Mountain Football

Hey Ryan if I knew how to paste that "Shame" video you did to me, I would return the favor here. Lol. This won't be much of a "Brawl" Friday night. After last night Tazewell ' s confidence has to be in the toilet. Their best hope of fielding a competitive team will be in 3 years. Good luck to both teams and to no injuries!

Apparently not only did the kids learn from the Richlands game but the coaches did as well. Tonight was an overall good team effort by the coaches and players. Abingdon come out in the 2nd half and was dead. I was glad to see Cousin get the ball more. Great job by Ballard tonight. He played his best game. Meade is a gamer for sure. Proud of the Gmen!!

Apparently not only did the kids learn from the Richlands game but the coaches did as well. Tonight was an overall good team effort by the coaches and players. Abingdon come out in the 2nd half and was dead. I was glad to see Cousin get the ball more. Great job by Ballard tonight. He played his best game. Meade is a gamer for sure. Proud of the Gmen!!

Poor clock management and play calling by Abingdon right before halftime. Didn't get much better for them after that. I felt like after Sturgills second interception they didn't have near as much confidence in him.
 
Awesome second half game plan by Graham. Great play calling and good defense. The exact opposite of what we seen against richlands.

You Hurley people weren't this pissed when USA Today tried to come in and paint your Rebel flag a rainbow...

Well, the Rebel_Yell, he got ten long days,
In the G-Man's chair, alone he'll stay,
In the Midnight hour, he ran his mouth,
Now in G-Man's chair, he'll have to pout.
Pout. Pout. Pout.

Everyone is expecting a high scoring game, and while it very well may be one, I don't expect it to be the 55-44 score it was last year. Graham's defense is improved from last year, especially the run defense. Bluefield scored 34 but some of that was garbage time. Richlands scored 31 but a couple scores were from very short fields and aided by 15 yard penalties. They held Tazewell, 2A's highest scoring team fwiw, to 12 and held Giles to 14 on their home field. That's only averaging about 22 points given up per game. For people that have followed Graham the last few years that's pretty impressive considering we're less than two years removed from giving up 70 to GC in the playoffs.
 
With all that being said, I think graham is in for its toughest matchup yet. Abingdon's offense is comparable to Richlands except for the fact that they have a RB threat, and Sturgill seems more athletic and more capable to tuck it and run than Asbury. Imo they don't have the same caliber receivers that Richlands does so they can probably afford to play Cousin closer to the line to help out with the run.
 
My opinion for Graham to win the game is
1. Feed Cousin the ball.
2. Many jet sweeps and bubble screens to Cooke.
3. Bend but don't break on D.
4. FEED COUSIN THE BALL.
 
If they do I got Graham 38-24.
 
If not Abingdon 42-28

I recently interviewed Norm Wood from The Daily Press for a Media Writing assignment. Here is the uncut version that I couldn't turn in for class. 
 
 
http://ryan4vt.weebly.com/blog/normwood

City of Bluefield runs the stadium.  No extra bulbs for the scoreboard.  They will need to implement a "bulb fee" to the residents.   

Big weight has more dangers than benefits at that age. They don't really develop big muscles at that age anyway, better to build high rep strength. Not to mention everything is growing and expanding, seems like it would be tough on their joints/ligaments/tendons. I wouldn't recommend it and would never endorse it.

That's a lot of injuries for a team that size to overcome. I hope they can recover and get back on the field. Galax wins.

High scoring game. On tape it appears the Sturgis kid is just as good as JLA as far as passing and probably a better runner. That created a problem for Graham against Richlands. I don't know that Abingdon ' s defensive line will be as good as Giles. I'm afraid Graham loses two in a row.

That's a lot of injuries for a team that size to overcome. I hope they can recover and get back on the field. Galax wins.

Been a while since I had been to Giles for a high school football game and it definitely didn't disappoint.  Giles has a great team, staff, and fan base.  What an atmosphere for high school football.  Giles dominated the LOS battle pretty much all night.  I think Graham will match up against Abingdon better than Galax for that reason.  Our line just isn't big enough or strong enough to handle a Giles or Galax this year on the LOS.  Although the Kastner kid had a pretty good game.   To me the difference in the ball game was speed.  Giles did a great job containing Cousin and Meade because of the ability to get penetration.  Be nice to see the stats for the game.
 
As for Cousin not doing much but "run his mouth like usual" you don't know this kid very well.  I've never once heard him talk trash.  I'm not saying he doesn't he may very well.  I have noticed when you see his head bobbing around after a play and he's talking to another player he's telling him good job, good hit, nice run, etc.  Most kids come off the field and talk about him being a very good sport.  Off the field it's pretty obvious that his family has done a great job raising him to be a respectful young man.  

I have a confession guys.  I left Richlands, got to Claypool Hill and turned left.  No disrespect to the Bearcat Nation, but, I decided I would rather watch a competetive game than a blowout.  I ended up in Pearisburg and watched a great game.  I guess that makes me an impartial observer, so here's my take.
 
Singlewinger92's comments are a little off base and have a "sour grapes" feel to me. Your first sentence begins with an excuse which is pretty crappy and then start bad mouthing Graham players???  The only negative thing that I saw from Graham players was the stomping before the game. The officiating was not good.  No surprise they hadn't lost a home game since 2012.  Graham got screwed on the ball spot, the roughing the passer call was laughable and two phantom penalties in a row that brought back back to back touchdowns almost started a riot.  The horse collar penalty that allowed Graham to continue the drive should never have happened because they had already scored twice on that drive (phantom penalties.)
 
