Union vs. Richlands rematch

[EH31 2,518]

39 minutes ago, Blue 72 said:

Total respect to Mitchel and Union, but he is no Basham, and Union is not William Byrd.  You could be right, but Richlands has one heck of a defense, and although Union has a great O line it doesn't even come close to the O line of William Byrd.  It will be a test of heart tonight.

Mitchell Is on or above the same level as anyone in the state athletically in classifications D1-D4. Guess we'll have to disagree on that one. 

I understand Richlands defense has been good this year but they gave up 300 rushing yards to Union without the 6th ranked player in the state being in the backfield. To me, Union is better off in this matchup than they were in the first with Mitchell taking snaps. 

[Unionguy_2017 288]

Best atmosphere of the year so far. 

[BearDawg 105]

12 minutes ago, Unionguy_2017 said:

Best atmosphere of the year so far. 

Absolutely!

[Blues da best 29 1]

Let’s go blue!!!

[Suit Up 82]

They scared the hell out of em. Not to shabby for a team that’s been called “bad” by some. I think anyone who watched them play knew better. Proud to be a blue tornado. You guys played your hearts out! And congrats to Union. I hope they run it all the way to Salem.

[94 APPY DAWG 39]

Wow what a game.  Congrats to both teams on probably the best game I have seen in my 20 years of watching high school ball. I don’t think Union was the best team tonight but that’s how the cards fell. The bears better figure it out or they will be out next week. Safe travels to all. 

[Deleted Account 5,203]

If only Mance had stuck to running the ball with a lead with a rolling clock late in the 4th.  For all his regular season accolades, and there are many, I have never seen a coach mentally come unhinged in the postseason with the reliable frequency he has.  Richlands should have won that game, and didn’t.

 

Congrats to Union.  They had the best player on the field, and when Richlands offered the game up on a silver platter, Mitchell took it and ran (literally).  I thought Union would win a fugly game and they did just that.  

[goose111874 967]

I had a bad angle on the field goal was it blocked or did he just miss it.

[Unionguy_2017 288]

Heck of a ball game, heck of a gameplan by the Richlands D. I tip my hat to you.

[GoBearsGo 142]

Big shoutout to a heck of a Richlands team from this Union fan! That was the best defensive game I have ever seen. Both defenses were spectacular. A couple of big plays on both sides but other than that they both had it locked down. I hope this game was an eye opener for the Bears. 

[Bigrhsfan 884]

Good luck to the Bears the rest of the way !  Be pulling for ya !  Heck of a game and VERY proud of the boys and how hard they played !  Big Big Heart !

[goose111874 967]

Good game by Richland's that's about the fifth or sixth heart attack you guys have given me the last few years.

[Unionguy_2017 288]

7 minutes ago, Bigrhsfan said:

Good luck to the Bears the rest of the way !  Be pulling for ya !  Heck of a game and VERY proud of the boys and how hard they played !  Big Big Heart !

Same to you all. Those guys sure as heck left everything they had on the field. What a game!

[BearDawg 105]

28 minutes ago, Unionguy_2017 said:

Heck of a ball game, heck of a gameplan by the Richlands D. I tip my hat to you.

You took the words from my mouth. I have more respect for Richlands then any other opponent I’ve ever played. Well coached. Fans are great. Players are polite. I can’t brag enough on the preparation they did against us. Job well done. Heck, I’m proud of them. Great ball game. Reminds me of Appy at Gate City in 1993. The hook and ladder play. Wow!!!!  Safe travels back to Richlands all. 

[TTownTigers 82]

6 hours ago, EH31 said:

Mitchell Is on or above the same level as anyone in the state athletically in classifications D1-D4. Guess we'll have to disagree on that one. 

I understand Richlands defense has been good this year but they gave up 300 rushing yards to Union without the 6th ranked player in the state being in the backfield. To me, Union is better off in this matchup than they were in the first with Mitchell taking snaps. 

I think he is as well with the one exception at Dinwiddie (Class 4A). K'vaughan Pope is a 6'2, 210 LB commtted to Ohio State and one of the top players in the country who is the 4th ranked LB in America and a top 100 player.  Mitchell is ranked higher than Basham, Beck and Graves of Appomattox.

[CriticalNoise 182]

Richlands sure wasn't an 8 seed. I can't say anything else about the game that the others havent touched on. Hat tip to the Richlands program. 

[94 APPY DAWG 39]

3 minutes ago, BearDawg said:

You took the words from my mouth. I have more respect for Richlands then any other opponent I’ve ever played. Well coached. Fans are great. Players are polite. I can’t brag enough on the preparation they did against us. Job well done. Heck, I’m proud of them. Great ball game. Reminds me of Appy at Gate City in 1993. The hook and ladder play. Wow!!!!  Safe travels back to Richlands all. 

That was a heck of a game as well. Was one of the funniest calls in the huddle when coach Turner asked us what we wanted to do and one of our linemen said kick a field goal. That didn’t go over to well. 

[TTownTigers 82]

57 minutes ago, UVAObserver said:

If only Mance had stuck to running the ball with a lead with a rolling clock late in the 4th.  For all his regular season accolades, and there are many, I have never seen a coach mentally come unhinged in the postseason with the reliable frequency he has.  Richlands should have won that game, and didn’t.

