The Buckingham Knights improved to 10-1 last Friday after taking a 47-7 win over the Martinsville Bulldogs in the first round of the Virginia High School League Region 2A West playoffs.

With the win, Buckingham advances to the second round of the playoffs and travels to Richlands High School on Friday to take on the Blue Tornado.

“We know they (Richlands) are a good program,” said Gill. “They have a very potent passing attack, and we are going to go out there and give it everything we got.”

Although the teams have never met on the field, they have a lot more in common than one may think.

The Knights started off their regular season with an early loss to Appomattox (14-7) and then won nine consecutive games to win the James River District title. Richlands also took an early loss when they lost to Union 42-1. The Richlands then won eight straight games to led their team into the playoffs.

Both teams whipped their opponents in the first round of 2A West playoffs this season as well.

Buckingham crushed the Bulldogs last Friday knocking Martinsville out of the playoff bracket, while the Richlands pulled out a 63-7 win over Grayson County.

Richlands average 50.2 points per game, while Buckingham averages 46.9 per game.

Last season Richlands advanced to the VHSL Region 2A semifinals. They sped past Lebanon 42-7 in the first round before defeating Marion 41-15 in the second round.

The Blue Tornado earned their semifinal spot after defeating Gate City 35-28.

Buckingham has a clear memory of Gate City last season, as the Blue Devils knocked the Knights out of the playoffs with a 48-13 win at home.

The Richlands lost 13-7 to Wilson Memorial in the semifinals and finished their season 10-5.

The Blue Tornado is stacked with tough players like 6-foot-2 freshman wide receiver Taylor Horn and 5-foot-11 sophomore nose guard Caleb Horn.

Junior quarterback John Luke Asbury will also be a player to watch as he threw five touchdowns in the Blue Tornado’s win against Grayson County.

However, Buckingham can play a similar hand to that impressive stat.

In the Knights’ game against Martinsville, Leon Ragland scored five touchdowns on 150 rushing yards.

B.J. Gough aided the win with 20 carries for 178 yards.

The winner of the matchup will face off against the winner of the Appomattox/Dan River game.

That game will be held on Nov. 28.