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The only buses getting lost at Riverheads are the Augusta County school buses on the days VHSL counts Average Daily Membership!

Well my years as a "Raiders Football Dad" have come to an end. Kind of a big pill to swallow for sure! My oldest son graduated in 2018 and finished his years as a Raider with a 54-3 record and accumulated three championship rings along the way. My youngest son will graduate this year. He finished his years as a Raider with a 47-5 record (senior year only had 6 games) and accumulated three championship rings along the way. As a Raider Dad over the past 6 years I've watched my boys be part of a program that has gone 77-5!! What a blessing!! Even more so than the record is the fact that they got to play under Coach Smith and his staff (Coach Stephan Castello serving as interim HC this year). They pushed these kids to be their best and spent countless hours preparing to help their teams be ready to compete. Coach Smith has gone well beyond football with the boys and for many of them (mine included) is a pillar for them to have faith in for the future. During this time I've enjoy two trips to Big Stone Gap and had the privilege of witnessing an awesome OT game against Richlands in 2015.

I know when my wife ( at the time ) and I decided to have our first child back in the early 80's that if we had a son ( had a beautiful girl ) that I would not push him to play football, and in fact, try to nudge him toward a more none contact sport ( if he decided to play sports ) because of what I have had to deal with, which has gotten worse as I get older. ( now 61 turn 62 in July ). But if he really wanted to play, then of course I would help him any way I could. I started playing football when I was 7 in Maryland and continued through high school at Richlands. I transferred here back in the mid 70's. My parents were from Richlands and moved to Aberdeen Md in 58 after they got married for work but would get homesick every time we came back to visit family, anyway I digress, I also played baseball and had a couple of small injuries, but most of my issues have come from the sport I absolutely love........football. I have had 3 knee surgeries, 1 ACL, 1 MCL and 1 to remove the meniscus from my right knee, I am now told that I will have to have a total knee replacement on my left knee. I recently had a total shoulder replacement done to my right shoulder ( done by Dr Hommel in Bristol - highly recommend him ) because of 2 shoulder separations and 1 dislocation on my right shoulder, and I suffer from migraines and vision issues that the Dr's at UVA say are more than likely from the concussions I "probably" had from football. I say probably because back in the days I played, ( and I am sure a lot of you old guys on here know about this } they were simply called "getting your bell rung " and you were very often told to "suck it up and get back in there" which is what I wanted to do. I don't blame my coaches because they did not have the info back then of course that they have now. Now let me say this, I still would not change my years of playing football ! I learned so much about life and how to push myself and made some fantastic friends because of football and still have a love for the sport, but I do understand why some parents do not want their kids playing and maybe nudge them in a different direction or to flag football. I also think that maybe flag football for the younger kids is a good idea. One of my knee injuries and I of my shoulder separations were during youth football. I just would not want my son ( if I had one) to have to deal with the pain and surgeries and other issues that I have to deal with, and will probably have to deal with for the rest of my life. But I guess each parent has to make that decision for them selves. But you know, saying all of that..........if I had do it over again, as I sit here and think about this, I think I would still want to play ! God I loved being on that field with my teammates ! Sorry about the long post just wanted to give my perspective.

And so it is decreed that, each year, the various districts of Class 1 Region C and D would offer up, in tribute, one team of brave young men to battle the Riverheads Gladiators in a pageant of honor, courage and sacrifice.

The prominent Lee County businessman:

Watching some of their games this year I noticed their sportsmanship several times. Pretty impressive. Appomattox Football kinda reminds me of Grundy Wrestling. When you go to Grundy for the Aggie Skeens or a dual there's not a person there that doesn't treat you like family. By the time you get back to Oakwood you realize everyone on the team got pinned in the first or second round and you somehow have a smile on your face because of how nice they are.

My second born son was just named to the varsity soccer team at Liberty-Bedford. Pretty sure he is the only freshman that was taken. They had good numbers at tryouts and it's a very deep pool in terms of talent. All three of my boys are pretty gifted physically. But #2 is the best athlete among them by far. He also wrestles (won three event medals in his first year) and played pretty much every down on the JV football team this spring season. Kid has also suffered mightily this past year due to the various shutdowns. So this good news is certainly welcome and I just can't help but crow about it.

