Leaderboard

Apparently the offer wasn’t legit. Pretending to be a coach of a program to trick high school kids into believing they’ve been offered is pretty low. Tons of red flags in the individuals Twitter account but these are high schoolers though. Real offers will come.

Another factor back then is that the division cutoff was done at the regional level and not the state level. For example if there were 12 schools in Group AA Region IV, the six largest were in Division 4 and the six smallest were in Division 3, regardless of where their enrollment ranked statewide. This really screwed AA and A SWVA schools for years and likewise benefited many Group A schools in the Shenandoah Valley as they tended to on the larger side. I'm not sure where Richlands ranked statewide on the enrollment scale in 1992. I know that those good mid 1990s Grundy teams would have been Division 3 had the cutoff been at the state and not regional level. I graduated from Tazewell and our freshman class in 1986-87 had over 250 with 9-12 enrollment being in the 900s. Richlands was significantly larger than Tazewell, like over 1100 in 9-12 I think. There were some instances in multiple sports where the Division 1 state champion actually had a larger enrollment than the Division 2 state champ or runner up. One I can think of off the top of my head was Riverheads first D1 state championship in 2000. They were larger than both Honaker and King William who played for the D2 title. Likewise Nelson County won the D1 championship in basketball when they would have been D2 in any other region.

Coach Rhodes' trying to figure out SOMETHING to help the Spartans beat the Eagles, since Bland wasn't the answer. 9/26, 2:00. https://www.facebook.com/EastsideSpartanNationFootball/posts/pfbid0NCS8wujHBeXWanhjofhQezFWwuteZEnSdMxeb87V7JZqd9c6UjTAKBp19HU3Ndq6l

Leave it alone completely. I think I’m in the minority, but I believe we have a really good system. Some say we take too many to the playoffs, but I think you’d always rather take too many than not enough. Galax was your state champion in 2023 and won it as a 5 seed, so I say leave it alone. Might have to adjust cutoff numbers, but I think we still have a ways to go before we get there.

1986 Garden Green Dragons

My opinion is that Richlands underperformed in the three straight title games that they played from 2005 to 2007. Even the one they won (2006) was closer than it should have been. The Blues were far superior to the 4-loss Rockbridge County team they beat -- even accounting for Marcus Mayo's personal brilliance. Had the same impression when they lost to Poquoson in 2010. Maybe it had something to do with LU/Lynchburg. But I always found it perplexing.

Brookville probably watered the field. Hey we can all play that game, can't we? (Kidding, of course. Stinger Stadium is a poor excuse for a goat path 30 years later. So there would have been no need to enhance Brookville's pre-existing home field advantage.)

2001 Graham

As much as I complain about officials, they got both to those calls right. Dissibio did not have control of the ball (no walk) and Reece was not fouled.

Depth. Usually its depth related. If you aren't very deep, even though your first 5 or 6 are very good, it's hard to press in the first half because not much is left in the tank offensively by the 4th quarter. It sounds like Todd Baker once again, did a masterful job. I've heard Graham only plays 7 kids, if true, when Graham plays Lebanon again or Union/GC/Central in the playoffs, those teams better be watchful of Graham in the 4th quarter. It's easy to get comfortable without facing much pressure for the 3 quarters, and then you find yourself in the 4th quarter under immense pressure you hadn't seen all game. That's not an easy adjustment if you aren't prepared for it.

Let's hope whoever it is axes the freeloaders

Let's look at Richlands Graham and Union historically and not think athletic transfers haven't helped change those programs as well when they happened. It's part of the landscape for a few decades. Even though some rules are changing, it won't change it dramatically from what happens currently either.

Mance to return for another year Despite speculation and conversations about his potential retirement, Loris football head coach Greg Mance confirmed to MyHorryNews on Friday, Jan. 9, that he would be returning as the team's coach in 2026. It is expected that Mance will coach the Lions for, at minimum, at least the next two seasons. Mance has led the Loris program since 2020, reaching the Lower State Finals in both of the last two seasons. Last year, the Lions had the most successful year of any football program in school history, going 13-1 and winning a region championship for the second season in a row.