The 3 to 1 ratio on TOP is pretty close.  I have never seen a team that run that many plays in a game and lose.  They drove the field and kept running out of gas.  I will give Giles credit.  No negative plays and no turnovers that I remember.  I like conservative, they almost pulled a victory against a very talented team.  For Graham, the short flat passes to # 7 helped open the offense up, I thought Graham didn't pursue the short passing game enough.  That would really be beneficial for their running game.  When Giles threw the ball down inside the five and got the PI call, I felt the defensive coaches blew that.  It was 4th and 16 and you go straight man with no help.  They should have seen that pass coming.  Bad coverage call, bailed out Giles.  For most of the game, Graham's play calling was eratic.  The last drive was executed well.  Graham needs to tackle better and their Defensive Line kept getting too deep in the backfield.  Their Ends got up field too quickly as well.  I liked the Mason kid (# 64)  he is a hustler and seemed to be around the ball often.
 
Overall, a great victory for Graham.  I can see them as the 3rd best team in 2A (could beat the top 2 on any given night.)  The G-Men have tons of speed!!!  Congratulations to Graham on a BIG win!!!!!!!!  Oh by the way, my father and I sat with three gentlemen from Bluefield that had played for BurrHead Bradley.  Had a great conversation with those guys.

Freshman indeed. Like Oaktree said he just has to get use to competing with his own size. They kid as strong, he just doesn't realize how strong he is though. He could end up being the best end that Giles has ever had. His biggest thing is he has to learn to not get sucked in. That happened a lot at Narrows last week.

Graham will be fine tomorrow night...their run defense is stout. Coach Palmer will have them fired up and ready to go.

I bet you could. Just pulverize a few hundred tires, add a thousand gallons of water, and whammo...fake mud.

I agree.  When you watch the Giles/Blacksburg game that was shared it looks like Giles does their fair share of "arm tackling".  Graham's defense has improved tremendously from previous years especially in the run department.  Their pass defense is still a little suspect.  Completely shutting the singlewing down is about impossible.  I see this as a shootout as well.........Graham wins.

That's a good one Ryan!! LOL

Mitchell is one example they are using.  I wouldn't blame you for making Mitchell unusable prior to the next time Galax comes to town.  
 
All joking aside, given the people associated with this endeavor, I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn the results of the last two times Galax played at Mitchell are a contributing factor.  Richlands, Ridgeview and Honaker are the other facilities being used as examples.  As I stated before, I don't believe taxpayer dollars payed for any of these facilities, at least not directly.  Please, correct me if I am wrong.
 
Galax simply stopped taking care of the field in an effort to garner support for turf.  The lack of transparency and honesty has bit them in the ass. 

This is going to be a bit more pointed than the title indicates.  I have been researching various stadiums and other athletic facilities throughout SWVA recently based on some political issues locally.  I have become fascinated by the circumstances surrounding some of the regions best facilities. 
 
For a little background, the Galax City School Board is trying to push a resolution through in order to resurface the football stadium with FieldTurf.  The issue I have isn't the unnecessary nature of the request but more in terms of the misinformation, lies and half-truths being put forward by certain members of School Board and the division superintendent in an effort to get what they clearly want.  
 
First, a school board member has used several far SWVA facilities as examples of what they would like to have done.  What this person fails to inform the remaining school board members and the general public is the fact that each and every facility mentioned was not funded by local tax dollars, at least not the ones I have been able to research.  And another isn't owned by the school system (Graham).  It isn't an apples to apples comparison and they are asking a relatively poor community like Galax to foot the bill for a million dollar upgrade that isn't a necessity.  
 
Second, they are claiming to be able to have the entire project cost "a little more than $600,000".  Another half-truth because the field turf alone will cost that, if not more.  My best educated guess would be closer to $800,000.  That would cover the turf and nothing more.  Stormwater management would also have to be brought up to meet current Virginia regulation before necessary permitting would be granted for construction to begin. As a general rule of thumb, stormwater costs an average of 50% of the remaining project.  Therefore, if the turf costs 800k, the stormwater measures would be an additional 400k for a project total of 1.2 million dollars. 
 
Third, studies show a significant health risk associated with kids playing on these surfaces from increased injury to the carcinogenic nature of the "rubber dust" lining the bottom of the field.  There are more than a thousand lawsuits nationwide associated with the later. 
 
Forth, they had an article posted in the Galax Gazette where coach Dixon asked the Miami Dolphins to provide community support grant money to pay for the field.  They were denied and told Miami isn't in the region covering Galax.  This is purely and effort to distract the general public into thinking the turf will be funded by outside dollars when, in fact, it will be entirely funded by taxpayer dollars.  
 
Fifth, the school system has far more pressing needs than artificial turf for the football field.  The school system hasn't given much effort to maintain the grass facility they currently have.  I realize the field isn't in great shape but, in my opinion, no effort has been made to get the field in better condition because the worse it looks, the more likely they are to get turf.
 
I would love information on how other communities have handled these issues in the past.
 
Thanks for listening/reading.
 
 
 
 

I am glad you started this topic sixcat.  Every single piece of information GMan has shared is absolutely true!!!  Upgrades to seating imo is one of the best investments a school system can make.  I have recently contacted the school board here about upgrading the seating at both facilities in the county.  There is absolutely no handicap seating on the visitors side of either stadium in the county.  Very limited and I stress limited handicap seating on the home sides.  I spoke with the Asst. Superintendent last year about this issue.  He stated the matter would be taken care of.  I stressed to him it didn't have to be nothing elaborate just "something" that was wheelchair accessible.  Fast forward one year..........nothing.  If you're in a wheelchair grab you a spot on the track and look at the backsides of everyone on the sideline.  I'm not sure what if anything can be done to improve this situation.

Better seating, lighting, concession stands/bathrooms, and fieldhouse/locker room are a much better investment if they are wanting to spend money.