> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.richmonder.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # High school football: Playoffs participants mostly set as regular season set to conclude - URL: https://www.richmonder.org/high-school-football-playoffs-participants-mostly-settled-as-regular-season-set-to-conclude/ - Published: 2026-11-02T03:32:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-02T04:13:53.000Z - Description: Cosby, Meadowbrook and James River need wins to guarantee postseason berths - Author: Rob Witham - Tags: Sports There will not be nearly as much drama this year as Playoff Projection Friday unfolds this week to conclude the regular-season campaign. More than 25 teams have clinched berths in their respective regions. However, Cosby, Meadowbrook and James River are among a handful of squads who must look at Friday as the first week of their playoff lives. As for Week 10? There was drama galore as Thomas Dale scored with 42 seconds left to go to 9-0 to hand Petersburg its first loss 21-17, while a Hail Mary try by Highland Springs was knocked down by Varina to preserve an 18-14 triumph. The Knights have clinched the top seed in Region 6A, while the Crimson Wave, Springers and and Blue Devils have legitimate shots at No. 1 seeds as well. The eight-team field in Region 4B was set, with seedings to be determined, when Mechanicsville ended Atlee’s faint hopes. The Mustangs won 35-34 this week after losing to King William a week previously by the same count. Other highlights included another impressive showing by Hermitage, which got hot at the right time in a 21-7 win over rival Douglas Freeman, Hopewell righting the offensive ship in a win at Matoaca and a monster showing by Trinity Episcopal in a 55-19 romp at Glen Allen. Check out the complete Week 10 scoreboard and the final regular-season RVA Sports Network Super 12 Poll below. ### Week 10 standouts **C.J. Gray, Trinity Episcopal:** An eye-popping night for the junior as he turned 12 carries into 257 yards and three touchdowns in the Titans’ easy win at Glen Allen. **Camden Metzger, Mechanicsville:** Missing key components of his offense, the senior responded with a 20-of-27 performance for 270 yards and five touchdowns for the Mustangs in their victory over Atlee, giving Mechanicsville seven wins in a season for the first time in a decade. **Scottie Tompkins, Atlee:** The Raiders quarterback slugged it out with Metzger with 188 rushing yards and three scores on the ground plus going 11 of 11 for 145 yards and a passing touchdown. Four of Atlee’s six losses are by a combined six points. **Mykell Bryant, Thomas Dale:** An outstanding game for the junior, who grabbed the game-winning touchdown in the final minute for one of two scores to go with two interceptions on defense as the Knights knocked off Petersburg. ### Unsung heroes **Tate Edmondson, Mechanicsville:** Spelling the injured Connor Goad, the junior rushed 28 times for 106 yards. But his biggest contribution came with no time remaining, stuffing the winning 2-point conversion attempt by Atlee to seal the Mustangs’ Stew Bowl triumph. **Max Noland, Armstrong:** The steady Wildcats kicker had a perfect night with three extra points and two clutch field goals, including a 35-yarder, in an important 27-23 road win at Hanover. Armstrong is still alive to host a region quarterfinal game ### Game of the week **No. 7 Huguenot (8-1) at No. 5 Manchester (8-1), Friday, 7 p.m.:** The Falcons, ranked seventh in the Super 12 Poll, and the fifth-ranked Lancers know they are in the postseason, so this one is all about seeding. For Huguenot, third in Region 4B, a win coupled with a Louisa loss to Monticello would give the Falcons the No. 2 seed. The Lancers have bigger stakes. A win should leapfrog them over Oscar Smith for the second seed in Region 6A where only six teams qualify. The second seed earns a bye to the semifinals, while the third seed plays a quarterfinal next week. The game itself? It could be a track meet. ### Other games we’re watching **L.C. Bird (4-5) at James River (6-3), Friday, 7 p.m.:** Win or lose, the Skyhawks will host a Region 6A quarterfinal. But the Rapids must win this game, or, if they lose, have 2-7 Matoaca beat Meadowbrook and 0-9 Franklin County knock off William Fleming to possibly back into a Region 5C playoff spot. **Glen Allen (5-4) at No. 12 Douglas Freeman (7-2), Friday, 7 p.m.:** The Mavericks saw their six-game winning streak end at Hermitage last Friday. On senior night, they need to vanquish rival Glen Allen and hope Blacksburg can trip up Patrick Henry of Roanoke to move up one spot to No. 3 in Region 5C. The Jaguars are currently sixth but could mathematically finish anywhere from fifth to eighth. The eighth seed likely would travel to Highland Springs in the first