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I don’t think anyone should panic yet with it just being at the halfway mark. As far as 2A West goes, IMO Glenvar is at the top. Followed by Appo and Ridgeview. Union, Va High, and Graham take 3-5. In all of 2A, I think Region D is behind everyone but I also think that Ridgeview and Union can play with the top dogs of A, B, and C right now. I’m not completely sold on RV yet but last season I also wasn’t sold on Union until late in the season.

Going for the 2pt conversion straight up or are we going to fake the XP? Or TD no XP, then get a safety? I’m interested here. And I could probably guess which “coach” that is.

The whole SWD mess was just that, a mess. But I believe this was always the desired outcome for Grayson. Even going back to them flirting with the SWD.

For those that had week 5 on the under for GC drama to fire up, congratulations and you can collect your winnings at the Hob-Nob during regular business hours. For the rest of us, I'm going to the concession stand, how's everyone like their hot dogs, and let me know if I you want regular or diet pop.

The Top Mountain 7 and Southwest District teams seems to playing in games that present lopsided score predictions. Here are some lesser publicized Team in Quality games . My personal games of interest Patrick Henry @ John Battle Double wing vs Triple Option, this should be Battles game to win, but the score may be closer than some might think. I see this being with 14 points after its all said and done in favor of the Trojans. Rye Cove @ Castlewood Seeing both Rye Cove and Castlewood, I can strongly say that Rye Cove "should" win this one. Castlewood has 2 backs that are big and can run the trenches and a Defense that can STOP the run. However, the Devils do lack in team speed. Rye Cove is a team on the move and will only continue to get better, but their offensive execution needs work. Backs aren't carrying out fakes as they should and blown plays doomed them (some would say the refs, Video shows otherwise😀) vs Thomas Walker. I project a 18-6 by the War Eagles. Expect a closer game if they don't clean up the offense. Craig Co. @ Twin Valley Hard Game for judge for me, Maybe someone can add some analysis. Looks close on paper Marion @ Grayson Co Judging off Last years Results and then this years slow starts, this could be another tight game in SWVA Eastside @ Thomas Walker The "hommer" in me is showing but I believe this game will be closer than expected if not go the other way. Eastside has proven they are still a top 1a Cumberland team and a playoff team with close games vs Patrick Henry and Lee. However Thomas Walker season has started better than expect. In reality, they are a 4th and 7 away from being 3-0 on the year. My biggest concern for this game is Pass Defense. Against the run, Thomas Walker has proven itself; against the pass, its an unknown. Harlan Ind use the out routes and screens to some success but it did not translate to a win as Walker's bend but don't break approach netted Walker the win. The keys for this game is the Thomas Walker CB's and LB's ability to diagnosis runs from passes while still having the ability to cover in space. Another Key is how well can Eastside contain the edge vs the speed of Thomas Walker, and if contained can Thomas Walker still get points on the board. Add your insight or another Close game that I may have missed

I was more so referencing the playoff mess in 2D that allowed Grayson to compete in a SWD spot without playing in the SWD. I think 1C is a great spot for them to be quite honest.

In football, they would have to be considered top 4 in 1C if we were discussing this season, wouldn't they? They will have a few down years like any other small school but I believe it makes them much more viable on a state level in a bunch of sports. They should be considered one of the favorites year in and year out for a state title in baseball!

This just came to mind about the first 4 weeks of football - but how confident are we in the area’s best teams in 2A? I listened to the Ridgeview-Union game on the radio last week and it sounded quite sloppy for two blue-blood programs, was it just big-game nerves or have the turnovers and mental mistakes been commonplace? I know Richlands is playing tough competition right now and played well against Union but are they more similar to the Richlands of old, or to last years squad? I cannot comment on Graham, don’t know them...As a Bearcat follower I have been disappointed in their lack of ability to close out games, they have been up by 20 or more in 2 of the 3 wins (exception being Battle) - depth is a serious concern for them, beating TAZ,Battle, and Wise by 1 or 2 possessions doesn’t bode well when they have to go to Chilhowie, host Abingdon, host Graham in weeks following the bye...plus Richlands awaits them in week 10... Which teams should press the panic button? And where are we in the battle of district supremacy - Southwest vs. Mountain Seven...again don’t take too seriously what I mean by panic - just trying to create discussion to a thought I had... thanks

475 was set as a hard number...if you are 475 and under 1A ...if above 2 A.....they are below=1A.....I think Roanoke paper had their current enrollment 447...it will be under 400 very shortly

So close for Richlands, Virginia High, and Abingdon, yet so far away. I was hoping all 3 could bring back a state title in 2018. Richlands returns their entire squad, but it must have been disappointing as most thought it was their year this year. I'm not sure Abingdon will ever has as good a team as they had this year, and Mark Daniels will always have Virginia High in the mix. He is the best baseball coach in SWVA.

How can you give Pizza Factory below a 6 rating?

How does the demotion of Grayson affect the landscape of 1C?