I certainly don't want to keep derailing the thread about Jackson's historic feat because he absolutely deserves the praise and recognition. However, since we have been talking about it here in this thread, I thought I would share what GW Coach Tony Dunford had to say on Facebook regarding Goode: "Today one of George Wythe’s greatest players ever, David Goode learned that his senior season will end prematurely due to a severe knee injury suffered just a few minutes into Tuesday’s game. When I heard the official news today, my heart broke into a million pieces for this kid, knowing how much this season meant to him. “DG” was leading our team in every category. Having played unselfishly in his role in past seasons to help GWHS see one of the best runs in SWVA history along with two state final appearances and securing a state championship title in 2025; David was well on his way to becoming GWHS’s All-Time Leading Scorer. Known to many as a “shooter”, David was consistently asked to guard the opponents best player during his career. David often led our Maroons in defensive statistics and likely has taken more charges than any player in GW history. As a freshman, David hit the winning free throws to send the Maroons to their first state final appearance since 2008. David played an integral part in helping the Maroons win the 2025 State Championship while earning 1st Team All State honors. David’s leadership was superb before his injury guiding the Maroons to a 9-1 start for the 2025-26 season. Knowing the years and hours this young man has put into his craft; to have his career end in such a manner breaks my heart. He deserved an opportunity to acheive the additional personal and team goals he had for his high school career. I am so proud of this young man. It’s been enjoyable watching him mature into an extraordinary leader for our program, school and community. As most know; David will be playing golf for Radford University after graduating. I request please for continued prayers for his health & recovery. Please reach out to him with your love, support and encouragement. I know he would be so grateful given this challenging time. I’ve been extremely blessed and honored to have coached #10"

Oh yeah this is 100% someone from NOVA just throwing something out there. I know people on here have been against sub .500 teams not deserving to make the play off but that doesn’t happen that often and when the do it’s a tune up game for the 1 seed. But the difference between 1 and 2 is huge you would be potentially cutting 1a out of post season consideration completely

Agreed. Id rather a non deserving team make it as opposed to a deserving team getting left out.

This

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but it appears to be a "proposal" by some random blogger on Facebook . The VHSL would laugh this guy out of the room. There's no known universe where the VH$L will cut out two classifications and lose the revenue from 62 total playoff games. It'd be an unmitigated disaster for Class A teams in SWVA as well.

This is starting to come together to make sense. The white haired official seemed to have a foul on Richlands on the made basket, signaling the basket was good, and that's probably why the clock operator put up the 2 points on the scoreboard. As he started towards the scorer's table to report the foul, the official under the basket stopped him to ask something, so he never made it to the table to report the foul. The trail official (not in the picture as the basket is scored) is generally the sole official to determine if a basket it good or not on baskets at the buzzer. They all huddled and discussed it and the head official seemed to run to the scorer's table signaling the the basket counted, and waving that the game was over. The only way he could have said that (game over) was to be thinking that the score was tied when the basket was made and the basket gave Tazewell a 2-point win and no FT was needed. Very unfortunate for Tazewell, as the basket was good and they should have been shooting 1 FT for a chance to win. The haste to make a decision led to the wrong decision being made. Just my two cents.

