Week 3 high school football previews

The Sherando High School football team has already avenged one of its losses from 2023, and now it gets a crack at another team that vanquished it a year ago.

The Warriors host Class 5 Lightridge on Friday and have a chance to go 3-0. A year ago, Sherando — which beat Brentsville in Week 1 after losing to the Tigers last year — fell 27-25 to the Lightning to fall to 1-2.

All five local schools are 2-0 after two weeks. This week’s other games include Buffalo Gap at Clarke County (Hall of Fame game), James Wood at Skyline and Millbrook at Brentsville.

The following is a look at each game:

Lightridge (1-1) at Sherando (2-0)When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Sherando High School’s Arrowhead Stadium

Series history: Lightridge leads 1-0

Last week: Lightridge lost 26-23 to John Champe; Sherando defeated Jefferson (W.Va.) 42-14.

Players to watch: Lightridge — QB Brady White; RB Xavier Dillard; RB Gabe Hernandez; WR Al Honesty; WR Christian Morton. Sherando — QB Micah Carlson; DL Kaleb Nowlin; RB/LB James Walters; RB Tali Burgess; RB Mason McKee; DL Hunter Ratchford.

Coaches: Lightridge — Bobby Eavonson (fifth year). Sherando — T.J. Rohrbaugh (second year).

Last year: Josiah Dorsey’s 65-yard interception return in the third quarter provided the eventual winning margin as Lightridge knocked off the Warriors 27-25 a day after the contest was postponed by a torrential rainstorm. Sherando couldn’t overcome five turnovers (four interceptions). Breiden Lowery had a 55-yard fumble return for a TD to make it 27-25 with 4:38 left, but Walters was tackled a yard short of the end zone after catching a pass on a potential game-tying two-point conversion. Lightridge’s Al Honesty caught 10 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Carter Working, who threw for 375 yards.

Preview: Sherando is coming off a win against Jefferson in which it scored the last 28 points of the game, including 21 after halftime. Carlson had his second straight game with three TDs rushing, picking up 106 yards on 18 carries. He also threw a TD pass to Ben Taylor, who had his second straight game with a sack. McKee had 59 yards and a TD rushing. Nowlin had a sack and interception. Reth Puller also had an interception.

Carlson (146 yards), McKee (132) and Burgess (108) lead Sherando in rushing this year. Jason Foster, the Warriors’ leading rusher from 2022 who did not play last year, has yet to appear in a game this season.

The Warriors have held teams to 194 yards through the air through two games, but Sherando will be tested by Honesty. He’ll have a new quarterback throwing to him this year in White.

Walters has 16 tackles and Lowery has 13 for the Warriors this year.

James Wood (2-0) at Skyline (0-1)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Skyline High School, Front Royal

Series history: James Wood leads 9-6

Last week: James Wood beat Brentsville 16-15; Skyline was off.

Players to watch: James Wood — LB/HB Vincent Salvati; QB Owen Neal; OL/DL Jordyn Sweetser; RB/DL Dominik Ramirez; RB Jeremiah Hodel. Skyline: QB Nate Ballard; RB Day’Shawn Haley; WR Isiah Maxwell; LB/WR Marques Lockhart; LB/TE Andre Ford.

Coaches: James Wood — Todd Wilson (second year). Skyline — Heath Gilbert (18th year).

Last year: Elijah Richards ran for 232 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries as James Wood defeated Skyline 41-13 in a game that was played over two days due to the weather. Ramirez had two rushing touchdowns for the Colonels.

Preview: The Colonels are coming off another strong defensive effort that included a touchdown and the fifth sack of the season from Sweetser (17 tackles for the year). Sweetser forced a fumble by knocking away a pitch attempt and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown. Salvati (22 tackles for the season) had 12 tackles in the game, and Ramirez (21) had 14 tackles. Aidan Bell continued his strong season with a 22-yard field goal that gave the Colonels a 16-15 lead with 4:56 left. James Wood blocked Brentsville’s 37-yard field goal attempt with 21 seconds left to preserve the win.

Colonels running back Kobe Mason did not suit up to play last week. Wilson said he’ll be a game-time decision this week. The Colonels have been led on the ground by Ramirez (29 carries, 102 yards, TD). Neal is coming off a game in which he threw for 215 yards and one TD, with Xander Manzo catching two passes for 139 yards and a TD.

