COURTLAND–With three teams coming off bye weeks, and all of them getting ready to go into big games, Western Tidewater’s student athletes are ready to get out on the field tonight.

Real Country 101.7 will be in Courtland this week to cover Southampton Academy’s big game, so this preview will first look at the two academy schools.

Raiders

Today at Pillow Field in Courtland, Southampton Academy will face its toughest NCISAA Colonial Carolina 8-man football foe in Arendell Parrott Academy. Both teams are 3-0, and both teams blew out their two common opponents.

“They will be the best team that we have played so far,” Head Coach Dale Marks said. “They are the biggest school in the conference, so they are deep, too.”

Marks added that the Patriots might also have the best player the Raiders will face this season in 300-pound defensive tackle Keywan Morgan.

“We’re going to have to double him a lot offensively,” Marks said. “He does a good job clogging up the middle if you try to run it. He’s got good feet and he moves well. He’s going to be a challenge.”

The Raiders also go into tonight’s game potentially down two players — Harrison Pope and Brooks Holland.

“We’ve got people banged up in the secondary, so it’s not really our best time right now,” Marks said, adding that he hopes the two feel better by this morning. “They’ll be a game time decision.”

One thing that Marks had to be thankful for was that this was a home match. He is expecting the crowd to be big and loud, and Marks said they’ll see a hard-fought, competitive match that will probably be high scoring.

“I am expecting a tough game, but that’s good,” he said. “We are ready for a competitive game. They bring a decent crowd with them, too, and I think a lot of their coaching staff.”

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. in Courtland.

Chargers

The 2-1 Isle of Wight Academy VISAA Division 4 football team is looking to give Virginia Commonwealth Conference foe Brunswick Academy it’s second home loss of the season.

Chargers Head Coach Dale Chapman said that the Vikings (0-2) are a difficult team to read.

“I know that they are always a tough team to play at home, so we’re anticipating a tough matchup,” he said. “It’s a conference matchup, so we’re making sure that we are dotting all of our i’s and crossing our t’s to make sure we are ready mentally and physically.”

Both teams are coming off of a bye week. Chapman said the Chargers used it well.

“Bye weeks can be somewhat detrimental,” he said. “But we took that opportunity and got back into the weight room to work on our conditioning.

“We’ve also been breaking down some things defensively that we need to work on. We had a good week this week as well, and I feel like we’re ready to go.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Lawrenceville.

Broncos

The Franklin High School football team has never been 0-3 under Head Coach Darren Parker. This week, VHSL division 1A football foe Charles City High School is looking to make that a reality as the Broncos travel to face the Panthers in a non-conference match.

“They are a very scrappy team,” Parker said about the 1-2 Panthers. “What I mean by scrappy is they get after the ball well on defense. Offensively, they are very versatile. We are going to have to go at them and execute.”

Parker said execute is the key word, as it has been every week, but particularly so after starting off 0-2.

“The kids have looked great in practice, and we have done a lot of work on defense,” Parker said. “We’re just going back to the fundamentals. Obviously, if they don’t score you can’t lose.”

The students are not the only ones expected to execute, Parker said.

“Usually, I say we have to execute in all three phases of the game,” he said. “This week, I’m adding one. We have to make sure the coaching phase is on point.

“As coaches, we have been going back to the fundamentals of football. We’ve been teaching them again, just to define them. And the kids have been taking to it. We’re all looking forward to the game.”

Even though this season hasn’t been what fans have expected, Parker thanked them for traveling to Colonial Beach. Looking forward, Parker wanted to thank them in advance for coming to Charles City for the 7 p.m. kickoff.

The fans should also know that they are still the Broncos, he added.

“We are going to continue to play Broncos football,” Parker said. “We are not going to look at the record and change things. We are still working hard, and we are still together as one family. Always, God is great.”

Dukes

Coming off a bye week, Windsor High School will face off against a VHSL Division 1A Northampton High School football team that has gone 0-3 so far this season. The Yellowjackets are coming off of a 40-0 loss to a West Point High School team that the Division 2A Dukes defeated 34-28 earlier this season.

Meanwhile, Windsor’s had a bye week to prepare for them.

“Our game plan is like it is every week. We’ll go out, be physical and attack them early,” Head Coach Charles Parrish said. “We are going to come out and do the things we do — same philosophy.”

Parrish said despite Northampton’s record, the Dukes would not be underestimating them.

“They have athletes,” Parrish said. “Their quarterback is an athlete, their running back is an athlete, and they are good up front. We’ve got to be ready every week — there’s no easy match on the schedule.”

During the bye week, Parrish said they’ve been working on the fundamentals.

“Blocking, tackling and running,” Parrish said. “We’ve been crisping up things that we’ve had to, and increased our conditioning training.

“Our kids are ready to go. We’ve just got to come out and do what we do.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Windsor High School.

Indians

Southampton High School will look to get its first win of the season as they take to the road against VHSL Division 3A non-conference football opponent in Spotsylvania High School, who will also be looking for the season’s first win.

Both teams are 0-2, and Southampton has scored more points on the season, 21 to 15, while Southampton has also given up the most points, 78 to 48. Southampton has faced two teams that are 2-0 on the season, while each of Spotsylvania’s opponents only have one win on the season. And that lone win for both teams came against the Spotsylvania Knights.

Each team has had a bye week to get ready for this game.

Indians Head Coach Willie Gillus could not be reached for comment.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Spotsylvania.