*getting educated on my home county and school....

I keep seeing the word “dominant”, but I’m not sure it’s being used correctly.

It's all about the money...

The only reason they offered it to you was I declined it. I have an ex -girlfriend that lives in Raven and I can't afford 4 new tires every evening:)

Simple truth is, COVID kills the dying. Based on CDC data, weakened immune systems, pneumonia, type 2 Diabetes, weakened systems due to old age, and other poor health factors are the most common reasons for Covid deaths. Covid alone rarely kills, the youngest and most healthy among us are not as impacted by it. This is not my opinion, this is based on statistical data. *Rarely (adverb) -not often or seldom ** I included the definition of rarely so those suggest that say I am arguing that Covid only kills sick people can brush up on their vocabulary. Only -(adverb) and no one or nothing more besides; solely or exclusively. BTW, the virtue signalling in this thread is sickening.

Are you telling me that the electronics that you speak of are only sold in Lee County, Virginia? Union High School, not far from Lee County, just won a State Championship in Basketball and was in the State-Semifinals in Football... Graham has always been smaller than Lee High School, yet, they compete in Football and Basketball most seasons. A number of other schools locally could be used as an example. Maybe electronics or lazy kids aren't the problem. Could be the adults???

Ad from WRFX radio station in Charlotte circa 1990: "The competition says we suck. We'd just like to thank them for listening."

Appo is all class. For me, it's impossible to not like em even if you tried. Lots of fans hate or dislike winning teams unless you are a fan of that winning team, but Appo makes it super tough to do that. Their kids on the field and their coaches do it with class and dignity. They're humble winners and just never seem to big headed even with all the success. That's a reflection of their leadership.

I kinda thought that's what this board was for. Before said game all of us experts what each team must do to win. Usually consisting of the obvious. Don't turn the ball over, limit penalties, block, tackle, etc. Post game the winning team normally talks about what this kid or that kid did so good while the losing team talks about the turnovers, jersey tackling, etc. At least thats been my experience on here. I mean let's be honest would this board be any fun without @EH31 betting Frosty's or @UVAObserver betting the farm, or @jarhead24219 just being jarhead? Gosh don't forget @cityofRavenwho has the best dry and sarcastic sense of humor period.

New she was gonna be a good one. Got to witness her vs. Union for 3 years striking everyone out

This ^.

Buddy I hope you get to blow that horn so much you have to buy a new one.

Ive got a bad knee, back injury (that has healed with time and daily stretching) and a bad shoulder(both are damaged but my left more so) from playing football. Also a few other injuries from weightlifting(one of which actually bothers me more than any other injury). As far as concussions, well I got my bell rung a few times, I'm no Doctor but those were without a doubt concussions. I didn't play football until 7th grade so I cant speak on the effects of little league. I think for the game of football it would be better to play only flag until they're 12 years old: too many bad habits are formed and too many players lost from sitting on the sidelines or being told "just block somebody". Better to play 7 on 7 flag and keep them interested in the game. I wouldn't trade my playing experience for anything. I wasn't the best player but what the game taught me and gave me, is still giving me, is irreplaceable and without a doubt made me the man I am today. Well worth the injuries and long term effects to me.

I played four years of Little League back in the day when the Richlands program had only 4-teams (Richlands Green Waves, Richlands Golden Eagles, Cedar Bluff Blue Devils, and Jewell Ridge Red Raiders) those were fun years full of many good memories, but I also played a lot of flag football later in life. I, like many others, feel that flag football at the younger age would be a good way to go. Back in our time, you couldn't play Little League until you were 8 yrs. old, and we really smacked the heck out of each other, but fortunately there were no bad injuries that I can recall, just good old fashion hard nosed football. Maybe we're just starting our youth league at to early an age, and when they start let them play flag for the first couple of years. Maybe hold off on tackling until they reach the age of 12 would be a good way to go, in my opinion.

