Blacksburg’s Lennal Dasher gained 75 yards against a tough Woodruff defense. Size does matter and for a change the Blacksburg Wildcats now will face teams their own size.

After tough tussles with Class AA powers Chesnee and Woodruff and a battle with Walhalla, which has a Class 3A enrollment, the Wildcats will face a foe that mirrors their enrollment and roster numbers in Dixie on Friday.

But don’t get the idea the brutal schedule hasn’t been a help to the Wildcats.

“Playing those teams will help us down the road,” Blacksburg coach Mickey Moss said. “We’ve been outnumbered a lot but I’m really proud of the effort we got Friday (against Woodruff).” We didn’t back down and it was one of our best efforts all year.

“The biggest thing is that our kids got tougher and that we never quit..”

The Wildcats also discovered a quarterback in ninth-grader Treyvon Parker, who has displayed the necesary intangibles that all winning quarterbacks must possess.

“He’s just very competitive,” Moss said. “He’s also very intelligent with a good work ethic.”

Parker also has been durable playing in the junior varsity games as well as the varsity.

Moss said he’s also been pleased with the development of the offensive line and the tenacity of running backs Lennal Dasher and Chase Hames.