Lance

I’d say Va High will be fine.

Abingdon looked bad last night. Really bad. JSB did everything they could to lose that game. -26-14 JSB 3 min left on their own 25 4th and 4, they went for it and didn’t make it. Abingdon gets a quick and easy TD. - on side kick, Abingdon got it but the refs give it JSB, guess it didn’t go far enough before touched, looked good from the stands. -JSB gets the ball back, all they have to do is run the clock out. They come out throwing? Almost intercepted by Abingdon, two players had hands on the pass and they couldn’t reel it in. Next play -5 yard run abingdon time out. JSB ends up punting to the 20 and only ran off a few seconds. Still 3+ min left on the clock. -Abingdon gets past the 50 quick, but gets a penalty that brings it back. Drives the field again. 1:30 left Abingdon knocking on the door from around the JSB 30 or so and throws and INT on a horrible pass. Game over. -Abingdon had receivers open all night and couldn’t get the ball to them. Overthrown and INT’s. -Abingdon looks undisciplined and the run game is suffering from blocking issues. Most rushing yards came off blown plays or coverage and the QB keeping it. When Abingdon looks at this film they are going to watch a game they lost, not a game JSB won. That’s not to take away anything from the JSB kids they played their hearts out last night and took advantage of what Abingdon couldn’t accomplish. Abingdon has Christiansburg at home next week then goes to Gate City. I’m not sure where you go from here after losing the game the way the did to JSB, but that’s a tall order.

I’ve been around for 20+ years. I started swva sports.com back when I started swvaol.com which was a dial up internet device. Roughly in 2001 or so. At that time gman had the old swvafootball message board going. My idea was to bring it all under one roof at swvasports so we could have one place to visit and talk about everything year round and not 15 different pages that were dedicated to each sport. Gman liked the idea and this place was born. At some point years later I got busy with kids, life, family etc etc. and kinda faded in to the background. Gman has kept it rolling along but he’s ready for a break. Instead of closing doors here I told him I’d just come out of semi retirement and keep it rolling. So here we are. Getting ready to move it to a new server, clean up a few things, and on down the road we go. Together. gman will still be around I’m sure. not much should really change. I’ll try to do a few things to make it better. anyway … it’s all good. Enjoy.

It’s not the end, I’m going to keep the lights on. No worries.

Who made it? what's it made of? A or AA or AAA? No Abingdon, Hurley, etc.... looks like the all Richlands/Graham team...lol...which, they had good teams don't get me wrong... but don't call it the SWVA "anything" team...totally bogus.

who made this list? lol....horrible.

Grundy is wrestling in a major tourney this weekend at Reno...95 teams from 12 different states at all different levels....so far Grundy is 13th out of 95 and just a point or so out of the top 10...pretty good so far. Someone else might have more info...I just saw the team scores in one of the parents postings on Facebook.

I think they would let you have water just so they could make you puke it back up lol.

I don't know, but the further back you go the harder it was...a lot of it had to do with the equipment too...our helmets in the 80s were not as good as the 90s...the 90s not as good as now...we didn't know anything about hydration and heat stroke or concussions...tape fixed everything back then...the guys in the 50s had leather helmets and no face masks, I can't even imagine that? You were issued a broken nose with your jersey I guess...artificial turf was just a pipe dream, something most colleges didn't even have. But it was football and we loved it.

From Grundy: Luke Owens, David Scamell, Cary Perkins, both Marcum Brothers, Luke Dales, Albert Childress, Junior Coleman were all exceptional players. Other schools in the area: Ahmad Bradshaw, Devon Johnson, JLA, Viq Hall, Paco Jones, Q. Reed, Mike Compton, and lots more I can't remember off the top of my head lol. Best all around, I'd probably have to go with Bradshaw because he was just fun to watch on all sides of the ball....he was a top RB but he loved to hit as a DB and I saw him level a lot of people, the hit on the kid from Martinsville in the playoffs is still one of the best defensive plays I've ever seen...plus he was a threat on special teams...pretty much able to change the game any time he was on the field.

