What's up with the Chesapeake; is there any weekend where a team's prospects don't get turned upside down?

Not this week. Once again, a program on a downhill slide picked up it up, and the form book, if there is one, should be run over, stomped on, and set on fire.

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This week:

Consider Mount Saint Mary's. Admittedly a young team, but still a team at 3-1 and poised to get into the top three. All the Mount needed to do was beat a James Madison team that was 1-2. And yet ... JMU put in the team's best performance of the season, even better than the shutout of Virginia Tech, and won 38-32. The result dealt a severe blow to MSM's playoff hopes.

Consider Mary Washington - OK no surprise here as UMW slammed Towson 94-0. It wasn't a good day for Towson and the Maryland squad can kiss the 2nd vs 3rd playoff goodbye.

Oh, and speaking of Virginia Tech. After looking desultory in a 33-0 loss to JMU and then a tight win over Georgetown where the Hokies appeared to switch off after 50.

Well, that all changed on Saturday with a 39-31 defeat of Maryland. That result put paid to the Terp's playoff aspirations and thrust Virginia Tech into 2nd place. 

Taking advantage was Salisbury, which defeated Georgetown in another close one (maybe Georgetown is just that almost-good). In a game that saw almost all of the scoring in the second half, Salisbury got tries from lock Graham Wyatt and flyhalf Keagan O'Connell to get close. But it wasn't until the 68th minute, when fullback Jordan Bakouche scored and then scrumhalf Alexander Seymour went over. Bakouche converted and it was 24-19.

It was Salisbury's only lead of the game, but the Sharks held onto that lead until the end.

The Upshot

Salisbury's late surge has the Sharks cutting through the water to probably claim a playoff spot. Why? Well, 2nd-place Virginia Tech plays Mary Washington next week and UMW can clinch 1st with a win. The Mothers are heavily favored, and with a loss, Tech ends the season at 4-3, probably with 20 points in the standings.

Salisbury can basically secure (but not clinch) as top three spot with a win November 3 over James Madison. However, as we've seen, Madison is completely unpredictable. JMU, sitting at 2-2 with three games to go, has Georgetown this coming weekend. A bonus-point win there will make the JMU-Salisbury game one for several of the marbles. Madison's last game is against UMW, so two wins are a must.

The Mount is not out, with two games left, but one is against UMW. MSM needs to beat Towson to think playoff.

By the way, JMU is undefeated in the Futures league for younger players. So watch out next year.