With a one-point lead and five minutes to play, Fishburne was unable to keep the Fuqua School out of the end zone in its first game of the season.

FISHERSVILLE – Derek McDaniel’s Green Hornets hit the snooze button when their alarm went off.

STUARTS DRAFT — After battling back from a 22-6 halftime deficit to cut the margin to one at 29-28 on a six-yard TD pass as time expired, the Cougars had one last play. They had the option to either go for the win or settle for overtime in the first Southern Valley district game of the season.

The Waynesboro Little Giants suffered their second-straight defeat of the season Friday night, falling at the hands of the Turner Ashby Knights 43-7. That lop-sided score, however, does not tell the whole story of a game that saw a young Waynesboro football team take a collective step forward.

In Bath County, Buffalo Gap pulled within one of Bath County with a Trevor Smith touchdown in the final 20 seconds of their game on Friday night. Gap opted to go for two points and the win, but the conversion failed and the Bison lost 22-21.

STAUNTON — Many area football fans wondered how R.E. Lee would replace record-setting quarterback Dae’ Quan Scott. Devante White quickly answered those questions by guiding the Leemen to a 36-14 victory over the Charlottesville Black Knights.

GREENVILLE — The cross-county clash between Stuarts Draft and Riverheads turned out to be a one-sided affair on Friday evening.

QUICKSBURG — Wilson Memorial’s freshmen didn’t have much time to adjust to varsity football. But all the same, Green Hornets’ coach Derek McDaniel is glad to have them already contributing. Wilson came from behind to defeat Stonewall Jackson 26-17 for their first win as a Group AA program.

FORT DEFIANCE – With help from a 47-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Michael Cook, Fort Defiance took a 12-7 win over Buffalo Gap on Friday ending the Bison’s 21-game regular season winning streak.

GREENVILLE – It was a night of field position and opportunities and more often than not, Stuarts Draft did enough things right to knock off Riverheads, 27-10 Friday night.

Even as “babies” last year, the streaky Stuarts Draft Cougars finished 5-6, pulling themselves together after a four-game losing streak to win their last two regular-season games and earn a Region III bid.

The R.E. Lee High Leemen are a perennial playoff team, but the 2009 edition must replace one of the school’s all-time greats in graduated quarterback Dae’ Quan Scott and rebuild a defense that has but five returning starters.

Things don’t change along U.S. 11 just off Interstate 81 when it comes to football.

News stars ready to shine at Gap.

The Fishburne football team has revamped its coaching staff and predicts an improvement from last year’s 2-7 season. The Caissons didn’t have to do any recruiting, either. The new, mostly young, coaches came to them.

FISHERSVILLE — A new era has begun at Wilson Memorial. The Hornets jumped from Group A to AA this year and will compete in the Southern Valley District.

Dan Rolfe’s teams at Benedictine High School in Richmond weren’t always blessed with the most talent, but they still managed to beat better teams through preparation and execution.

35-point first hands Warriors a win

CROZET — Western Albemarle’s senior leadership paved the way for a decisive 49-0 season-opening shutout over visiting Waynesboro on Friday and head coach Ed Pierce hopes the trend continues throughout the 2009 campaign.

W’boro looks for redemption with start of new season

The Waynesboro Generals and the Augusta Free Press will team up this fall to broadcast all 10 of Waynesboro High School’s football games on the Web.

The Waynesboro and Wilson football players got their first chance to hit someone wearing a different color jersey on Friday night and showed signs of life that their coaches were looking for.

FORT DEFIANCE — For the first time in a quarter of a century, the Fort Defiance football team opened the season on Monday under a new coach. After five practices with Dan Rolfe, the Indians are slowly adjusting to their new skipper and are beginning to buy into his system.

In 17 days the Waynesboro football team will meet for its first official practice and will be welcomed with a variety of changes.

Mike Roark wasn’t liking what he saw in the bleachers.

STUARTS DRAFT — Rising Stuarts Draft senior Zach Glass joined a field of 400 of the nation’s best high school football players on Thursday, being nominated as a finalist for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

STUARTS DRAFT — On Thursday Stuarts Draft High School’s Cody Bridge said that his football days were not over.

Robert E. Lee’s Adam Tibbs took his time making a college decision, waiting until after his final official visit. On Tuesday, Adam Tibbs signed to play football at Concord University.

All it took was a game-tape viewing session to convince the Randolph-Macon football coach that Pickle Nuckols was a good fit for his Yellow Jackets.

A game-by-game look at Nuckols’ two-year varsity career