Richlands win Southwest District tournament. Andrew Boyd and Ian Ray tied for Southwest District Wrestler of the Year. Team Scores Richlands 201.5 Marion 173.0 Graham 93.0 Virginia High 88.5 Lebanon 77.5 Tazewell 53.0 106 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Brayden McCracken of Richlands 2nd Place - Caden Hash of Marion 3rd Place - Logan Lambert of Graham 1st Place Match Brayden McCracken (Richlands) 26-9, Jr. over Caden Hash (Marion) 32-7, Sr. (Fall 4:57) 113 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Marcus Coleman of Virginia H.S. 2nd Place - Brennon Patton of Richlands 3rd Place - Caleb Mercer of Marion 4th Place - Cayden Fox of Graham 1st Place Match Marcus Coleman (Virginia H.S.) 22-10, So. over Brennon Patton (Richlands) 13-21, Fr. (Fall 3:58) 3rd Place Match Caleb Mercer (Marion) 7-22, So. over Cayden Fox (Graham) 16-13, So. (Fall 1:29) 120 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Kale Hess of Virginia H.S. 2nd Place - Cadynn Rowe of Richlands 3rd Place - Tyler Farmer of Tazewell 4th Place - Parker Bourne of Graham 1st Place Match Kale Hess (Virginia H.S.) 26-8, Sr. over Cadynn Rowe (Richlands) 25-14, Fr. (Dec 18-11) 3rd Place Match Tyler Farmer (Tazewell) 17-9, So. over Parker Bourne (Graham) 15-15, Fr. (Fall 0:16) 126 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Grayson Brammer of Lebanon 2nd Place - Devin Blankenship of Richlands 3rd Place - Zaryn Bowman of Marion 4th Place - Walker Supena of Graham 5th Place - Dontae Daggs of Virginia H.S. 1st Place Match Grayson Brammer (Lebanon) 10-3, So. over Devin Blankenship (Richlands) 20-18, Jr. (Fall 0:53) 3rd Place Match Zaryn Bowman (Marion) 19-14, So. over Walker Supena (Graham) 18-14, Fr. (Dec 9-5) 132 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Max Golliher of Marion 2nd Place - Bill Gilmer of Lebanon 3rd Place - Devon Young of Tazewell 1st Place Match Max Golliher (Marion) 29-6, So. over Bill Gilmer (Lebanon) 20-14, Sr. (TF-1.5 2:34 (17-2)) 138 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Ty Jones of Richlands 2nd Place - Logan McVey of Lebanon 3rd Place - Eli Terry of Marion 4th Place - Bryant Dunagon of Tazewell 1st Place Match Ty Jones (Richlands) 31-11, Jr. over Logan McVey (Lebanon) 10-13, Jr. (Fall 0:39) 3rd Place Match Eli Terry (Marion) 10-8, Sr. over Bryant Dunagon (Tazewell) 7-12, Sr. (Fall 0:56) 144 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Brennon Hess of Richlands 2nd Place - Colby Davis of Marion 3rd Place - Jayson Hancock of Tazewell 1st Place Match Brennon Hess (Richlands) 17-10, Fr. over Colby Davis (Marion) 16-11, Fr. (Fall 1:13) 150 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Leland Altizer of Graham 2nd Place - Ethan Conway of Marion 3rd Place - Brayden Davis of Richlands 4th Place - Jacob Gibson of Lebanon 5th Place - Kelly Earls of Tazewell 1st Place Match Leland Altizer (Graham) 33-3, Jr. over Ethan Conway (Marion) 19-13, Sr. (MD 8-0) 3rd Place Match Brayden Davis (Richlands) 10-3, 1st. over Jacob Gibson (Lebanon) 4-11, Fr. (TF-1.5 1:00 (19-4)) 157 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Andrew Boyd of Richlands 2nd Place - Jacob Burks of Virginia H.S. 3rd Place - Brennan Havens of Graham 4th Place - Colten Jessee of Marion 5th Place - Austin Graham of Tazewell 1st Place Match Andrew Boyd (Richlands) 36-7, Sr. over Jacob Burks (Virginia H.S.) 11-6, So. (Fall 0:49) 3rd Place Match Brennan Havens (Graham) 26-7, So. over Colten Jessee (Marion) 11-16, So. (Fall 2:50) 165 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Ian Ray of Lebanon 2nd Place - Bryan Hay of Richlands 3rd Place - Aaron Joyce of Virginia H.S. 4th Place - Ben Garrison of Marion 5th Place - Conner Cecil of Graham 6th Place - Emory Hull of Tazewell 1st Place Match Ian Ray (Lebanon) 31-2, Sr. over Bryan Hay (Richlands) 25-5, Jr. (Fall 0:35) 3rd Place Match Aaron Joyce (Virginia H.S.) 26-11, So. over Ben Garrison (Marion) 20-13, . (Fall 3:36) 5th Place Match Conner Cecil (Graham) 23-8, So. over Emory Hull (Tazewell) 1-4, Jr. (Fall 1:47) 175 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Garrett Moore of Marion 2nd Place - Dalton Robinson of Graham 3rd Place - Jeremiah Daggs of Virginia H.S. 4th Place - Branson Nguyen of Tazewell 5th Place - Jaxson Shortt of Richlands 1st Place Match Garrett Moore (Marion) 34-6, Sr. over Dalton Robinson (Graham) 31-6, Sr. (Dec 7-2) 3rd Place Match Jeremiah Daggs (Virginia H.S.) 19-14, Jr. over Branson Nguyen (Tazewell) 10-11, So. (Fall 0:30) 190 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Devon Cantu of Marion 2nd Place - T.J. Lawson of Richlands 3rd Place - Kaydn Hunsucker of Graham 1st Place Match Devon Cantu (Marion) 23-8, So. over T.J. Lawson (Richlands) 16-17, So. (MD 16-6) 215 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Colden Greer of Marion 2nd Place - Blake Vandyke of Richlands 3rd Place - Randy Harrold of Graham 4th Place - Cade Vass of Tazewell 1st Place Match Colden Greer (Marion) 14-10, So. over Blake Vandyke (Richlands) 30-9, Jr. (Fall 3:47) 3rd Place Match Randy Harrold (Graham) 15-15, So. over Cade Vass (Tazewell) 11-12, Jr. (Fall 0:31) 285 Guaranteed Places 1st Place - Trevor Dupree of Richlands 2nd Place - Konner Whitt of Marion 3rd Place - Zane Settle of Tazewell 4th Place - Anthony Galbreth of Virginia H.S. 5th Place - Allen Tibbs of Graham 1st Place Match Trevor Dupree (Richlands) 21-5, Jr. over Konner Whitt (Marion) 26-8, Jr. (Fall 1:36) 3rd Place Match Zane Settle (Tazewell) 12-9, So. over Anthony Galbreth (Virginia H.S.) 26-11, Sr. (Fall 0:59)

