Buckingham finished a 9-1 regular season last Friday with a 55-6 win over Prince Edward, earning the Knights a home game against Martinsville Friday in the first round of the Virginia High School League 2A West Region playoffs.

This is the fifth straight year Buckingham has hosted a playoff game.

According to VHSL-Reference.com, the last time Buckingham played Martinsville was in the 1985 playoffs, when the Bulldogs took a 21-13 win.

Although Martinsville, 5-6, hopes to be victorious against Buckingham, times have changed and the Knights are on a nine-game winning streak after losing their season opener 14-7 to Appomattox in the “Battle of the Axe.” The Knights cruised past every other opponent en route to the James River District championship.

Not only will the Knights have the home-turf advantage Friday, but they also have senior standouts Leon Ragland, B.J. Gough, Michael Mabry and Erik Companion leading the way.

Ragland, a running back, has 177 carries and 1,746 rushing yards on the season, with 34 touchdowns.

Quarterback Gough has 1,150 rushing yards, six touchdowns and 409 passing yards on the season and leads the Knight defense with 51.5 tackles. Mabry is also a leading defender with 31 tackles, but he also tries his hand at offense once in awhile. He has scored a touchdown this season and has three receptions for 104 yards.

Companion is the second leading tackler with 47.5 stops, 3.5 sacks and an interception.

The Bulldogs enter the playoffs on a two-game winning streak, shutting out Bassett 33-0 and Patrick County 45-0.

“We have a tough road ahead of us, and we have to bring our A-game,” Buckingham head coach Craig Gill said earlier this week. “We have been told that Martinsville will hit you hard, and we know that this game will not be a cakewalk.”

Martinsville is led by 6-foot-1 quarterback Jay Danridge, 5-11 running back Zanthus Hairston and 6-foot wide receiver Cam Bradley.

Bradley is a highly regarded offensive player who three weeks ago returned a kick 100 yards against Tunstall and made headlines around Martinsville.

Hairston is known for his quickness and has had several games with 150-plus yards rushing.

Last year, the Bulldogs made it to the first round of the 2A playoffs and lost 63-0 to Giles.

The Knights will host Martinsville at 7 p.m.