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I'm just ready for it to be over. my stress level is already nearly peaking.

Listening to the Union/Burton game, Mitchell was mainly used in punt returns (not sure if this will be the case Friday night or not). He had 3 or 4 passes thrown to him. One thing the Burton DB's did, which the Richlands DB's weren't very successful doing against GC, they played the ball and not Mitchell. With his height, he is going to win the battle if you don't do this. I was impressed with Zirkle's runs. He was the workhorse between the lines in the Burton game, but Owens carried it in for 3 scores. The Blues can't come out flat in the 1Q which seemed to be the case against Grundy and GC. Maybe Coach Mance needs the bus to pull up to Bullit Park, (like the Bears did at Burton) just giving the kids time enough to stretch and not get caught up in the hype of the atmosphere. I really think the Blues have a good chance to walk away with the W. I can never underestimate Coach Mance, his staff and their game plan. Going with MY BLUES IN A CLOSE ONE.

This was a quote by George Thwaites, BDT reporter---- "Who knows what the Union scouts, as conspicuous at Ernie Hicks as foreign emissaries in embassy tuxedos, made of Friday's game....... And since it was Game One for both teams being scouted, good luck sorting out the sheep from the goats in the film room Sunday afternoon."

They may had been mediocre but they made up for it with some kids that would straight hit you in the mouth.

For the first time in at least four years, this game is actually going to be interesting! Battle made huge strides last year under Britt Stone and after nearly upsetting Abingdon last week, the Trojans have got to feel confident about their chances On the other side, Michael Crist has an explosive backfield trio with QB Jamie Lathrop and RBs Michael Howard and Aaron Rose, to go along with a big and experienced offensive line So, who takes home bragging rights this year?

The worst thing for Graham is playing Tazewell this week. It will give a false sense of security when the QB takes the snap, drops back, gets rattled with the reads, then tucks and runs and unlike Bluefield, when he runs on Tazewell, nobody will be home and it's 6 points because the Tazewell defense will be that bad. Look for the Graham QB to have huge yards on called pass plays and to have a huge game in rushing giving the Graham faithful a false sense of security at QB. The problem for Graham is when they play a defense like Bluefield's, and Richlands and Giles will have a defense in the realm of Bluefields, and this is where the problems occur. The same thing will happen in round 2, and definitely by round 3 of the playoffs. Without a QB change at Graham, there is no way they get past round 3. They literally are no threat to throwing the football and you can not win like that in 2017. The 1980s are long gone, and I hate to say it, but ask Gate City fans. We have had to learn the hard way the past few years, but even with this year, our QB can get the ball 7 yards in the air to a receiver accurately. I have never really seen hardly anything like that at the High School level regarding the QB at Graham's inability to throw the ball what literally seems like is 7 yards. The sad part about that situation is that it's hurting the kid at QB more than the kid who is currently not at QB because the kid currently at QB seems like he may be a D1/FBS type player at flanker or WR, and he is not being played at his best position. The Graham coach should have made the change in the Gate City scrimmage, and definitely by the start of the Bluefield game, and if not that, by the 2nd half of the Bluefield game. <------you can see the pattern here which is why I questioned the decision making of the Graham coach after seeing them in the second half of the Bluefield game.

I know the Mountain is going to be interesting this season(like last), lots of parody but it seems like SWVA AA + Abingdon in general is gonna be tight. Richlands, Union and Graham are the top picks but the other teams are all about the same. Tazewell may be lagging behind but in a round robin type setup with Central, GC, Lee, Battle, VA, Marion, Ridgeview, Lebanon and Abingdon(hope I didn't miss anyone) every team gets a win and no one goes undefeated imo. Good competition

I really didn't see any trash talking at the graham-beaver game. First one of those games I've watched without a personal foul as well

Union_Fan is right about girls basketball... 2 years ago any of the top 4 in the Mountain district could've played for it all in Richmond... It just turned out Ridgeview and Union were the two that survived out of the district tournament. And reading that, it doesn't look like they will cross bracket. Granted, where I read that it would was in a Richmond area blog that I linked in a thread somewhere on here, so that certainly wouldn't be certified as a reputable source... but then again, the VHSL website isn't either at times, so who knows.

Gate City George Wythe Giles Radford John Battle Central Leabanon Ridgeview Carroll County Graham Northwood Narrows Hurley Twin Valley Chillhowie Honaker Patrick Henry Holston Harlan Independent Ky. Florida Virginia Florida St. LSU UCLA GOTW Union 63 Va Tech 37

Thanks for the clarification and confirmation. I'm another Tornado that wishes Tazewell would return to being a contender.

I may be in the minority but I don't see this one being that close. I Union with the home field and best player advantage wins by 2 td's

Didn't a Muncy from the 2004 team play at Tech? I felt the 2008 team was much better than Richlands talent-wise and featured another Muncy, but lost twice to them head-to-head. The second game was a great regional final.

Peoples has been working with the RB's since spring ball. He's a RB now. And we aren't going to have a "#1" back this year. Peoples, TMac, McClease and Holston are all going to touch the ball every game. Each brings a different skill set and that's what Fu wants in his backfield. The days of 1000 yard rushers is gone. It's now a committee.

False. There is no more FB in the new offense. The RB spot is listed as Peoples OR McMillian. That's the exact same way it was listed last year, but with Rogers instead of Peoples, and Rogers took the first handoff vs. Liberty last year. Fuente likes that Peoples is the best blocker of the group and has solid hands, things that TMac struggles with.

Mance knows what he's doing? Since when? Haha Just messing with ya razor...good luck Friday...should be another good one

I heard Steven Peoples is RB1 On VT's depth chart.

Mance knew the Union guys would be in attendance. So I echo what Insight had to say. They definitely just ran what was needed to win. The offense should look much different at Union. Richlands will have to play much better to win this one. Hope they do...Go Big Blue!

Tazewell beat Graham 7-5 during the regular season in '04 and 19-13 in the 1st round of the playoffs that season.

Yet another dumbass decision...play regions out and go from there...just more useless travel

Can't take credit away from where it is due. New coach first season. Tazewell does beat Va High twice. I unfortunanlty didn't make it but I remember on the radio they said Gretna normally always went for 2 and rarely punted. They made them kick XPs and punted several times. It's not always black and white but take the good things out of what does happen.