Oh I know you were just speculating. You would have thought that in all of that mess, one of the refs would have had enough sense to go to the scorers table and try to figure out what was going on.

I can tell you for a fact that neither of those teams are winning it

Abingdon, GC and Union all have two losses. Wise has been beaten three times, all four can still win it and they’ve all beat each other. Basically, flip a coin.

Phil set out some players to appease some upset parents and allowed some SRs who had been backups to start a playoff game in one move, all while playing a team that they had no chance of losing to and had smoked 48-14 earlier in the season.

I think 97 ended in the opening round to PV who were without the services of a a few players due to a postgame video after beating Appy to end the regular season.

Two bits of information here: 1. Galax has dropped Glenvar, Graham, and Northside and has picked up Craig County, Montcalm (WV), and J.I. Burton in their place. This has apparently been done since November, or perhaps earlier, but I hadn’t seen it discussed on the board, so I figured I’d pass it on. 2. The second, and biggest piece of information, is that Narrows has an opening for head coach posted on their website. Has been posted since 1/22, so again, apologies if this was known, but didn’t recall seeing it discussed.

Talk to Chuck Presley and Eric Young. They can make it happen anytime they want to. Problem is they dont.

I agree 100%, but I am a little biased. That team featured McCommons at tailback, Jason Lester at fullback, an aggressive senior laden offensive line and Stevie Dye at quarterback. The defense was stout against the run. Pass defense was our Achilles heel.

