‘Green’ but talented: Bulldogs are young, and getting better

[Bulldogs52 482]

TAZEWELL, Va. — Don’t sleep on the Bulldogs this season. Tazewell has some talent on its football team. 

“We have got a lot of athleticism,” Tazewell second year head coach J’me Harris said. “Three of the four guys that were on the state 4x100 relay team that finished in fifth place played football. Then we have got some freshmen coming up from that eighth grade team that went 7-1 so we are pretty excited about this time right now.”

They should be. Even though the talent is young, the Bulldogs showed at times during last year’s 3-7 campaign that the future is bright at Witten Field/Bulldog Stadium, which will be the site of the season opener on Thursday, Aug. 23, against Virginia High. 

 

“That is a big advantage for us to be able to get out here, get to start early and be the main show in town that weekend,” Harris said. “We will get Virginia High in here on August 23rd on a Thursday night, but Virginia High is a really good football team, maybe one of the best teams in the region so it is going to be a tough contest and a good test for our young guys. 

“We feel like that will be a big gate for our community. Our guys are fired up to play football and we will be the only game in town so we should draw in people from out of the area.”

There will be plenty to see, from quarterback Jamir Blevins, running back Chancellor Harris, receiver Josiah Jordan and linebacker Jayden Taylor, all of whom were mere sophomores this season. 

“We have a lot of young guys who showed flashes of brilliance last year,” Harris said. “I mean our freshman quarterback (Blevins) threw five touchdowns in a game and won your player of the week. We had a freshman running back (Harris) score five touchdowns in a game. Josiah Jordan, our freshman wide receiver, he had six catches for 172 yards against Marion.

“It was just a matter of us being able to stay consistent for four quarters last year. Plus, with the numbers we had last year we got wore down a little bit by some of the better teams.”

Expect another rising sophomore, Josh Herndon, to help with those issues as one of four starters back on the all-important offensive line. 

“He is a 6-foot-4, 255-pound sophomore. He has had a real good spring and summer,” Harris said. “He wrestles with Coach (Deacon) Young. That is another benefit we have, four of our five offensive linemen are wrestlers. We are looking forward to seeing that group perform this year.”

Three seniors are gone, all of whom were productive, including Mason Mullins (football) and Derrick Young (football, wrestling) who will continue their athletic careers at Bluefield College, while Hunter O’Quinn will be attending the University of Virginia. 

They will be missed, but plenty of experienced youth returns. 

“The one benefit about having three seniors last year is we return eight starters on offense and eight starters on defense,” Harris said. “We return four of the five linemen that started last year. We have three freshmen that are in the mix to also join that group. We have a lot more depth on the offensive line than we had last year at this time, but our offensive line was probably our most improved unit as we went along last year. We ran the ball well down the stretch.”

There will be more players for Tazewell to choose from this season, with a 36th player expected to join the Bulldogs after his family vacation ends. That is really good news after the 2017 campaign with just 21 healthy bodies. At least last year did end with a 53-0 blanking of Lebanon. 

“One of the big benefits is our entire coaching staff is in the school system just about and they did an excellent job being able to recruit the hallways and we got some kids out that haven’t played in the past,” Harris said. “They may have played middle school football, but they didn’t play when they got into high school so we have some of those kids back out.”

There are other returnees and even transfers who are also expected to contribute to the Bulldogs in the season ahead. 

“We have got some more sophomores that are going to be in the mix to start at wide receiver, plus Trae Thompson, who we hope to keep healthy this year,” said Harris, whose Bulldogs defeated Lebanon, River View and Hurley last season. “Last year he battled injuries so we didn’t get to see him, we are hoping he can maybe step in and fill in Mason’s spot. We have got Lucas Honaker, a junior wide receiver, and then we have got Josiah Honaker, a sophomore, 6-foot, 160-pound transfer in from Princeton. He has shown promise at wide receiver. 

“We will have fewer guys playing both ways. A school our size when you got 34 guys out you are always going to have guys playing both ways, but we are going to have the opportunity to rotate more guys in than we had last year.”

While Tazewell should be able to put points on the scoreboard, the Bulldogs surrendered 35.3 points per game last season, often wearing down against the bigger and more experienced opponents. Expect Taylor, who had a terrific camp experience this summer, to be a standout on that unit, which will be led by coordinator Brandon McDaniel. 

