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Fredericksburg Falcons coach James Hobbs said his team won't take the struggling Northern Neck Rivermen lightly. |
BY CARDEN HEDELT
All great football rivalries, even the ones that seem older than the game itself, have to start sometime.
The Redskins' rivalry with the Cowboys started in the early 1960s, when the Cowboys joined the NFL as an expansion team.
The rivalry between Virginia Tech and Virginia, in which teams compete for the Commonwealth Cup, began in 1895.
The Fredericksburg Falcons and Northern Neck Rivermen will look to start their own rivalry, albeit on a lesser scale, this weekend.
Although the two play in different semiprofessional football leagues, the Rivermen will host the Falcons Saturday at Colonial Beach High School.
The Falcons (9-3), winners of five of their last six games, come into the game with a playoff spot in the Mason-Dixon League playoffs already ensured.
But in their last game, a 6-0 loss against the Virginia Crusaders, the Falcons had problems turning red zone possessions into points.
That's something Falcons coach James Hobbs hopes to see fixed this weekend.
"We have to get the offense clicking, which isn't happening right now," Hobbs said. "We have to find ways to punch it into the end zone. That's something we have to do before the playoffs, so that's something we're going to try to do this weekend."
Hobbs knows that his team won't be able to come in and walk over the Rivermen, arguing that the Northern Neck team's talent level is better than their 1-9 record suggests.
"I watched them play, and even though they're a first-year team, they've got a lot of good talent," Hobbs said. "They managed to [recruit] some guys from other teams. They have some good talent, and I expect them to give us a good game. I don't expect to go down there and [win in a cakewalk] but at the same time, I have a high-caliber offense and defense that they'll have to stop."
As far as Rivermen coach Dennis Cornwell is concerned, a win in the final game of his season could take the sting out of a tough inaugural season of semipro football in the Northern Neck.
"The thing of it is, with all the lumps and all the hard times we've suffered getting this thing off the ground you win this game, it erases all of them," Cornwell said. "This is a good game for both teams, and I don't feel like there's really any pressure on us."
Cornwell's main concern when lining up against the Falcons is the speed of the offense, particularly in the passing game.
Receiver Mike Marshall leads a talented receiving corps, and quarterback Bryn Barham, a Chancellor graduate, is more than capable of picking apart opposing secondaries.
"If we can negate the speed, we have a chance," Cornwell said. "We have to find some way to contain it. If we can do that, then I really believe we have a fighting chance against this team."
Even if his team doesn't win, Cornwell is looking forward to having a good, physical football game for local football fans.
"The first thing that comes to my mind about this game is that we all wanted to get a good rivalry started and make it fun for both teams," Cornwell said. "I want to have a good, clean, respectable game not only for the players, but for the area as well.
Carden Hedelt
Email: chedelt@freelancestar.com