I would say 2006 John I Burton is one. Lost 21-20 and there was a controversial flag on a Burton TD. There was one Gate City team in 2002? They shut out most of their opponents. The only team to score more than 2 TDs on them actually beat them AND won state. Of course numerous Greeneville and Elizabethton teams. 01-03 had some TOUGH Cloudland teams, but the level of competition in regular season really hurt them once they played some Knoxville, Chattanooga teams.

Looked like Graham tried to adjust their defense for Lebanon early, then went back to their bread and butter late in the game. Martin carried the team early and Dissibbio carried them late. Graham missed way too many easy shots...

When Graham beat GC a couple years back in the region semi’s at gate city they were down big going into the 4th and in a blink Graham was up because of their full court press defense. Baker said in the paper I had that plan in my pocket but because of depth issues you can't run it all game or you'd wear the team out. The only thing saving us right now is a graham issue that they’re not having more kids come out giving them more depth or this thing would really be out of hand

@Stelley that was a great game a heartbreaking loss, Reece is unstoppable and left everything he had on the court last night. This doesn't mean Lebanon can't beat Graham but Va High was fortunate enough these previous 4yrs to be able to compete with Graham and I seen time after time Va High up double digits with 3 minutes left and the game comes down to a last second shot. Graham is dangerous with the athletes and defense they have that you can't relax until the horn blows in the 4th quarter and you're up. Reece is the best player in SWVA, Landon Lee is getting d1 offers and Graham shut him down in the region championship last year. We all watched Graham play even in the 2nd half to a team loaded with d1 talent in John Marshall, none of this matters to them, Baker is playing chess against everybody else in va class 2 and they just have the athletes that the rest of us doesn't. The past season was considered a down year for Graham in football and they were a couple plays away from beating one of the best Union teams, if the rest of us would of had Graham team last season we would have celebrated how good that team was

Rural Retreat 3-0 Central 2-1 Richlands 1-2 Union 0-3 Rural Retreat 55 Central 18 Central 42 Union 38 Central 51 Richlands 24 Richlands 42 Union 41 Rural Retreat 56 Richlands 24 Don't know the Rural Retreat/Union score.

If they play like they did tonight Lebanon will beat them by double digits.

Can you place that in another thread. I know of another thread that has only been around a short time, had very few responses regarding Akers.

Sooooo Chris Akers going to Union?

If he makes 5 in a row then misses 5 in a row it would be 50%....lol....just messing with ya

I think he's one of the best in the state of Virginia for Class 2. Not hyperbole. I mean it. Baker is absolutely solid.

This seems to be the case for most teams in todays game. It is rare to see a team that is able to get the ball into the post much less have a post player being able to score with their back to the basket. A majority of players are settling for the three point shot and their coaches are content to run a 5 out system using their big men as screeners instead of scorers.

Hayes almost single handedly won that game for Central

If it's a penalty it should be called period

It's wild to think that Hurley and Garden in the early 1990s were the same size Richlands and Tazewell are now.