“He is going to run our defense and we are just going to build upon what we did last year,” Harris said. “We got a shutout in our last game here last season so we just want to build on that and stay fundamentally sound and attack the football and put pressure on the offense.”

Tazewell, much like rival Richlands, started official practice sessions on Thursday, and the Bulldogs were a spirited bunch over those two days. 

“We have had a great two days of practice here so far,” Harris said. “The kids are very enthusiastic, they are buying in. We just believe in trusting in the process and going through the fundamentals. If we do everything the right way and compete hard winning will take care of itself.”

Improvement can be expected this season from the Bulldogs, who last enjoyed a winning season in 2008, finishing with a 9-3 mark and losing to Richlands in the regional finals. They have won 24 games in nine seasons since then, but fortunes could be about ready to turn in T-Town. 

“These guys that are out here work very hard. Their main goal is to try to change the perception of Tazewell,” said Harris, whose Bulldogs last made the playoffs in 2014. “They have done a good job of it. They are just working hard and they want to come out and be the first team in about 10 years to have a winning record this year and then we would maybe like to get a playoff game.”

Tazewell, which played its first five games on the road last season, will play its first four games this year at home, and will have five of its last six on the road, with Marion agreeing to change dates for their game, which helped the Bulldogs from having to play six straight away from home. 

“We are going to take it one game at a time. Actually we are going to get it down to one play at a time,” Harris said. “What we are trying to do here is change the culture and get us just to be able to compete on every play. As long as we believe in the process and trust our teammates, we feel like the end result is winning and that will take care of itself as long as we do everything the correct way.”

 

From the BDT

[BigWinners 1,643]

Wait wait wait, you're burying the lede here. Tazwells football coach is named J'me? What a crazy name lol.

 

 

[Ryan4VT 4,553]

It’s probounced Jamie. He’s a good coach. Tazewell will make the playoffs this year. 

[Deleted Account 5,203]

Tazewell will beat Richlands at least once in the next 3 seasons.  Mark it down.

[Ryan4VT 4,553]

22 minutes ago, UVAObserver said:

Tazewell will beat Richlands at least once in the next 3 seasons.  Mark it down.

I tend to agree. But it won’t be this year. And much like with Graham vs. Richlands or UVA vs. VT, it’s hard to actually put your money where your mouth is until it actually happens. Graham has gotten over the hurdle. 

[Gridiron60 2,555]

4 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

Tazewell will beat Richlands at least once in the next 3 seasons.  Mark it down.

Agreed, they almost held them

last year but just ran out of steam in the 4th quarter. 

[Bulldogs52 482]

21 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

Tazewell will beat Richlands at least once in the next 3 seasons.  Mark it down.

I’m gonna say 2 in the next 3 years! Which means one coming at Ernie Hicks!

[Gridiron60 2,555]

8 hours ago, Bulldogs52 said:

I’m gonna say 2 in the next 3 years! Which means one coming at Ernie Hicks!

It's a great night anytime a team beats the Blues at Ernie Hicks, that's hard to do! 

[Ryan4VT 4,553]

47 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said:

It's a great night anytime a team beats the Blues at Ernie Hicks, that's hard to do! 

Those nights are the worst. Not sure what you’re talking about. 😂😂

[techfan 43]

Just watching the groups up coming and Tazewell's skill players I tend to think they will win 2 out of the next 3 against Richlands as well. I know I haven't watched enough of Richlands younger groups and only watched very little varsity last year but I just didn't think their skill positions had the it factor but I heard the QB change helped that a lot.  I'm anxious to see the new look Blues in person

[LacesOutDan23 53]

Down at Wise during the 7-on-7, Tazewell handled the Richlands B-team easily. I know that typing it you will automatically see the B team, but Tazewell and the Richlands B team are the same ages and classes. The streak is on its last leg, being this season.

[Mountain Football 1,532]

A whole lot can change in one year. I'm not trying to be Negative Nancy here but those kids haven't played a Greg Mance coached team and won yet. I would be really surprised if any of those Tazewell kids transfer out. They have all played together in the little league system for J'me and Danny Mullins from the smurf league up. A solid group of kids that are very committed.