bgibb

Let’s tear em’ up G-Men!

Hoping for a great game and a great showing by both fans bases. Safe travels for the devil fans making the trip up from Independence.

Once again, very nice job Ryan and Brady. Always look forward to this podcast every week. You all should def keep it going into the basketball season!

I will be the first to admit that I question the offensive play calling time to time but I don't believe a coaching change is needed anywhere on this staff. Graham has been blessed with unbelievable talent the past couple of years but coaches do play a part in utilizing that talent and pushing the players to play to their full potential. Cooke graduating this year will no doubt be a huge loss but we will still have Cam Allen, Devin Lester, and Reed coming back next year. Cam has grown a lot as a QB this year, Devin is without a doubt the surprise player of the year, and if Reed can stay healthy, I believe Graham will have a very good season next year. After next season, yes we could possibly see a couple rebuilding seasons but I don't think you will see a huge drop off like previous seasons. Coach Palmer is one heck of a ball coach, and one heck of a good man. He loves Bluefield, Graham, and his players and in return Bluefield, Graham, players, and our fans love him. I'm not saying that Graham won't have a bad season during the Palmer era, but I will never doubt his drive and passion to make Graham football a powerhouse program again.

If you are talking about both sides being full, then yes it is only packed when it is the Graham/Beaver game or whenever Richlands comes up to Mitchell. This season and last season, other than a few games when it was raining, the Graham side has been full or pretty close to being full the games that I have attended. Our attendance does drop if games are being played on a Saturday because a lot of our fans are passionate VT fans and travel to Blacksburg.

Oh there is no doubt that it was an excellent game and the intensity was awesome. As a Graham fan though, if there is one team I don't want to see in the playoffs, it is Richlands. Not because I don't want to see the game played again, I just don't think Graham would be victorious again.

Richlands will win this game. I have seen both VH and Richlands play this year. Richlands' strength is their defense. When Graham played VH, Graham's defense rattled their QB and they started turning the ball over and started playing very shaky and it was all down hill from there. If the Richlands defensive line can create pressure and get the QB out of the pocket, Richlands will when convincingly. VH has a good QB but when he is under high pressure situations and has to make quick decisions, he turned to ball over a lot. Final: Richlands 28 VA High 17 Richlands continues the tradition of making the playoffs and will make a nice run, but please please please, stay the hell away from Graham :)

1) If Richlands does make it into the playoffs, what are the chances that they make a deep run? Could they be the Blacksburg Bruins of last year? 2) What area team or teams have the best chance at going all the way?

I do believe that this will be the night the curse against Richlands ends but some of these predictions where Graham runs away with it will not happen. The game is being played at Richlands and they are very deep inside the minds of Graham. This will be a close game, especially if Richlands can play keep away and melt down the clock. If Graham does get a big lead, they can't get conservative. They need to keep scoring and play as hard as they can unitl the game is over or Richlands will find away to hang around, they always do. Graham pulls away in the fourth with Cooke making a huge play. Graham 30- Richlands 21

First off, this topic and post is a result of a very slow day here at the office. But I got to thinking, you always hear about the great Coaches in our area, but you really don't hear as much about the head coach for the Graham G-Men, Tony Palmer and what he has accomplished in his short 3 years. I was playing around a looking at some numbers with wins and losses in his first 3 years and considering where Graham football was a few years ago, this man has really turned it around. 2015 6-6, 2016 11-2, 2017(so far) 6-1. In three years and having coached in 32 games so far, Palmer has a record of 23-9. Out of the 9 losses, 3 have been to Richlands, 2 have been to Bluefield, and 1 has been to Union. So 6 of his losses so far, have come against 3 of the best teams in our area. So I guess my questions are, is this beginners luck for Palmer or will this be the new normal for the Graham G-Men? Has Palmer been given enough credit and respect for this quick turn around we have seen with Graham?

Very nice job guys!

What time does the podcast usually get posted? I have really enjoy listening every week

Allen int returned for a TD! 31-7 Graham!

24-7 Graham 1:09 till halftime

TD pass from Allen to Cooke. 21-7 Graham

I really liked how Coach Palmer moved Lester to fill the running back position last week with Allen being healthy and back in at QB. This gives Graham the potential to get very creative on offense with direct snaps to Lester and maybe a few trick plays. I can see this game being a high scoring back and forth game all night long. If Graham can stay disciplined and not turn the ball over, I believe they win this game. Two or more turnovers and VH walks out of Mitchell with a very big win. I give the edge to Graham 42-35.

The 2006 football team still to this day is the best Richlands team I have seen with my own eyes. There is only one other local team that I would put above the 2006 Richlands team and that would be the 2004 Bluefield Beavers.

The only reason Richlands catches so much crap about “recruiting” is because they win. Ryan is right, every school and sports team around here does it. When I was at Graham, every year multiple players from Graham would go to Bluefield or some Beavers would come to Graham. If Richlands wouldn’t have been so successful these past years, this wouldn’t even be a discussion.

Can anyone explain what happened with Coach Mance and the ref?

Nothing but absolute respect for the Tazewell Bulldogs. The score at the end of the night will not show how hard these young men played tonight. Give it a couple more years and Tazewell will be very very good

No disrespect towards the Tazewell players or the bulldog faithful, but this game won't be close at all. Considering what Tazewell has, they have done well this year and the future looks very bright. Richlands is now 1-4, and many people including myself thought that they would get back to their winning ways last Friday against Bluefield. Richlands is hungry for a win and I just see them using Tazewell as a statement win. They want people to realize that they are still Richlands and that they are still capable of beating down their opponents, and unfortunately for Tazewell, they will be that team Friday night. Emotions and just the rivalry itself will make this look close for a quarter, but Richlands wins by 3-4 touchdowns.

This will be one of the better games of the year in my opinion. No one can argue that these two programs are two of the top programs in our area. I have seen Bluefield play but I have only listened to Richlands on the radio. This game will be back and forth all night, but I have to go with the Blues in this one. If you look at the schedule of Bluefield so far and then look at Richlands, there is no debate and no comparison on who has had the tougher schedule. Other than Graham, Bluefield's schedule so far has been a cake walk. That is why I give the edge to Richlands in this game. Their strength of schedule will have them prepared for the Beavers and the rest of their games from this point forward. Bluefield is a run heavy offense. If Richlands can contain Mookie and tackle Truck and not let him break away for long gains, Richlands will win this game. Bluefield has a very underrated defense and they tackle very well. Richlands needs to keep their offense on the field as long as possible and wear down the defense and they will be just fine. If the game was being played at Richlands, I would say Richlands wins by 14-17 points, but with it being at Mitchell, they will win by 3-7 points.

Who has the better chance of knocking off Richlands and winning the SWD? Graham or Marion?

Abingdon Ft. Chiswell Giles Ridgeview Union Grayson Graham Marion Tazewell Virginia Northside Patrick Henry George Wythe Narrows Grundy JI Burton Castlewood Pineville, KY No. 14 Miami No. 5 USC No. 7 Georgia No. 13 Auburn No. 12 Virginia Tech Miami Dallas Baltimore New England Denver GotW Richlands 45 ***BONUS PICK*** (Worth 2 points) Gobble gobble

Abingdon Giles Radford John Battle Graham Union Ridgeview Marion William Byrd Bluefield Bland Holston George Wythe Hurley Twin Valley JI Burton Castlewood Eastside Chilhowie Boise St. Tennessee No. 13 Virginia Tech No. 6 Oklahoma St. No. 11 Georgia West Virginia Atlanta Minnesota Seattle Kansas City Oakland GotW Grundy 45