round. **No. 2 Thomas Dale (9-0) at Hopewell (7-2), Friday, 7 p.m.:** The Knights are the top seed in Region 6A. They know a bye week awaits. Do they treat this like some NFL teams do in Week 18 and rest some starters or, more importantly, keep them from getting injured? Merner Field is never an easy place to play, and the Blue Devils, with a win and a Petersburg loss to Prince George, could steal home field in Region 3A. ### Game under the radar **Deep Run (3-6) at Mills Godwin (4-5), Friday, 7 p.m.:** This game, with no playoff implications for either team, is all about momentum going into the offseason. The Wildcats, after an impressive win over Thomas Jefferson, ran all over J.R. Tucker 72-8 on Friday, while Mills Godwin bested the Vikings 23-12 to end a three-game skid. Both George Earle at Deep Run and Pete Gallagher at Mills Godwin can turn a win here into buy-in and enthusiasm in the weight room and beyond with an eye toward 2027. ### Playoffs race Thanks to our friends at [harpcrate.com](http://harpcrate.com), here’s the region standings of local interest with just a game to play in the Virginia High School League. **Region 6A:** 1\. Thomas Dale 34.22; 2\. Oscar Smith 31.28; 3\. Manchester 30.89; 4\. L.C. Bird 26.22; 5\. Landstown 25.89; 6\. Cosby 25.22; 7\. Grassfield 24.28 The Knights cannot be overtaken. The second bye will go either to Oscar Smith or Manchester. The Skyhawks need to beat James River to host a game next week as the fourth seed. A Cosby win seals a bid, and they’re in the driver’s seat over Grassfield, who are mathematically, and barely, still alive. **Region 5C:** 1\. Midlothian 31.56; 2\. Highland Springs 31.50; 3\. Patrick Henry-Roanoke 28.89; 4\. Douglas Freeman 28.44; 5\. Hermitage 27.50; 6\. Glen Allen 26.44; 7\. Meadowbrook 25.78; 8\. James River 25.33; 9\. William Fleming 25.28 Unfortunately for Trojans fans, this scant lead on Highland Springs likely will evaporate. Both teams play Class 4 schools Friday. Midlothian has 3-6 Monacan, while the Springers host 5-4 Hanover. Plus, the Trojans’ availability of bonus points are limited due to the Dominion District schedule. They can’t get more than 10, while Highland Springs could garner as many as 12\. We’ve discussed the stakes for Douglas Freeman and Glen Allen. Meadowbrook was eliminated by Matoaca in the final game last year, and the Lancers need to exact some revenge to ensure an 11th game this season. James River likely must win. **Region 4B:** 1\. Varina 31.5; 2\. Louisa 30.44; 3\. Huguenot 29.11; 4\. Courtland 26.67; 5\. Mechanicsville 24.67; 6\. Spotsylvania 24.44; 7\. King George 23.67; 8\. Hanover 23.33 Most years, this region has anywhere from 10 to 13 teams vying for a postseason bid in the final week. Not in 2026\. The field is set. Varina will clinch the top seed by beating Patrick Henry, and Louisa will try to stave off Huguenot for the No. 2 spot. Courtland is locked into the four seed, meaning Mechanicsville or Spotsylvania will travel to play the Cougars in a quarterfinal. Hanover’s loss to Armstrong hurt the Hawks as they head to Highland Springs on Friday. Hanover fell to Varina 55-14 on Oct. 16, and the Hawks may have to face the Super 12 Poll’s top-ranked team again. **Region 3A:** 1\. Petersburg 27.67; 2\. Hopewell 26.56; 3\. Booker T. Washington 25.33; 4\. Tabb 24.67; 5\. New Kent 23.89; 6\. I.C. Norcom 20.25; 7\. Lake Taylor 20.22; 8\. Colonial Heights 20.11; 9\. Heritage-Newport News 18.56 The top seed isn’t settled yet, as discussed earlier. A Petersburg win Friday over Prince George will remove all doubt. Hopewell, which faces Thomas Dale, can finish no lower than second. New Kent has won five straight games. Its last loss? To possible quarterfinal opponent Tabb. Colonial Heights clings to the final bid, and, regardless of Friday’s result with King William, should qualify. In Region 3B, Goochland (3-6) is in sixth, and, with a win over Charlottesville and a Warren County win over Skyline, could land in fifth. Culpeper and Kettle Run are neck and neck for the region’s top seed. **Region 2A:** 1\. Central-Lunenburg 27.11; 2\. King William 25.44; 3\. Poquoson 25.12; 4\. Thomas Jefferson 23.89; 5\. Armstrong 22.89; 6\. Southampton 21.56; 7\. Randolph-Henry 20.11; 8\. Nottoway 19.9 This region’s road will run through Victoria. Most of this season, fans thought Thomas Jefferson, Armstrong, Poquoson or even King William could top the standings. Central-Lunenburg can finish 10-0 by beating Amelia on Friday. A Poquoson win over Smithfield will give the Islanders the second seed over King William, which finishes against Colonial Heights. Are we destined for an Armstrong/TeeJay rematch next week? It’s trending that way. Essex and Rappahannock will be one-two in Region 1A. Northumberland has clinched third. ### Beyond the headlines **Flag football postseason:** The brackets are set for the second Richmond Public Schools flag football playoffs, which begin Wednesday. Top-seeded John Marshall earned a quarterfinal bye and will host the winner of No. 5 Armstrong and No. 4 4 Thomas Jefferson on Nov. 10\. The other quarterfinals pit No. 7 Franklin Military against No. 2 Richmond Community and No. 6 RHSA versus No. 3 Huguenot. The championship game is set for Nov. 17. **Does it count?