EHC87

Prayers for Devon's family and friends. Gone too soon. I enjoyed watching him play, a special talent and seemed to be liked by teammates and opponents as well. Rest in peace.

Put me down for vanilla.

Morton-Robertson, the Radford point guard, poses a difficult defensive assignment. He handles the ball well, shoots well, can drive and dish or drive and score...and he is quick. I've seen Gate City three times in person this year and Radford (based on the one game I've seen) and Gate City play a similar style. Would love to see a Radford/Gate City matchup...would be a great game in my opinion. With that being said, I'm probably not giving Martinsville and Dan River the respect that they historically deserve. I think GC wins Region D barring multiple injuries or widespread illness. Region C winner could be someone other than Radford but it will take a very good team to knock them off.

Gate City's guards have a size advantage over Radford's guards. Radford's big guy is about 6'5". One guard is about 5'7, another looked to be 5'8" and Cormany looked to be about 5'11"....so yes, Gate City has a size advantage, especially at guard which was the Big 3 that I mentioned.

I saw the Radford vs. William Fleming game. The Bobcats shoot the ball really well. Their point guard Morton-Robertson is very quick and a good outside shooter. Morton-Robertson was able to get to the basket some but he isn't very tall at all.....maybe 5'7". Their other good shooter was Cam Cormany....excellent shooter and I think he is a 9th grader. Cormany handled the ball well enough but really didn't try to get to the rim. Radford's big guy, Jones has apparently been dealing with a knee injury. It looked to me that there was an obvious issue with the knee in the brace. You could tell that he was a pretty sound player but he is hobbled somewhat. Radford liked to play at a fast pace, reverse the ball and have the open guy shoot from behind the 3. They are a solid team and took good care of the ball. In my opinion, the Bobcats will have a tough time stopping Gate City's big 3 because of the size advantage. Gate City must get out and defend the shooters if they play Radford. Morton-Robertson has the ability to drive shoot or drive and dish if he is guarded too closely. I think Radford vs. GC would be a great matchup but I'm giving the edge to Gate City.

Back in the early 80's, this happened often in Henry County. Drewry Mason H.S. and G.W. Carver played most of their games (against each other) at Bassett High School. It made perfect sense...both schools had small gyms and very, very good teams. The move allowed almost everyone who wanted to attend to actually get a seat. I do remember one of the early games being played at Drewry Mason and folks getting turned away. I'm planning on getting to Abingdon early when they play Gate City. Gym will be packed and it will be hard to get a seat.

I am considering going to this game. What time would I have to arrive to get a seat? Either side is fine but I don't really enjoy standing and watching at field level. Good luck to the Bears!

Welcome Bob. This board is a great community for those who love high school football.

The road to a 4A title is way more than Salem. Dinwiddie, Lake Taylor and GW Danville will all have very good squads this year. I saw Blacksburg play twice last season and they do return some good talent with Beck, Terry and Johnson to name a few. I've attended the 4A championship game not too long ago and it is definitely a step up from 3A. Good luck to all area athletes...hoping everyone can avoid injuries this year.

Since Martinsville is now in the West Region, I'm going to name a couple of players from Martinsville's 1975 state championship team. Dennis Mahan was the best high school running back that I ever saw. He signed with Tennessee but transferred to Hampton University during his freshman year. T Even though I was only 10 and 11 when I saw him play, I'll never forget some of the moves that he made on the football field. He would run through, around or just jet by people. Mahan was a multiple 100 and 200 yard state champion as well. Yes it was measured in yards during those days :) As to Sandy Rogers, he was one heck of a running back for E&H. We were lucky to be able to see him play the 4 years he was there.

Best dual threat quarterback that I saw in high school was Shawn Moore of Martinsville. His passing was under rated in my opinion. Very strong arm and accurate as well. That team also had Nikki Fisher as its' running back. Fisher was very, very good as well. Both Moore and Fisher had very good careers at UVA.

I appreciate the work put into providing the pairings. Thanks!

I wish Amherst/Appo played on Saturday. Would love to see those two play in person. I know that a few years ago, Lake Taylor (4A) beat L.C. Bird (5A state champs) during the regular season. It wouldn't surprise me greatly if Appo pulls off a slight upset.

I would like to know the answer as well. I'm not into the math enough to figure this out on my own. For obvious reasons, I'm pulling for LB to win this game and I certainly think they are capable. Both teams have lost to a very good William Byrd team. For only the second time, I'm also pulling for Magna Vista to lose to Danville. GW has 2 losses...don't know if the potential is there for MV to jump AHS if both schools win. My high school was one of 2 schools that formed Magna Vista. None of this matters if the Birds don't take care of business on Friday night. I'll be there cheering as loud as I can for AHS.