My two cents worth of random nuggets regarding Cleatgate, as I covered it at the time as a sportswriter. 1) In the state championship game the following week against Orange County, Richlands took a long time to come back out of the locker room after pre-game warmups. In a phone interview a week or two after the championship game, once all the cleat controversy started hitting the news, Orange's coach John Curia told me that days prior to the final, Salem's staff had tipped them off about Richlands possibly wearing illegal cleats. Orange asked the refs to check them in warmups and Richlands supposedly had to go back and change them before coming back out of the locker room. 2) The Monday after the Salem game, a parent of one of the Richlands players told me and a couple of coworkers that there was talk about Richlands using illegal cleats. He stated "our cleats were just as legal as theirs were". 3) Vaught said in interviews right after the Salem game that Richlands could have easily passed against them because of how they were selling out to stop the run. Vaught said they felt no need to even risk it given how they were moving the ball and controlling the clock just by keeping it between the tackles. 4) Richlands had used the split-back veer all season until they switched to a two tight end, I formation with an unbalanced line and fullhouse backfield for the Salem game. They came out in the I again the next week but Orange stuffed it on the first possession and Richlands went back to their normal split-back offense the remainder of the game. 5) Vaught eventually admitted to using the cleats after an employee (probably a Salem fan lol) at CMT Sporting Goods in Roanoke provided the Salem Times-Register newspaper a receipt showing where RHS purchased the cleats in the days prior the game. When the receipt first surfaced, Vaught initially said they used them only for practice. 6) The Tazewell County School Board later held a meeting (open to the public) at the Tazewell High School Auditorium to decide on Vaught's fate as coach. The board voted 4-1 to suspend him for one year, with the one vote against being Tazewell-area board member Ben Susman who wanted to fire him. After the decision was rendered, the overwhelmingly pro-Vaught crowd was furious. Ray Cox, the writer from the Roanoke Times who was there covering the meeting, was walking out not far from me after the meeting was over and I was concerned someone from the crowd might attack him. The high school sports editor for the Times then was Bob Teitelbaum and he had covered the game itself plus written some of the cleatgate-related articles after. Cox, for whatever reason, was the one covering the meeting that night. Some of the things I heard yelled at him were: "GO TO H***" "TAKE YOUR A** BACK TO ROANOKE WHERE YOU BELONG" "WHY DON'T YOU CALL UP YOUR FAT BUDDY TEITELBAUM, MAYBE HE'LL MEET UP WITH YOU IN NARROWS FOR A SAUSAGE BISCUIT"

I figured Central would give Graham a better game at home. I’m sticking with Lebanon as top dog unless Graham beats them. Graham has a serious depth problem. They get in foul trouble early against a good team, it might get ugly.

Hate to hear that the young mans career has been cut short. Prayers for a speedy recovery.

We all know y'all's recruiting train heads north now, not south.

Bob Knight always said the bench was the world’s greatest motivational tool. A$$ meets bench Bench retains A$$ A$$ transmits signal to brain Its a helluva series of events

I recall those Radford and Blacksburg teams fairly well. Blacksburg had just came off of their 4th or 5th loss when GW went over there to play and won out the rest of the way. Turnovers hurt us in the second quarter and Blacksburg scored 16 in the quarter to win 19-0. Trussell lit up the second half of the season and playoffs that year. They were very good up front and was anchored by Jared Hamlin who went on to play at VT and start fairly early. Radford just hammered us here in Wytheville. The score escapes me but it was bad haha! Snowy night that night. Lewis Ramsey, Maceo Dickenson, and Ritchie Delany come to mind. I'm sure I could recall a few others of each team if I sat and thought about it. Radford was the better of those two....And I personally don't think it's close. The NRD was really good that season. Giles had Eaves. Christiansburg had Stanley.

Hold your horses now!!! I think Coach Mance could match him in coaching. Coach Mance in 2024 was the 3A COY in SC. In 2025 he took the Lions, for the 2nd year in a row, to the Lower State Championship Game again with locals, no transfers. His 2025 Lions team, had 3 of his seniors signing with D-1 South Carolina State. - His record at Richlands has garnered him the honor of the football field being named for him. FLC you are a wealth of info and stats. You remember more in a day, than I recall in a year. I would say the difference if it went to Harless, would lie more in years left to coach, and not the execution of the game. Coach Mance has an innate ability to know where to place each player to get the maximum for his team.

The biggest addition Martinsville made this season was the new coach they hired. VHSL hall of famer who coached Grant Hill and Scottie Reynolds in high school. Has them very connected and playing with alot of poise and discipline. Farley scored I think 18 Friday night but had to work for all of them. Dogs are 8-9 deep right now but have been missing their starting pg since late Dec. Suppose to be back before the end of the regular season. Region C is going to be tough also with Floyd, Nelson Co, Gretna and a few more in the mix.