Until Middle School , kids should be playing flag football. Number one, young kids don’t need to be wearing full gear & tackling, etc. Number two, too many little league coaches don’t teach proper technique then coaches in middle & high school have to try and correct it. That’s no easy feat sometimes. All this just my humble opinion.

@TwhscoachT has the right term with "respectable"

Carroll County has averaged about a 30 kid decline each year for the past four or five years. They could potentially be Class 2 by 2023-2024 if this proposal happens. I'm all for reducing the classifications. I think six is too many. But it has to be done in a reasonable way. Having Graham, Radford and John Marshall in the same classification as Bland, Rye Cove and Castlewood is ridiculous.

Good luck to you and your family going forward. Pretty amazing what the Appo football team has accomplished in recent years. Dominance to say the least. I hope you continue to contribute on here. Yourself and the other Appo fans have always been classy.

I have a park full of empty trailers ready to welcome in some new tenants!

I watched the Appomattox game , I thought for sure that it was going to be a repeat of the Union game , but boy oh boy those Cougars came back. Best State finals in a very long time. Congrats to DA Raiders and congrats to the Cougars for battling back, you should be very proud

One of my closest friends is the head baseball coach at Charlottesville High School. He was hired after the 2018 season, when Charlottesville went 0-20. The 2019 3A state champion was Fluvanna County. Charlottesville played Fluvanna County last night, and beat them 8-5. 7 of Charlottesville’s starters are underclassmen. I know it’s not SWVA related, but I wanted to brag on a friend and show just how quickly fortunes can turn when good coaching meets community buy-in. http://www.scrimmageplaycva.com/articles/stories/charlottesville-baseball-stuns-fluvanna-in-home-opener/?fbclid=IwAR3YVeBDmwytMEzp4hfIs19Qy5vDcCSOKKJqAu3DLNtwiN5mIBWmSer03Ew

What an utter shame!!!!! Penalize the programs that made it happen for the kids under the falsehood of "fair".

The justification is nonsense as well.... "Some schools didn't play....so we won't do All-State because it wouldn't be fair...." Why are our kids held hostage by decisions made in haste in other areas of the state? We braved the pandemic and made the sacrifices required.... silly.

Too little too late. This could have happened months ago. On a side note... the VHSL also decided to NOT have ALL State voting this year for football, which is an utter travesty.

Here's what I've got @jarhead24219 : Lee: 11 rush, 127 yards, 3 TD GC: 26-157-2 Battle: 18-149-2 Wise 1: 24-109-1 Wise 2: 115 yards Graham: 29-137-2 Abingdon: 17-65-1 Eastside: 57-1 Appomattox: 154-3 So for the season, I have him at 1,069 yards and 15 TD. Averages of 118.7 yards per game and 1.6 TD/game I couldn't find carry totals for every game and may have missed a TD but I believe yards are correct. Great year, he could have added 100 more against East side but he didn't get touches. Only Abingdon and Eastside held him under 100.

Great hire to be honest. It will be good for the MED as a whole. I think it will further isolate Bland though. Not suggesting Bland doesn't have quality coaching. I just wish they had a fighting chance. VHSL needs to rework the classifications. The gap between Grayson, Galax and George Wythe to Radford, Graham and Fort Chiswell isn't nearly as wide as the gap between Galax, Grayson and GW to Bland, Craig and JI Burton. Fielding a team from 250 students is a far cry harder from fielding a team from 400 students.

Coach Smith came over to the Richlands sideline after the quarterfinal up in Appo and applauded our fans and yelled at us telling us it was the most fun he had ever had at a high school game and thanked us for bringing so many to boost the atmosphere. Absolutely tired of them winning, but it’s hard to dislike their program. 😂😂

To be very honest i was very fearful of playing against Union. Union has really come together as a team at the right time to peak. Due to the rain i knew the team with the least fumbles was going to win the game plain and simple. Fumbles gave Appo momentum and they rolled with it and kept Union having to play catch up. Kinda sorta glad the game was not on a dry field as stopping Union's run attack might have been harder if they were able to get better traction on the field. Union is going to be a force to reckon with this fall, they are young and very tough, i fully expect to face them this fall in the playoffs. Congrats to Union players you guys are true champions.

