Last week saw Galax Maroon Tide defeated the Rebels of Patrick Henry 41-16 to advance to the state final.

Galax running back Denver Brown scored two touchdowns and rushed for 284 yards on 39 carries. QB Cole Pickett also scored twice on two one-yard sneaks. Galax accumulated 438 total yards of offense, while the Tide's defense limited the Rebels running attack to just 30 yards on 17 rushes.

Galax had 320 rushing yards and 118 passing yards. Wide receiver Zach Johnson caught four passes for 47 yards and one touchdown.

*** More on the Galax Win Here ***

That brings us to this week's State Championship game at the Class 1 level...

These two teams have met for a State Championship before. Back in 2015, Galax won a defensive battle against the Gladiators 7-6 in Salem at Salem Stadium.

In 2016, Riverheads traveled to Galax in a state semifinal contest and blasted the Maroon Tide, 63-21.

Riverheads is in its fifth consecutive title game. They have won the last three Class 1 State Championship contests. The beat Sussex Central 49-6. In 2017 they beat Chilhowie 42-0 and last year they defeated Chilhowie once again, this time 35-7. The Gladiators have won 25 consecutive games. Their last loss was back on September 13 of 2018 to East Rockingham 28-0. The Head Coach for Riverheads is Robert Casto, who retired at the end of last season. Back in the summer, he was talked back into coming back to coach them again.

Casto has been the head coach since 1996 at Riverheads and has won six State Championships. He won titles in 2000 against Bath County, 2006 versus J.I. Burton and beat Eastern Montgomery in 2010. They have lost only 10 games since 2009.

Coaching Galax is former NFL offensive lineman Mark Dixon. He is in his 10th year and has 101 wins to his credit and one state title. His overall record is 101-33. Their only loss is to Class 3 Northside back on September 26 by the score of 28-42. The only other really close contest was against Class 2 Glenvar. They came from behind to win that game 32-29 on August 31.

Galax is led by senior running back Denver Brown. he has rushed for over 600 yards in the last two playoff games and scored six touchdowns. On the year he has over 2,100 rushing yards and scored 24 TDs. Junior quarterback Cole Pickett has thrown 35 touchdown passes and over 2,300 yards.

Senior wide receiver Zach Johnson has caught 21 touchdown passes and over 1,100 yards receiving and has caught 41 passes. That's the Maroon Tide big three but others to watch will be; OL/DL Lee Peoples, OL/DL Andrew Belcher, OL/DL Daniel McKinney, TE/LB Brendan Bryson, TE/LB Kolby Barnes, RB/DB Keaton Beeman, and kicker Eduardo Ortiz.

Riverheads is averaging 48 points a game and defensively is allowing 10 points per game.

Rodney's Prediction: Galax is scoring 44 points a game and giving up an average of 13 points per game. Prediction: Both teams seem to score at will. This should be a really good game, Riverheads 28 Galax 20. Kickoff for the Class 1 title will be at 12 noon at Salem Stadium in Salem, Virginia.