scores at 540-981-9126

Thursday night’s prep scoreboard

Amherst coach Cecil Phillips got a first-hand glimpse at Jefferson Forest junior running back Rashad Hall’s speed last spring, during a football combine held at Lancer Stadium.

It’s been a season of struggles for Heritage’s football team, ever since senior quarterback O’Shawn Bryant blew out his right knee in the Pioneers’ opening scrimmage at GW-Danville.

“We’ve been through a lot of adversity this year,” said fellow senior Lakuan McPhaul, Bryant’s replacement who grew up playing basketball in Brooklyn, N.Y.

FOREST — Sometimes, sibling rivalry transcends gender.

Such is the case for Jefferson Forest’s Robert and Mary Deis, a brother and sister tandem who swept the boys and girls individual championships at Wednesday’s Seminole District cross country meet at Forest’s Wolf Branch Farm.

Wednesday’s high school scoreboard