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Graham/Goochland: VA 2A Championship


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26 minutes ago, BigWinners said:

For those there, how did Goochland stack up against the best of Region D? 

Honestly the Union and/or the 2nd Richlands game were both closer IMO. Goochland did have a good D line. Well coached team. I don't think they were used to a team being that physical.

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18 minutes ago, 99Bama said:

Honestly the Union and/or the 2nd Richlands game were both closer IMO. Goochland did have a good D line. Well coached team. I don't think they were used to a team being that physical.

I don’t ever recall seeing a high school team lay the lumber like Graham did tonight.  Several vicious (but legal) hits.

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33 minutes ago, 99Bama said:

Honestly the Union and/or the 2nd Richlands game were both closer IMO. Goochland did have a good D line. Well coached team. I don't think they were used to a team being that physical.

 

Union lost by 21, and looking back that should be considered a win for the Bears morale wise lol. From all indications, Graham could have scored 40+ today but weren't quite as crisp as they were v. Radford. 

With how the G-Men ran over all their playoff opponents, no way anyone can dispute Graham was clearly the best in 2A and would beat every other 2A team by two TDs at least. 

 

Honestly, it should be two in a row for Region D had Union showed up against Appo in first half last year. 

but Palmer and his team deserve all the accolades, talk about a dominant season. 

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17 minutes ago, UVAObserver said:

I don’t ever recall seeing a high school team lay the lumber like Graham did tonight.  Several vicious (but legal) hits.

That was biggest leap from 2017-2018, the physicality and demeanor of the defense. The Graham defense was absolutely brutal towards the end of the season and were playing every bit as good as the offense. 

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32 minutes ago, UVAObserver said:

I don’t ever recall seeing a high school team lay the lumber like Graham did tonight.  Several vicious (but legal) hits.

That defense got nasty as the season progressed. Gotta give it to the coaches they just kept plugging away at it. Very physical group. Cam brought the heat several times tonight. Kastner and Edwards played their usual game, lights out. The unsung hero of the defense has to be Raley. I don't know if you can find a more hard nosed kid. 

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Nobody can ever doubt the love for the game of football our region has. Kids from several area schools made the trip to Salem today to support Graham. The posters of this message board have been quite frankly, kick ass. Thanks for the support. Can't say that enough. It feels good to have that championship brought back to our end of the state.

To our kids, TAKE IT ALL IN. Enjoy the moment. We are all very proud of you and all the coaching staff.

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2 hours ago, 99Bama said:

That defense got nasty as the season progressed. Gotta give it to the coaches they just kept plugging away at it. Very physical group. Cam brought the heat several times tonight. Kastner and Edwards played their usual game, lights out. The unsung hero of the defense has to be Raley. I don't know if you can find a more hard nosed kid. 

Kudos to Rex Bradshaw and Dennis Palmer for doing such an outstanding job fine tuning the defense; they turned those boys into a defensive machine and top marks for the boys for stepping up to the challenge each and every time. 

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https://www.heraldcourier.com/sports/allen-leads-graham-to-class-state-crown/article_8cc732be-fb61-11e8-bc8d-d30243c71619.html?fbclid=IwAR1bf_dSfZBFUHUfz9O6wI-cXS6wvNkW32lAU_1lS5RCTp5_fjWSeuYhGms

Allen leads Graham to Class 2 state crown

SALEM, Va. – Cam Allen will play football in the Big Ten next fall for Purdue University, but the final high school season for the Graham quarterback was one to remember.

With his usual mix of creativity and athleticism, Allen guided the G-Men to a 31-9 win over the Goochland Bulldogs in Saturday’s VHSL Class 2 state championship game at Salem Stadium.

Allen generated four touchdowns while rushing for 174 yards and passing for 157. That command performance lifted Allen into the No. 3 spot on the Virginia High School League record book for single-season touchdowns with 61.

“This is the best feeling ever,” said Allen, one of just eight seniors on the Graham roster. “Since freshman year, we’ve put so much into this – on the practice field, in the film room and in the classroom. We’ve all just been grinding.”

The Class 2 crown for Graham was the fourth state championship in school history and the first since 1995.

It was also a sentimental day for Graham fans. Saturday would have marked the 81st birthday for longtime Graham head football coach Glynn Carlock, who passed away in 2005.

“That makes this day even more special for us,” said Graham head coach Tony Palmer, who was a star running back under Carlock. “Coach Carlock meant everything to us, and we still carry the things he taught us in our heart.

“This victory is for our program and entire community. Our coaching staff did a great job of preparation and the kids played well in all areas.”

One week after forcing six turnovers against Radford, Graham recovered a fumble at the Goochland 44-yard line on the first offensive series of the game.

Seven plays later, Allen followed the blocks of 220-pound running back Jazaire Reed and 6-foot-7, 275-pound left tackle Gabe Sesco for a 10-yard TD run.

The tone was set.

