Mountain Football

There's no way anyone can down the effect of losing JL would have one their season. The backup has been working hard going to camps but he'll certainly lack the experience. Their run game I'm sure will be effective because of JL and the pass. The same question could be asked about Graham. What if Cousin goes down to injury?I think Graham will continue to show improvement on the defensive side of the ball. I've heard Graham will have a couple kids playing guard around 185lbs that have never played on the line. That may be a problem.

Any updates on today's 7 on 7 in Richlands?

LOL!!!! I would be fine with Frank at this point. I'd rather have Saban but Frank would do!! Although I believe they have another candidate to put through the school board gauntlet. We'll see if this one survives.

I was told the same thing. Phillip was selected but didn't get approval from the board. That's what he had posted on FB. At the middle school level who does the selecting? Principal, AD, High School Coach? The coach from last year transferred to another school in Roanoke and made it clear after the season he wasn't going to coach again. I don't know how we get to the middle of July and still don't have a coach approved by the board.

Now if the middle school can find them a coach before the season starts would certainly be another step in the positive direction.

This may possibly be the best thing to happen to Graham football in a long time!!!!!!

I believe Mance is the one that shouldn't want to play the benefit game. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like every year Richlands loses a starter for the season due to injury in the benefit game.

I would be very surprised if this transfer isn't on the up and up. I know a kid that recently transferred to and played for Richlands. The principal and AD at Richlands all but lived with them to make sure they were living in Richlands. The bottom line is kids like playing for Mance. Word of mouth is the best advertisement and the kids talk about how well they like playing for him. Richlands has built a program from the little league up that both the kids and parents like. Unfortunately for the rest of us our house isn't in the same shape. Our middle school program at Graham isn't doing the high school any favors. No weight lifting or conditioning at all. No coach has been announced. I realize it's "just" middle school but this is your feeder program.

We're working storm damage in the area now. These people have a long road ahead of them. It's a very sad situation to say the least.

The LB's Richlands had last year is going to be hard to replace for sure. They were fun to watch. No matter what team you're pulling for on Friday nights getting to watch kids play the way they did is what makes high school football great.

Alright guys let's not get too carried away with this!! LOL... Remember the game will be played with 11 players not 7 and they'll have pads on this fall. Which can make a big difference. Not a real big fan of 7 on 7 tends to build too much hype. Especially for those of us that can't wait to get started. I believe the defensive side of the ball will be the biggest question mark for both Graham and Richlands this year.

^^^^^^ Now that's funny!!!!

The Dalton kid is a big boy but he lacks the experience of playing at the varsity level. I'm with UVAObserver on this I just don't think Graham's line is going to be well enough to compete with the good teams. Richlands supposedly has two kids that are transfers that are men on the line. Graham's line play at the beginning of the season last year wasn't that good but by the end of the year Austin had them playing pretty dang good. I just don't know if he has those same caliber of kids coming back this year.

Just think of the many kids in our area that had the opportunity to go D1 but didn't for whatever reason. Brown(Graham), Graves(Graham), McCracken(Richlands), Lester(Graham Wrestling). I'm sure there are many more out there. Sometimes behavior problems will eliminate kids from continuing on to college but I would say most of the time falling in LOVE would be the biggest reason for not going on.

That's for sure!!!!

Galax should definitely be in contention again this year. They have an outstanding head coach that has the backing of the kids and community. Many schools in the state would love to have a coach of his caliber.

I have some friends that live in the Va Beach area they pay $50 per child for each sport they participate in at the Middle School level. They provide their own transportation to games as well. If a child is part of the Reduced Lunch program then the fee is waived. I don't see this working out too well in our area. I believe a large number of kids is already on the Reduced Lunch program and providing transportation to Away games would be a problem for most. When parents start paying for a child to participate in a sport and travel to take the kids to the game they're not going to be happy with Little Johnny standing on the sidelines. It's certainly a difficult issue with no easy fix. Hopefully it can be resolved without too many cuts.

I was recently told Tazewell County is considering eliminating middle school and jv sports due to budget cuts. This is supposed to be discussed at the upcoming board meeting. Has anyone else heard of this happening?

I graduated with Chris in 1999. He's a good guy and comes from a good family. Knowing a few people from RR they said he didn't play politics. If you deserved to play then you played no matter who you were. On the other hand I've also heard a few of them say they would be more than happy for him to leave. I personally think he will do good things for GC if given the chance.

If it's the Chris Akers that is currently coaching at Rural Retreat High School he's originally from Graham.

Coach Woodward has done a tremendous job with the wrestling program. His assistant coach, Ben Fritz, has been a major help in bringing this program to the front. Wrestling may be the best athletic program at Graham right now. With the success of Cook and his achievements the last couple of years and this year Lester doing a really good job. Cook went on to Tech and Lester is probably going to attend Liberty in the fall. The kids really seem to like Woodward and Fritz. Hopefully next year we can get Bradshaw to help out as well. They have several kids in the youth program as well. Graham is by no means a Grundy at this point but certainly heading in the right direction.

Richlands did get a transfer from Graham in the last couple of days.

Congrats to both Grundy and Rural Retreat!!! Both programs are doing really well and representing SWVA. We had several individual state champs and state placers from our area. A great weekend for a sport that gets very little recognition.

How are these teams selected? All Conference and All Region? Just curious.

Has any of the All Conference Teams been posted?