Perkins didn't show up until 1987 or so...he was a year behind me, grew up playing football with him and JK from 4th grade on...his dad was one of our coaches. Rough bunch though from 1980-1986 in Grundy, they didn't have the best record or even a lot of Wins to show for it, but the kids loved to hit...pretty much all of the schools back then were like that. People really don't know unless you played during that time or coached or went to the games just how violent it was...we all beat the living hell out of each other, literally. It was just a different time and a different game. We were not allowed to hang out on the fence and talk to cheerleaders or people in the crowd, couldn't take your helmet off, water was a reward especially during two-a-days when it was 100+ degrees in the cow pasture we practiced in, most of practice was spent hitting each other not running plays, Monday = gut check, not everyone dressed out on Friday night even the good kids had to earn their jersey each week, if you missed a practice for any reason you didn't dress out that week, you didn't talk back to your coaches you just did what you were told and if you did it wrong god have mercy on your soul, weight room was not in any way an optional place to hang out when you felt like it, if you didn't win the long bus ride home was silent and you could hear a pin drop...things were just different than they are now.

well back then winning the district meant something, and everyone with a heartbeat didn't make the playoffs in any sport...the games were better and more fun to watch...the rivalry between any of those schools was strong...it was just a better time, even with the travel.

quite contrary..indeed.

yeah I'm a dick.

Quite what?

This is pretty much the greatest post ever on this message board.

Those were the Glory Days of the SWD....and it was brutal!

One last thought, I don't know how many games on all different levels I've seen over the years where one team "didn't have a chance" and won the game...it happens. Just this past year, Cubs down 3-1 and took the World Series, Cavs down 3-1 and took the NBA Championship...Ronda Rousey is all but retired now after being "unbeatable"....Phoebus just went down in flames...Mike Tyson got knocked out by Buster Douglas once upon a time....The heavily favored(-14) Rams "Greatest Show On Turff" lost Super Bowl 36 to the Patriots...all I'm saying is, it happens.

Question now is....does Mance have one more trick up his sleeve? I know everyone is going to say they don't have a chance, but I think if they can keep it a fumble free/turnover free game it will be interesting to see what happens. Richlands has to be a scary "underdog" for any team to face.

lame...anything with a 15 yard penalty should be an automatic 1st down if the entire penalty can't be marked off. (half the distance) I mean you are 3rd and 8 from the 10 you get a 15 yarder and it's 4th and 3 from the 5? that's not right.

how you get a personal foul unsportsman flag, inside the 20...and not get a first down?

Hurley has to schedule games with people they can compete with on an average year...this year turned out to be above average. IF they schedule Union, Richlands, Gate City...even Abingdon right now...they can't win those games on an average year...they just don't have the depth to compete with larger schools...Hurley is small for a Single A school by the numbers. If they scheduled these teams, yes its tougher competition, but they would also get the floor wiped by most of them...up until this latest group came through Grundy was beating them by 50+ in the "down" period they've been suffering through. It's just not realistic to expect by the numbers. If they do that sort of schedule and get pounded for 10 weeks a year, they would not have a lot of kids looking to come out and play in an already anemic pool of kids to pull from. Why would they? I mean hey come out and get beat by 50+ every week but we're playing the top schools around? Not going to put cleats on the feet so to speak.

what job closed in Abingdon? just curious. Sorry...it's pretty hard to find anything that pays worth a damn around here.

Sarcasm aside, you're not the first to say it. The truth of it is that they don't have any idea even 2 years out who will be on a team or how many. One or two mines could close and the team might be half the size and good players gone to Richlands or beyond with their family looking for work. It's just how it is now. Factor in the location and even Grundy has a hard time getting a full schedule most of the time, people complain about the drive. it's a longer and worse drive to get to Hurley so people aren't lining up to play them, although they should because everyone should play at the cliff at least once if possible.

As far as the schedule for Hurley it was done 2 years ago and they are lucky to get 10 games. Why don't you contact Coach Tester and see if you can help them schedule some better teams I'm sure he'd let you help out. Remember you'll need to know what kind of team you'll have two years from now and how many kids you'll have to field. Usually runs 18-30 kids over 4 grade levels but the population is shrinking with the demise of the coal industry so you'll have to figure that stuff out as well. Good luck.