Goochland quarterback and ace defensive back Devin McCray was helped off the field with 6:52 left in the first half after suffering a dislocated shoulder trying to tackle Allen. C.J. Towles, a 6-foot, 155-pound freshman, played the remainder of the game at quarterback.

“That was a giant loss,” said first-year Goochland head coach Alex Fruth.

McCray’s injury wasn’t the only obstacle for the Bulldogs. Senior playmaker Perry Snead-Johnson was injured on the final day of practice this week while wingback Kameron Holman was hurt in the second half Saturday.

“By the end of the game, the only [starting] guy we had out there was our fullback,” Fruth said. “Not to use that as an excuse, but it was a war of attrition to a certain extent. It doesn’t help when we turn the ball over. It was one bad thing after another.”

The escape acts of Allen added to the frustration for Goochland.

“He can make some things happen with his feet and run right by you,” Fruth said. “You have to form a good base and keep the kid in front of you, and we didn’t do a good job with that at times. We would stop them for a couple downs, then give up a big play.”

So was Graham the best team Goochland played all season?

“Obviously,” Fruth said.

Two plays later after the McCray injury, Allen connected with junior slot back Devin Lester on a 61-yard pass across the middle. After moving to the Goochland 5-yard line, the G-Men settled for a 30-yard field goal by Joey Dales.

That’s when Graham’s marquee man went into Superman mode.

Relying on his speed and vision, Allen dashed through the heart of the defense for a 50-yard run to the Goochland 31. With the G-Men facing a third-and-14 dilemma, Allen hit Lester in the back of the end zone for a 23-yard TD pass with 23 seconds left in the first half.

Lester finished the game with eight receptions for 141 yards.

“Our game plan was to just give the ball to any player that was open,” said Lester, who also recovered a fumble. “The line gave Cam time to throw, and he has a really strong arm. You always have to keep your eyes open when Cam has the ball because you never know what he’s going to do.”

The fun run is not over for Lester. He has the task of replacing Allen at quarterback.

“That’s a tough guy to follow,” Lester said. “I’m just glad that I got to be part of this team and to win a state championship with these boys.”

With the defense monitoring his every move, Allen accumulated 222 all-purpose yards and two scores in the first half.

“Teams always key on me, but we we’ve got so many guys that can make plays,” said Allen, who added a blocked extra point. “I just tell my receivers to be ready for anything.”

Goochland finished the game with just 121 total yards, as junior linebacker Aaron Edwards and Nick Kastner combined for 12 tackles.

“We stayed focused all week,’’ said Allen, who also played safety on defense the entire game. “We knew [Goochland] was going to try to run the ball, and run defense is our strong point.”

Another sequence of the Allen highlight reel developed at the 4:42 mark of the third quarter. After dancing around the defense, Allen found Tre Booker alone on the sideline and the powerful junior rambled for a 16-yard score to give Graham a 24-3 advantage.

“An athlete like Cam is one in a million, and it just so happens that he’s a G-Man,” Palmer said. “We’re very proud that he can go out as a state champion.”

Goochland gained a spark with 2:42 left in the third quarter when Graham turned the ball over on its 33-yard line after a fake punt attempt. With 31 seconds left in the quarter, Hunter Willms scored on a 6-yard run but Allen blocked the extra point attempt.

Allen provided his encore with 3:07 left in the game when he sprinted past the Goochland defense for a 37-yard TD run.

“Our guys weren’t coming away from here empty-handed,” Palmer said. “Everybody made plays.”

With Graham graduate and former National Football League star Ahmad Bradshaw snapping photos, the G-Men celebrated their conquest with alumni, family and friends. Countess fans lined up to grab a final handshake or photo from Allen.

“We did this for everybody in our community,” Allen said. “The Big Ten is the next chapter for me, and I’m ready for it.”

Goochland 0 3 6 0-9

Graham 7 10 7 7-31

Scoring Summary

GRA – Allen 10 run (Dales kick)

GO – Hayward 26 FG

GRA – Dales 30 FG

GRA – Lester 23 pass from Allen (Dales kick)

GRA – Booker 16 pass from Allen (Dales kick)

GO – Willms 6 run (kick blocked)

GRA – Allen 37 run (Dales kick)

Team Stats

First Downs: Go 7, Gra. 16; Rushes-Yards: Go. 42-98, Gra. 35-184; Passing Yards: Go. 23, Gra. 157; Comp.-Att.-Int: Go. 4-8-0, Gra. 9-17-1; Fumbles-Lost: Go. 2-2, Gra. 0-0; Penalties-Yards: Go. 8-55, Gra. 6-45; Punts-Average: Go. 1-24, Gra. 0-0.

Individual Stats

RUSHING – Goochland: Popierlarz 12-34, Snead 5-26, Willms 5-15, McCray 6-13. Graham: Allen 19-174, Reed 7-11, Lester 3-3, Booker 4-0.

PASSING: - Goochland: Towles 4-8-0-23. Graham: Allen 9-17-1-157.

RECEIVING - Goochland: Popielarz 2-16, White 2-7. Graham: Lester 8-141, Booker 1-16.