Skyline’s only game this season was a 38-12 loss to Strasburg to open the season in which the Rams gained 369 yards rushing. Ballard had 149 yards on 9-for-15 passing with one TD. That went to Maxwell, who caught five passes for 53 yards. Haley ran for 51 yards and one TD on three carries.

Millbrook (2-0) at Brentsville (0-2)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Brentsville High School, Nokesville

Series history: Millbrook leads 7-3

Last week: Millbrook beat Warren County 44-12; Brentsville lost to James Wood 16-15.

Players to watch: Millbrook — RB/DB Kyler Jackson; RB/DB Cameron Clark; TE/LB Trey White; OL/DL Ezra Doyle-Naegeli; OL/DL Ty Jahnigen; LB Chris Bradford. Brentsville — QB Samuel Richards; TE Wyatt Vonderhaar; WR/DB Charles McCullough; OL/DL Isaiah Garmon; DB Aaron Patterson; RB Sawyer Beckman.

Coaches: Millbrook — Josh Haymore (12th year). Brentsville — Loren White (fourth year).

Last year: The Pioneers overcame seven-point deficits on two different occasions and rallied past Brentsville 21-14 in overtime in a battle of unbeatens. Jonah Mihill’s 10-yard run on the first play of overtime proved to be the difference for Millbrook on a Monday, three days after the game was suspended on a Friday. Jackson led the way for the Pioneers by picking up 139 yards on 22 carries.

Preview: Brentsville started 2-0 against Sherando and James Wood last year, but the Tigers come into this game winless after last week’s close defeat against James Wood. Against the Colonels, Samuel Richards found Charles McCullough for a 40-yard touchdown and Beckman had a 13-yard TD run.

With Jackson making his season debut, Millbrook was even better on offense in Week 2 than in Week 1. The Pioneers recorded 456 yards, including 382 on 43 rushing attempts and 74-yard TD pass from Cameron Clark to Jahiden Nunez on the team’s only pass of the season. Jackson ran for 230 yards and had a 60-yard TD run on 15 carries.

Millbrook is allowing only 160 yards per game. Bradford (20 total tackles) and White (17) have combined for seven tackles for a loss.

Buffalo Gap (2-0) at Clarke County (2-0)

When: Friday, 7 p.m.

Where: Clarke County High School’s Wilbur M. Felter Stadium

Series history: Clarke County leads 3-1

Last week: Buffalo Gap beat Luray 47-7; Clarke County beat King William 28-20.

Players to watch: Buffalo Gap: RB/DB Isaac Goff; QB/DL Colby Yeago; WB/LB Walker Thompson; Clarke County: RB/DB Wyatt Palmer; QB/DB Tanner Sipe; TE/LB Carson Chinn; OL/DL Saia Tuivailala; OL/DL Joseph Stem; RB/DB Wilson Taylor.

Coaches: Buffalo Gap — Brad Wygant (sixth year). Casey Childs — (fifth year).

Last year: Clarke County was flagged for 13 penalties in the first half and 18 penalties for 165 yards overall, but the Eagles pushed through that for a dominant 40-7 win. The Eagles gained 384 yards (311 rushing) and recovered four fumbles. They also held the Bison to 30 yards (all rushing) on 36 plays. Palmer had 12 carries for 80 yards and two TDs.

Preview: The Bison appear to be a lot stronger in 2024 after a forgettable 1-9 season in 2023. In addition to last week’s win over Luray, Buffalo Gap has a 41-3 win over James River. The Bison are running a single-wing offense, and Goff had 200 yards and four TDs on the ground against James River.

Clarke County will look to shut down the Bison again with a defense led by Chinn. The senior linebacker (23 tackles, one interception) is one of nine Eagles with double-digit tackles. Tuivailala has 18 tackles and had an interception return for a touchdown last week, when the Eagles held King William to 220 yards.

Clarke County is led offensively by Palmer (27 carries, 237 yards, three TDs), Taylor (nine carries, 121 yards, one TD) and Sipe (17 carries, 90 yards, two TDs; 9 of 11 for 187 yards, two TDs and no interceptions).

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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