Riverheads football game canceled Friday as heavy rain expected to move into state

GREENVILLE — The schedule for Riverheads football has been quirky in September. The latest oddity came Thursday when the school announced that Friday night's game at Westmoreland High School in Montross has been canceled due to expected severe weather. The game will not be made up.

This will mark the third straight Friday night that Riverheads won't play football. The Gladiators had an open date on Sept. 16 and then played Saturday, Sept. 24 when it hosted Tazewell. Now, Riverheads won't play this Friday.

"It is very difficult to get into a routine," Riverheads coach Ray Norcross said, "but with this extra time off some of our injuries will get more time to heal. We try to remain positive during this situation and keep working on things we need to."

The Gladiators are the six-time defending state champions in Class 1. The team will play three of its final five regular season games at home starting Friday, Oct. 7 against Shenandoah District rival Buffalo Gap.

"These kids are working hard and we are making progress towards where we need to be," Norcross said. "However, there is no substitute for playing games. When we resume playing, the meat of our season will be upon us and we better be ready."

The Virginia High School League put out a release Thursday encouraging its member schools to follow local forecasts and Gov. Glenn Youngkin's directives when deciding whether to postpone or play scheduled athletic events on Friday and Saturday, saying that "each school is responsible for making these decisions."

Youngkin has declared a State of Emergency in Virginia as Hurricane Ian moves up the East Coast and is expected to impact parts of the state Friday night into the weekend.

According to The Weather Channel, rain is expected to begin in Montross, in Virginia's Northern Neck, Friday morning and the area could get quarter of an inch of rain as steady rain develops throughout the afternoon.

As of now, the other Shenandoah District football teams are still expecting to play Friday night with rain in the forecast locally starting Friday afternoon.

Waynesboro is at Buffalo Gap, Staunton travels to Harrisonburg, Stuarts Draft is at Luray and Wilson Memorial hosts Western Albemarle Friday night. All are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

A cross country meet in New Market scheduled for Saturday has been postponed. Several local teams, including Wilson Memorial, Buffalo Gap, Staunton and Waynesboro, were planning to race at the meet hosted by Mountain View High School.

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Photos:Riverheads beats Tazewell

Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.