** Remember that lightning-shortened game in September that resulted in a tie between Oscar Smith and Varina? Over the weekend, news broke as to how regions will handle that unusual result. Region 4B, the home of Varina, told The Richmonder they would not count the game, while Region 5A, in an email to us, said they are counting the result. The VHSL has a point-allotment structure should a game end in a tie. The other regions with teams who played either the Blue Devils or Tigers are counting the result. Does the Region 4B decision help or hurt Varina in its hopes for the top seed? Highly unlikely, as the Blue Devils’ power-points total will be divided by nine, not 10, come late Friday night. ### They said it “This is a playoff atmosphere if I’ve ever seen one. You guys will see both these teams in December. That team right there, if they don’t win the state championship, it would be something else, I promise you.” – Thomas Dale coach Kevin Tucker to Sean Robertson of CBS6, praising Petersburg’s performance following the Knights’ last-minute win in a battle of unbeatens “Five passing TD’s by Metzger tonight. Little brag from father.” – Mechanicsville Director of Student Activities Clyde “Tripp” Metzger, texting us Friday night about son Camden after the Mustangs’ Stew Bowl win over Atlee. We told him to brag to his heart’s content. ### Our final play This week, a request and a thank you. With the regular season wrapping up, it’s time to think about who may be the elite players in the RVA for 2026\. We’ve seen electric performances, records set, heads turned and games saved. But before we discuss who captured our imagination this season, we’d like to know who captured yours. Even if it is your son (as seen above) or grandson, we don’t mind a little family brag. Send us your nominees for top players of 2026, and statistics to back your claim, to [robwitham1@gmail.com](mailto:robwitham1@gmail.com). We’ll unveil some of our thoughts as we move through the postseason. Now, a word of thanks. It’s been an eventful autumn for me and mostly not for good reasons. But I must spread some gratitude. Most are unaware that I suffered two heart attacks in 12 hours in December, forcing me to miss Varina’s state-championship win in Lynchburg. I’m also dealing with a rare neuromuscular disease that has made basic mobility quite difficult. The long story short is, when you can’t walk much, it hurts your cardiovascular health. This week, while undergoing a cardiac catherterization, my incredible cardiologist discovered more issues. I’m now the proud owner of my sixth stent, and my first balloon angioplasty, and have been recovering at home since Thursday. Why do I discuss this? For two reasons. First, to thank so many people. From the athletic directors who have been so accommodating to get me in and out of stadiums, to coaches who take time out of their weekends to discuss games and their teams when I’m not able to see them live on Friday nights. Also a huge thank you to my medical team. Outstanding doesn’t even begin to describe their work in keeping me going, albeit slower than I’d like. Secondly, this season has helped me better understand how it must be when, one minute, you are breaking the huddle, and the next minute, you are looking at the sky, in pain, riddled with fear. I thought of Hanover’s Kayden Hughes, injured against archrival Atlee, and how all of us at the stadium that night held our breath while he was tended to. I was thrilled to see his senior-night picture, in uniform, last Friday. I thought of Antonio Monroe, a talented Hopewell senior whose season ended prematurely due to injury, as he, too, went under the knife this week to begin his rehabilitation. From Kris Morelius, a Powhatan junior quarterback, to Dinwiddie freshman signal-caller Jailen Cox, who dealt with a broken collarbone early this year, I have a much better appreciation for every student-athlete who has either dealt with injury through the season or saw a season cut short. Because these can be moments of reckoning, especially for teenagers. Can I truly return, maybe even better and stronger than before? To each of you, a salute to your perseverance, hard work and for facing your fears. For 2026, for this humble correspondent, has been a lesson in learning what it means to be “questionable” for Friday night. Lord willing, I’ll see you during the postseason!