7:00 kickoff

I can give you my opinion on the Bearcats. You hit the nail on the head with the depth concern. The coaches knew this well before the season started. They also knew that the schedule was going to be tougher after the bye week. You can see similarities in playcalling/personnel, offensively speaking, so far this year. In the opener, we stuck with our horses and had a 30-7 lead early in the 2nd quarter. The combination of injuries not allowing substitutions with only 27 dressed out, new starters on defense being beaten multiple times, and Tazewell's young phenom playmakers, made for a close game. Week 2, the coaches tried some new things in the first half, in an attempt to build depth, that resulted in a low scoring first half. The staff made some great adjustments at halftime and went back to our horses. Week 3, the staff once again went with our horses and we were within one score with 9 minutes left against the best team we'll see all season. Week 4, the staff was determined to fix the inconsistent passing game. It looked great early, and allowed us to build a 27-7 lead. In the 2nd half, we worked on developing depth in the backfield, that finally caught fire in the fourth quarter. We also took our starting defensive unit out(for the most part) a tad early, along with the great resiliency that the WC players showed, that allowed WC to score twice, within a matter of minutes in the 4th quarter. The starters were put back in after the onside kick recovery, and were able to finish the game. The big thing that people either fail to realize or admit, is that the past is the past. Region D is a 5 team race right now. There have been one or two teams over the last 3 years, that were much better than everyone else in the region. That's just simply not the case this year. There are 5 teams this year that can all beat each other on any given Friday night. Parity is a necessity in sports.

Yea I listened on WDIC just like @Bearcat Dad, was a hoot, those two should do a podcast talking about the old days of SWVA Football, they missed a lot of plays but it was funny to listen. Wouldn’t trade for Bearcat Radio guys either, I believe they are the class of local radio football coverage (even though I am a cat), they aren’t biased and call it like they see it, I would enjoy and listen if those guys did Richlands games haha

Kinda funny that I look over on Preps at the pick em's thread over there and a couple of folks picked Lee. Can't wait to get me some of those deep fried Oreos at the concession stand Friday night and take in a Wolfpack victory.

My favorite play since 1997

The strength of Union is there Line and there Big Fullback #20 adds some game changing speed but is not a back capable of 20+ carrys inside the tackles I think the T suits the personnel of this team. I THINK that the spread could help get #20 the ball in space a bit more but overall will negate what i feel are Unions offensive strengths. It could be that by making the Spread there default passing formation that Union has neglected to fully develop the passing attack out of the T In my opinion the coachs do not need to scrap anything that they are doing but take the game and work on countering the steps that RV used against them (That others will no doubt mimic after reviewing game film)

Definitely, my perceptive is from within the Cumberland.

My senior year in 02, we ran the T, Power I, split backs, far and near sets, spread........we had many different formations we could go to with many different options in the backfield and at wide receiver. Having many different formations is a plus, but like the above comment said, the smash mouth football seems to take teams deeper in the playoffs. It’s definitely two different styles of football.

Nice analysis. Maybe you could do this every week for the Cumberland. The bigger 2a's get most of the focus on here and that would help me on my picks for the week as well.

We see what playing a less than tough schedule and going for record W/L season got Fred Phillips and his dream team in the basketball playoffs a couple years ago, not much. They weren't battle tested. People cannot say that about Blues football. With their schedule, they will be battle tested by playoff time.

. I’ll be surprised if TV doesn’t win by 30 over Craig

When will you interview Dookthecook??? Also, what's your favorite day of the year??? Blondes, brunettes, redheads, bleach heads, or dye heads...which is your favorite and why??? Favorite greens...mustard, collards, or Kelly???

Radford and Abingdon.

Don't see this game being close after the first quarter. Ridgeview is just to strong at every position. As I was watching the game with Union, I thought, did someone sneak some KY refs into the game.

We do have a great head coach, program, and fan base. Don't think anyone is calling for that drastic of a change. All we are saying is when your average fan in the stands can predict the next play a huge majority of the time, how much easier is it going to be for a seasoned coach, that has watched hours of film, to prepare his team to stop Union's offense? The 2015 playoff game against Glenvar was a perfect example of what is possible. No way we were running against that D Line 40 times and winning. We threw long, intermediate, short, had WR screens, RB screens, TE slants, QB options, QB draws, ran the T, etc... Glenvar couldn't adapt because they didn't know what was coming next. Granted, we were loaded with offensive talent that year, but I still think we have enough talent this year to diversify. Maybe we were a little over confident against Ridgeview, underestimated them, I don't know, but I think that loss will only help us going forward.

The Ridgeview game pointed out some real drawbacks to the full House backfield, stacked box and stunt linebackers, the week before Letcher flew theirs outside denying the jet sweep. A more diverse offense should include Jenkins as a wideout, backs could be Stidham, Polier, and Garrant , give Bailey several options instead of two . Travis should also throw to the tight end out of the full House it will be wide open as it was at Ridgeview .

You do have a great point. I mentioned that to my wife while we were listening. I probably should have been a little more specific in my previous post. They seemed like a couple of "good ol' boys", but I did have a hard time with keeping up with the Union players because of what you mentioned. They're probably fun guys to go have a beer with, but I definitely wouldn't replace our awesome crew at Bearcat Radio with them, either. I first tried to listen to the U radio broadcast, but they seemed to be having some technical issues.

I had to turn it off. They sounded like real nice guys but all the talking over each other and repeating each other drove me crazy. Also identifying Union players by the uniform number drove me crazy.

VA High returns starters at third base, second base, first base, part time ss, cf and lf. They return 3 pitchers, as well as dh! Region will be down in baseball next year with teams losing quite a few starters. Would expect them to make another run!

Imagine Madison County’s disappointment.Defending state champs, return all starters, only to lose in state quarterfinals. Now Abington, on the other hand, with their ace on the mound looked to be as close to a sure thing as possible. Oh well! That’s why they play the games on the field.