Not much to say about this game other than Appo had speed that Union didn't. Very proud of our young line and the way we moved the ball. Unfortunately, we just couldn't match up with their backs once they hit the 2nd level. Can't coach speed and it's very hard to coach against it. Appreciate the seniors on the team and happy they got at least a partial season. To all the players that will be back in the fall, hit the weights, run track, work hard, don't give up, don't give in, and take a tremendous amount of pride in knowing that you accomplished more than expected and you will be even better in August! Good luck to Appomattox next week, and thank you for the great sportsmanship. You have a great team!

And I don't know about you guys on the board, but I think it's total BS that a private school that can legally recruit can play in the same league as public schools that can't. Granted, do they recruit like college programs do? Generally no, but it's still a legal advantage their public peers around them don't have. They need to be in the private school league with Roanoke Catholic and North Cross. Just like in WV when you see Wheeling Central Catholic competing for state titles in single A in football and basketball all the time.

Good on Holston and congrats to Galax. It's been a long time since the Cavs' state tournament runs under Matlock, and they've been the underlings of the Hogo for longer than they'd like to admit. Hope this gives them some experience to stay competitive the next couple of years. Good to see one of the lower enrollment VHSL schools swing above their weight class, and hopefully the Tide can pull the upset against Riverheads.

Less then 24 hrs away and Appomattox is on their way. The bears are patiently waiting, the park is nice and quite and the horn has a big ole giant smile on its face as it sleeps knowing it gets to scream for her bears tomorrow. The Bears have a BIG giant hurdle in front of them. Can they do it ???? Nobody thought they would make it this far. This team reminds me of the 89 Appalachia state championship team GUTS and BLOOD. They can do it I believe. It's going to take all of them. And to the people who get into the park tomorrow be loud very loud you ain't going to no funeral. Go Bears

Wythe County demands a recount.

2016 Appomattox thumps Union at their place, that night Janina Jones was murdered by her husband Eric Jones. She left behind her children . Lomax was one of those kids. Appomattox lost some kids in the early morning hours before the game. The reason brought this up is this, no matter the score, no matter who wins , we are all winners when the kids stay healthy.....Go Bears , be safe Appomattox fans and let’s all pray that God sends his angels to watch over us all

Wow... Coach Wells already quit UVA?

Don't be ridiculous. It's actually going to be the reconstructed DNA of Ernie Hicks.

May the odds be ever in their favor! Is this a Quarter Quell year? 😁

having once saw a young athlete become paralyzed from lowering his head on a hit, it's scary as hell at times watching your kid during a collision. you always hope you're kids aren't on the receiving end of a big hit but at the same time like to see big hits when they get up and go back to the huddle ok. the number of bad injuries compared to the number of plays during a career is low but it's always on the horizon. it's not hard to tell when a kid has been taught correctly/incorrectly and unfortunately you still see it at the college level and professional level every day. the game speed has increased along with size, speed, strength, and raw ability at all levels compared to just 20 years ago. the game isn't meant to be played passive so injuries are always going to happen. good luck to all those brave enough to still strap on a helmet and play.

But they do have this! https://twitter.com/emptytrophycase?lang=en

Did same in basketball. Absolutely ridiculous decision. Those kids deserve to be recognized.

When that fire truck brings the team in, make sure it's got a full tank of water....

I'm not referring to any other conversation that people have posted the last couple of weeks but I do have a couple of shoutouts #1 I wanna give a shoutout to JONES #44 for all the tremendous work and the team member he has been to help Union move on to the playoffs. #2 A big thanks to UNION'S HAMMER for bringing the train horn on the road tonight. I'm sure you got the Union crowd fired up and helped to cheer on the bears. #3 Congrats to the entire team...you are all powerhouses to be reckoned with Like I've said Southwest VA's football is unbelievable and I'm glad we can be a part of it.

More teams need to utilize the Oopty Oop.