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Of the seven James River District high school football teams, just three were playoff-bound in 2023 with Amelia County, Buckingham and Lunenburg filling the spots.  

Amelia finished with a 9-4 mark, advancing to the Region 2A Championship game, where they were ousted by Poquoson, 57-18.

The flag carriers of the district the last two seasons, Lunenburg and Buckingham, each did enough to secure first round home playoff games, but got knocked off in the opening round of the postseason by higher seeds.  

Lunenburg, the No. 2 seed in Region 2A, saw its season come to an end at 8-3 overall when they beaten by No. 7 seed Southampton, 44-30.  Meanwhile, Buckingham, the No. 3 seed in Region 2B, went 9-2 overall and got knocked out by No. 6 seed Clarke County, 21-7.

What will happen this season? 

There are questions galore and plenty to find out about the district’s full assortment of teams, which also includes Cumberland, Nottoway, Prince Edward and Randolph-Henry.  All will be trying to crash the postseason party with the exception of Cumberland, which has pressed the pause button on football for 2024.

For those who missed our coverage of the decision last week, Cumberland didn’t have enough older players return to the team this season. Not wanting to put eighth and ninth graders up against 11th and 12th grade players, Cumberland officials decided to shut down the varsity squad for this season. They’ll take another look at it next season. But with that being said, it’s time to focus on the teams that will be competing this year. 

We’ll be chronicling the storylines and standout performers as well as high school football teams throughout the season, but for the time being until the games kick off, let’s give you our six matchups involving JRD squads that most intrigue us heading into the season . . . 

Five High School Football Games to See:

September 6 – Greensville at Nottoway:  These two teams have played nine times since 2009 and seven of those games have been decided by exactly one possession, being eight points or less.  That included a head-spinning 50-44 win for Greensville last year.  Both teams have designs on being among the eight playoff participants in Region 2A and winning here is critical.  Nottoway might have the best pure running back in the JRD with junior Anton Carter, who already holds offers from Appalachian State and William & Mary.  He’s the grandson of three-time Super Bowl Champion linebacker Robert Jones.

September 13 – Brunswick at Central-Lunenburg:  Perhaps the most exciting game of the season last year for the Chargers was their 42-41 overtime thriller they won in Lawrenceville over Brunswick.  The Bulldogs ended up bouncing back from that loss to finish 9-3 overall and reach the regional semifinals in Region 1B.  That win moved Lunenburg to 23-3 in the head-to-head series since 1975.  Coach Will Thomas would certainly prefer this one get settled in regulation in favor of the home team.

September 27 – Central-Lunenburg at Buckingham:  These games are generally tough, hard-nosed battled.  Twice, the Knights and Chargers have needed overtime to determine a winner with Lunenburg prevailing 14-7 in 2018 in the extra session, while Buckingham won under that scenario, 20-14, back in 2021.  It doesn’t get much tighter than last year’s affair, which Buckingham won on the road 13-10.  Another low-scoring slugfest could await these two rivals.

September 28 – Northumberland at Prince Edward:  This is one that you should put on the calendar for a Saturday afternoon, 1 p.m. kick-off, to close out the month of September.  Last year’s game produced plenty of excitement with Northumberland winning 72-46. Melvin Mitchell, the new head man of Prince Edward’s Eagles, should feel confident about his team being able to move the ball and score.  Despite a 3-7 overall record, the 2023 Eagles put up 30.4 points per game.  Question is will their defense that surrendered 46 PPG last year be improved enough to compete in this game and for a postseason spot in Region 2A?  This is a measuring stick game.

November 8 – Buckingham at Amelia:  We’ll call this the bonus special because this one figures to have huge playoff ramifications; for Amelia in Region 2A and Buckingham in 2B.  Buckingham’s 49-6 thumping in the regular season finale last year halted a six-game winning streak for the Raiders, who then recovered to win a couple of playoff games.  Amelia has a new head man in 23-year-old Ziayahn Jackson, but can he guide them to the program’s first victory over the Knights since 2018?