The trip counter on my car read 265 miles for the Broadway trip. That was a long Friday trip as my wife and I drove back after the game. Hopefully the Falcons can obtain a top 4 seed. Can't help but think that it is a little advantage for us to play at home. Except Blacksburg, there really aren't any short drives to Abingdon from potential opponents.

I was at the game and don't think the 30 was correct at all. Not sure on the 13 either.....don't think Richlands had a first down in the first half (not 100% sure on that)...they moved the ball better in the 2nd half but I was involved watching the game.

No matter how good you think your team is (and they may be the real deal), you cannot assume a state championship. 2 years ago, I attended the 3 and 4A championship game. In 4A, Salem was matched up with Lake Taylor. Salem had a really good team but they were no match for Lake Taylor. Enter last year and Salem had a lot of seniors to replace and Lake Taylor returned much of their team from the year before. Salem beat the favored Titans and I will admit that I had penciled in LT as the champions. Salem returned much of their state championship team this year and lost to Amherst in the first game. My point is, even with a TREMENDOUS team, it is very, very difficult to win it all. Breaks sometimes don't go your way or the underdog team sometimes clicks on all cylinders. It is a big state and there are quality teams that can win on a given day in every division. As a side note, I enjoy the participation of everyone on this board. I get a lot of entertainment/enjoyment from all here who love high school football.

Is VHSL Helper putting out his rankings today or tomorrow? I'm amazed at the ability some of you all have in working the math before the official VHSL ratings come out on Tuesdays. I enjoy looking at the possible scenarios. Hopefully Abingdon's win last night resulted in enough points to secure a first round playoff game IF the birds take care of business the next 2 weeks.

Rumor has it that Leonard was seen in Taco Bell with Falconman after the game. I'm sure you know what the post game meal included :) LOL

Prayers that it isn't broken and he can make it back onto the field at least one more time before the end of the year. I HATE injuries for any player.......the injury that ends a senior season saddens me every time that it happens to a player.

Abingdon basically defended against the pass. Howie was double teamed most of the night and Abingdon switched in some speed in the secondary by inserting some receivers (who hadn't played much defense prior to last night) as defensive backs. With 4 in the box most of the time, Richlands wasn't able to run the ball effectively. I'm not positive, but I don't think Richlands got a first down in the first half. The field goal was set up by bad punt snap/handling of the ball. One of the media members reported that Richlands had 16 yards of offense in the first half. Asbury didn't have his best night passing for sure. One thing I noticed was that he didn't seem to look off any receivers last night....paticularly Howie. This enabled Abingdon to make good breaks on the ball most of the night. As a side note, this, in my opinion, was the best defensive performance by Abingdon in the last 2 years. Yes, Asbury didn't have his best game but the AHS coaches had a good scheme. Abingdon was also pretty physical (at least for us) on the defensive side of the ball. William Seymore, safety, had a really good game. Richlands is a good team and didn't quit. I wish them well on their playoff run. For the disgruntled Richlands fans, give Mance a break. Everyone has off days at work but he is an EXCELLENT COACH. If you all don't want him, then I'm lobbying Curt Newsome (E&H) to hire him. You can always find room on your staff for a good coach and he would definitely be a good pickup. :)

I think Abingdon is picking up Pulaski as an OOC opponent next year. Christiansburg stays on the schedule and Hidden Valley will be picked up if I'm not mistaken. Tennessee schools have a contract schedule that is different than Virginia which makes scheduling those teams a little more difficult than in state schools. There really isn't an easy solution for Abingdon's schedule because some of the traditional teams on the schedule provide good gates.....and the money is a very important issue. Home seeding is nice but you cannot rule out getting a second round home game if you don't get a top 4 seed. Just a few years ago Abingdon traveled to Broadway in an 8 vs. 9 matchup. Winner was sure to go on the road the next week to face the number 1 seed. One problem......Waynesboro, the 16 seed upset the number 1 seed Hidden Valley. Is this likely every year?? Of course not but you just never know how things will turn out come playoff time.

I was wondering how long it would take before dining issues hijacked our thread 😀. I will probably get laughed off the forum but I must state my preferred Bluefield dining spot....K&W Cafeteria. Yes, it might not be chef quality but it has good selection and reasonable price. Desserts are solid. Go Falcons!

Very nice ðŸ‘ðŸ‘

I watched the Blacksburg video and their announcers are having the same issues that many others have with the silver numbered Abingdon uniform. The number/font is really hard to read. In fact, during an earlier game this year, there was an injured Abingdon player that several of us in the stands tried to identify. Depending on the angle, it appeared that the number could be seen as about 4 or 5 different numbers. Up close, those uniforms look great but it really is difficult to know who made the play in many instances. I thought the quality of the video was good though. Enjoyed watching the replay of two pretty good squads. Blacksburg has some good athletes. The Terry kid is very elusive and Colton Beck is the defending 3A 100 meter champion if I'm not mistaken. Their sophomore quarterback is also solid. I think all those players would look good in an Emory uniform some day!! :)