 
 

agregory@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Greg_BHCSports | (276) 645-2544

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Goochland was beat from the get go...there defense made it look like a better ballgame than it was....this game should have been worst than last week in Radford....i knew after I watched film on goochland they was in trouble...even if there backfield had been healthy they was still beat...hard to win at that level and be 1 dimensional...

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27 minutes ago, #1BLUESFAN said:

Goochland was beat from the get go...there defense made it look like a better ballgame than it was....this game should have been worst than last week in Radford....i knew after I watched film on goochland they was in trouble...even if there backfield had been healthy they was still beat...hard to win at that level and be 1 dimensional...

No disrespect to Goochland but even if #7 hadn't got injured (I hope his shoulder heals quickly) and the couple other out had played, they still weren't beating Graham yesterday. Those coaches turned the boys into students of the game, molded them from an undisciplined team first half of season to a focused football machine. 

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11 hours ago, graham32 said:

Graham should have put 50 on them. 

Agree.  This could have been much worse.  The officiating was bad.  It seems lilke every time I go to a state game, the crew is terrible. All of Goochlands points came from miscues (an INT set up their first Field goal).  A baffling call by the refs after a great punt by Graham's Joey Dales, which made the G-men punt again, which ended up with the punter getting tackled.  Graham was impressive, indeed.  Goochland was used to running over and around their opponents and they ran into a team that was more physical than they were.  Goochland got chippy, I believe because they weren't used to being punched in the mouth harder than they usually do the punching.  Graham was CLEARLY the best team in 2A this season.

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10 hours ago, BigWinners said:

That was biggest leap from 2017-2018, the physicality and demeanor of the defense. The Graham defense was absolutely brutal towards the end of the season and were playing every bit as good as the offense. 

I agree.  The defense deserves every bit as much credit for this title as the offense.  Early in the season, Goochland would have ran all over Graham's defense.  Yesterday, they didn't have a chance.

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13 hours ago, 99Bama said:

Nobody can ever doubt the love for the game of football our region has. Kids from several area schools made the trip to Salem today to support Graham. The posters of this message board have been quite frankly, kick ass. Thanks for the support. Can't say that enough. It feels good to have that championship brought back to our end of the state.

To our kids, TAKE IT ALL IN. Enjoy the moment. We are all very proud of you and all the coaching staff.

Our area is always looked down by upstate. We owe it to each other to ride together when one of our teams plays for a state title. They aren't just representing their school,but representing us all.

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Graham's biggest improvement over the season and from last year is the lineplay on both sides of the ball.  Guys like Sesco, Dimarzo, Wimmer, and Meadows improved by leaps and bounds since the Union beat down of last year and over this season.  A huge difference for Graham that may not be noticed much or felt right now, but it will be was Meadows.  You could see it from game to game that the kid was "growing" into his body.  By the time he's a junior, he's going to have offers from tons of FBS schools. If you watch him against Union, Richlands, and Radford, he just destroyed the guy across from him play after play.  Against Goochland, he got the best of his guy most of the time, but they guy from Goochland was a senior and he held his own pretty well.  

For next year, Graham does suffer some key losses at some of the skilled positions and obviously Cam, but Graham has plenty of athletes and Lester will put up video game like numbers at QB.  The issue for Graham is the offensive line.  They lose about 3 of em from tackle to tackle and those guys were monumental in Graham's success.  For Graham in my opinion, the biggest question mark and the area they have to work on the most up until next season is finding guys for the offensive line and getting them stronger and bigger.  If Graham can replicate what they had from tackle to tackle on the offensive line, they will be tough to beat again, but having the high level of play that they demonstrated on the OL from tackle to tackle this year will be very difficult to match in 2019.  

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1 hour ago, Hokie1Pokie said:

Graham's biggest improvement over the season and from last year is the lineplay on both sides of the ball.  Guys like Sesco, Dimarzo, Wimmer, and Meadows improved by leaps and bounds since the Union beat down of last year and over this season.  A huge difference for Graham that may not be noticed much or felt right now, but it will be was Meadows.  You could see it from game to game that the kid was "growing" into his body.  By the time he's a junior, he's going to have offers from tons of FBS schools. If you watch him against Union, Richlands, and Radford, he just destroyed the guy across from him play after play.  Against Goochland, he got the best of his guy most of the time, but they guy from Goochland was a senior and he held his own pretty well.  

For next year, Graham does suffer some key losses at some of the skilled positions and obviously Cam, but Graham has plenty of athletes and Lester will put up video game like numbers at QB.  The issue for Graham is the offensive line.  They lose about 3 of em from tackle to tackle and those guys were monumental in Graham's success.  For Graham in my opinion, the biggest question mark and the area they have to work on the most up until next season is finding guys for the offensive line and getting them stronger and bigger.  If Graham can replicate what they had from tackle to tackle on the offensive line, they will be tough to beat again, but having the high level of play that they demonstrated on the OL from tackle to tackle this year will be very difficult to match in 2019.  

Meadows has a UVA offer now...

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