 

Congrats to Union.  They had the best player on the field, and when Richlands offered the game up on a silver platter, Mitchell took it and ran (literally).  I thought Union would win a fugly game and they did just that.  

I agree with your premise, but I still think Mance "gets by" in regular season with the finesse passing game.  He is a solid coach and there is no doubt about it, but he wins many games in the regular season by scheme and passing schemes which separate his team from a team that may be close in talent and gets the W.  The problem is, when they get in the playoffs and play an equally talented team, you simply can't out finesse your way to a championship, you have to run the ball, or at least more be balanced.  He went away from the run 3 seconds into the second quarter of this game regarding running the ball on 3rd and 5's, and many 2nd and 5's, and in the second half, it was huge.  It left enough clock for Mitchell to make a play.  But, credit Union also.  Richlands other than the big pass and the 2nd series of the game couldn't move the ball much either.  The game was a toss up and could have gone either way.  Why Richlands chooses so many times to bail out on the run on a 3rd and 5 with an incompletion, when they could likely have a 4th and 1 and go for it and try to get the yard baffles me.  They've done it for years, and they get by most of the time and win the game, but either deep in the playoffs against an equally talented team, or early this year in the playoffs against Union, that lack of run focus catches them so many times.  It's tough on a heavy-pass laden offensive line to practice pass blocking most of the time, then try to make the switch to run blocking, especially at the High School level.

[BearDawg 105]

7 minutes ago, 94 APPY DAWG said:

That was a heck of a game as well. Was one of the funniest calls in the huddle when coach Turner asked us what we wanted to do and one of our linemen said kick a field goal. That didn’t go over to well. 

He may as well have cussed Coach lol. Kick a field goal ?. 

[Gridiron60 2,554]

1 hour ago, Suit Up said:

They scared the hell out of em. Not to shabby for a team that’s been called “bad” by some. I think anyone who watched them play knew better. Proud to be a blue tornado. You guys played your hearts out! And congrats to Union. I hope they run it all the way to Salem.

Even if they run it all the way to Salem, Appo will win hands down. It will probably be a thrashing like Richlands got last year although I'm hoping it's Graham running it all the way down to Salem. 

[Unionguy_2017 288]

I don't remember the exact time but I think it was the Richlands drive just before the Mitchell TD and Richlands just baaaarely over threw a receiver that would have been 6. That made my heart drop. 

[Suit Up 82]

2 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said:

Even if they run it all the way to Salem, Appo will win hands down. It will probably be a thrashing like Richlands got last year although I'm hoping it's Graham running it all the way down to Salem. 

That would be impossible. In order to run to Salem they would play appo in the semifinals if both get there.

[Gridiron60 2,554]

7 minutes ago, TTownTigers said:

I agree with your premise, but I still think Mance "gets by" in regular season with the finesse passing game.  He is a solid coach and there is no doubt about it, but he wins many games in the regular season by scheme and passing schemes which separate his team from a team that may be close in talent and gets the W.  The problem is, when they get in the playoffs and play an equally talented team, you simply can't out finesse your way to a championship, you have to run the ball, or at least more be balanced.  He went away from the run 3 seconds into the second quarter of this game regarding running the ball on 3rd and 5's, and many 2nd and 5's, and in the second half, it was huge.  It left enough clock for Mitchell to make a play.  But, credit Union also.  Richlands other than the big pass and the 2nd series of the game couldn't move the ball much either.  The game was a toss up and could have gone either way.  Why Richlands chooses so many times to bail out on the run on a 3rd and 5 with an incompletion, when they could likely have a 4th and 1 and go for it and try to get the yard baffles me.  They've done it for years, and they get by most of the time and win the game, but either deep in the playoffs against an equally talented team, or early this year in the playoffs against Union, that lack of run focus catches them so many times.  It's tough on a heavy-pass laden offensive line to practice pass blocking most of the time, then try to make the switch to run blocking, especially at the High School level.

The most undisciplined team & coach lost. Richlands used to be much more disciplined than what I've seen this year. Mance panics & it's most evident in playoffs every year. 

[TTownTigers 82]

8 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said:

Even if they run it all the way to Salem, Appo will win hands down. It will probably be a thrashing like Richlands got last year although I'm hoping it's Graham running it all the way down to Salem. 

I agree, but it's not just this year with Richlands in the playoffs, it's going back over a decade in which they may have very well been the better team in many or at least some of those state-semi and state-final losses which came at the same thing, bailing out on the run, especially on 2nd and 5 or 6 or 3rd and 4 or 5 and killing drives, and they had the same thing many times in these losses (near misses that had a guy open for a TD) only to be dropped or tipped or whatever, but the thing is, if you don't complete it, your drive is over, and High School Football has short quarters.  They go by quick and you only get so many possessions.  But with Mance, I don't think it's a playoff thing.  He does in regular season as well, but they still win 9 or sometimes 10 of 10 on many years because the scheme fools people, but there are almost always games you play late in the year in which you have to run the football effectively to win, or at least run after you open it up with the pass, but Richlands doesn't do that, they keep throwing even when the game seems like its been opened up with the pass like against Appo 2 years ago, and they got caught.

[Gridiron60 2,554]

2 minutes ago, Suit Up said:

That would be impossible. In order to run to Salem they would play appo in the semifinals if both get there.

You're correct! My bad