September is drawing to a close soon, which is hard to believe since it feels like the 2023 High School Football season in Virginia just started.
Even wilder is the fact that many teams are hitting the midway point, plus next week the VHSL plans to release its first official power ratings across all six classifications and the 24 regions. That means the playoff watch is officially on statewide.
There were literally no changes to the Top Tens in both Class 6 and Class 4 as all of those 20 schools either prevailed or were idle this past week.
Among ranked teams, two of the more interesting results saw Salem, behind a couple of defenisve touchdowns, beat Patrick Henry-Roanoke 24-7, while King's Fork edged Nansemond River in a Suffolk showdown in double-overtime, thanks to Jean Pierre-Bile's game-winning field goal.
Two perennial powers that have recent state titles in their history, and three apiece all-time in fact, have stumbled out of the rankings as Stone Bridge dropped to 1-4 and Lake Taylor fell to 1-3. Can both make a resurgence before the regular season ends to become dangerous under-the-radar threats come playoff time? Maybe so because it's not wise to count out successful, veteran coaches like Mickey Thompson at Stone Bridge and Hank Sawyer at Lake Taylor, both of whom have forgotten more football than most will ever know.
Another powerhouse that is under the .500 mark is Appomattox, now 1-4 after their game with Lord Botetourt was officially ruled a forfeit and following its first Dogwood District loss in nine years. Gretna took down the Raiders 31-23 to halt the 48-game Dogwood win strek, doing so in dramatic fashion when Melvin Wooden completed a tie-breaking touchdown pass to Amare Gunn from 25 yards out with 31 seconds to go. Doug Smith's Raiders could certainly still make noise out of Region 2C, especially once they heal up some key injuries.
Narrows in Class 1 had a string of close, exciting wins - two by exactly a point in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter in fact - but their fortunes took a turn by falling to West Virginia contender James Monroe, which is now 16-0 all-time in that series that dates back to 1994.
In terms of games to watch this week, there are seven that will make Matt's 'Must-See Matchups' and we will predict later on our V.I.P. Board...
South County (4-1) at Madison (5-0)
Thomas Dale (4-0) at Dinwiddie (3-2)
Millbrook (4-0) vs. Kettle Run (4-0) at Liberty-Bealeton
King's Fork (4-0) at Indian River (3-1)
Briar Woods (4-0) at Fort Hill, MD (4-0)
Christiansburg (4-1) at Riverheads (3-1)
Radford (5-0) at Glenvar (4-0)
Follow 2023 Virginia High School Football Scores Here
Master VHSL 2023 Football Schedule
The latest rankings can be seen in its entirety below...
Note - This list was published prior to games on Thursday, September 28, 2023
Honorable Mention:
Gainesville (5-0)
Lake Braddock (4-1)
Honorable Mention:
Cox (4-1)
Matoaca (3-1)
Honorable Mention:
Jefferson Forest (5-0)
Millbrook (4-0)
Huguenot (3-0)
Honorable Mention:
Spotswood (4-1)
Colonial Heights (3-1)
Honorable Mention:
Buckingham (4-1)
Poquoson (2-2)
Honorable Mention:
George Wythe (2-2)
Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and be sure to Subscribe to Hometown Sports Productions where you can hear his Podcasts.
