Prediction

Fort Chiswell (1-4) at Parry McCluer (3-1) WHEN: 7 p.m. on Friday WHERE: Bobby Williams Field in Buena Vista. Tickets are $7.

LASTYEAR: The Fighting Blues stepped up defensively and earned a 22-7 road win over Fort Chiswell. Despite a long delay due to their bus breaking down, the Blues performed well on both sides of the ball, racking up 305 total yards of offense while holding the Pioneers to 104 yards. Tight end Landon Catlett made two touchdown receptions on passes from quarterback Nathan Glass. JJ Jones led PM with 69 rushing yards on 10 carries, while Jackson Brockenbrough ran for 60 yards on 16 totes.

THE SCOOP: Coming of a bye week, the Blues should have more energy for practice and the game this week. Fort Chiswell is coming off its first win of the season, a 36-14 road victory over winless Eastern Montgomery, one of PM’s Pioneer District rivals, on Saturday. Prior to that game, the Pioneers suffered four lopsided losses.

The Blues won their last two games decisively and look to extend the winning streak on a special night, when PM will honor its 11th class at halftime. In the Blues’ lone loss this season, a 46-38 setback at Prince Edward County on Sept. 6, they committed six turnovers, and they took care of the ball better and picked up their level of play in the following weeks.

THE NEWS-GAZETTE’S PICK: We expect the Blues to take control of the Pioneers early and put on an impressive performance in their final game before Pioneer District play begins against Narrows next week. Like last year, we look for Nathan Glass to find his receivers to score and for Brockenbrough to run the ball well. With a strong defense to complement the offense, we see the Blues cruising to a 40-7 win.