Bearcat Dad

The board has spoken! 1. Bluefield 2. Ridgeview 3. Pulaski 4. Union 5. Chilhowie 6. Graham 7. Virginia High 8. Galax 9. Abingdon 10. Richlands Other teams receiving votes; Mount View Grundy J.I. Burton PH

I can give you my opinion on the Bearcats. You hit the nail on the head with the depth concern. The coaches knew this well before the season started. They also knew that the schedule was going to be tougher after the bye week. You can see similarities in playcalling/personnel, offensively speaking, so far this year. In the opener, we stuck with our horses and had a 30-7 lead early in the 2nd quarter. The combination of injuries not allowing substitutions with only 27 dressed out, new starters on defense being beaten multiple times, and Tazewell's young phenom playmakers, made for a close game. Week 2, the coaches tried some new things in the first half, in an attempt to build depth, that resulted in a low scoring first half. The staff made some great adjustments at halftime and went back to our horses. Week 3, the staff once again went with our horses and we were within one score with 9 minutes left against the best team we'll see all season. Week 4, the staff was determined to fix the inconsistent passing game. It looked great early, and allowed us to build a 27-7 lead. In the 2nd half, we worked on developing depth in the backfield, that finally caught fire in the fourth quarter. We also took our starting defensive unit out(for the most part) a tad early, along with the great resiliency that the WC players showed, that allowed WC to score twice, within a matter of minutes in the 4th quarter. The starters were put back in after the onside kick recovery, and were able to finish the game. The big thing that people either fail to realize or admit, is that the past is the past. Region D is a 5 team race right now. There have been one or two teams over the last 3 years, that were much better than everyone else in the region. That's just simply not the case this year. There are 5 teams this year that can all beat each other on any given Friday night. Parity is a necessity in sports.

I'd like to hear a matchup from each of you, that you guys would like to see in the 2D playoffs, that won't happen in the regular season. Try to be more original than Richlands vs. Ridgeview 🤣

You do have a great point. I mentioned that to my wife while we were listening. I probably should have been a little more specific in my previous post. They seemed like a couple of "good ol' boys", but I did have a hard time with keeping up with the Union players because of what you mentioned. They're probably fun guys to go have a beer with, but I definitely wouldn't replace our awesome crew at Bearcat Radio with them, either. I first tried to listen to the U radio broadcast, but they seemed to be having some technical issues.

Let's get an earlier start to this week's voting. Last week had the lowest voter turnout so far this season. As always, the deadline is Wednesday(9/19) at 5:00pm. 1. Bluefield 2. Ridgeview 3. Pulaski 4. Chilhowie 5. Graham 6. Union 7. Virginia High 8. Abingdon 9. Galax 10. Grundy

I listened to the game on WDIC. Those guys were a hoot!🤣

I agree! He's a great kid for the high school athletes to model themselves after. Smart and extremely hard working.

Yeah, he's coaching the wide receivers. I'm pretty sure he will be on Mark's staff in the spring, as well.

Yeah, once again, the Bearcats jump out to a quick lead and kinda just went into Cruise Control. Tonight VHS scored 2 TDs in their first 5 plays on offense. They looked a little flat the rest of the way. Coaches also gave a lot of playing time to some youngsters, in an attempt to try and build depth. Depth seems to definitely be the Achilles Heel for the Bearcats. The freshman RB ran the ball pretty well tonight. The passing game is still inconsistent. The Bearcat O-line did not have their best game tonight. Credit to Wise for not giving up. Week 1, they jump out to a 30-7 lead, early in the 2nd quarter, and nearly blow it. Week 2, they have a similar game plan to tonight in trying to build depth, but made adjustments to have a productive 2nd half. Last week, they were within one score and had the ball with 9 minutes left, but ran out of gas, against the best team they'll see all season. Overall, VHS shows flashes of greatness, but have yet to put together 4 full quarters of consistent play. They have the bye next week, then have a tough 3 game stretch. For their sake, they had better get that worked out. There have been a couple of players that have had great starts to the season, but there's just been too much overall inconsistency by the majority of the team.

The voting numbers were small this week, but they have been counted. 1. Bluefield 2. Union 3. Ridgeview 4. Pulaski 5. Graham 6. Chilhowie 7. Richlands 8. Virginia High 9. Abingdon 10. Galax Other teams receiving votes: Grayson Co. George Wythe J.I. Burton Honaker Radford

Didn't Gate City play South last week?

What are everyone's thoughts on this one? The only thing I've heard about Wise is that they are young. I do know that the Bearcats are believed in by some and doubted by others, but rightfully so. I've said all along that they have as good as starting lineup as anybody in Region D, and have been proven right so far. I've also said they they have little to no depth and I have been proven right on that as well. The Bearcats have started off somewhat inconsistent, but showed what they are capable of at the Stone Castle on Friday night against, in my opinion, the best team Tennessee High has had in years. The VHS offense is scoring 26 points a game, even with having scored 7 or fewer points in 3 out of the 6 halves of football played, while desperately trying to develop depth, before they hit the meat of their schedule. Their go to RB is averaging over 10 ypc thru 3 games. Their QB hasn't hit his full stride yet, but he will. The defense is progressing. Some new pieces are starting to get used to the speed of Varsity football. The big concern about the Bearcats is will they be able to continue to develop depth with their youngsters, to give the 9 players that start both ways, some help.

Pulaski x2 😁

Falcons big!

Do you guys have any Game Day traditions, as fans? If so, do they differ from any Game Day traditions you may have had as a player and member of the band? What are some of the stranger/funnier Game Day traditions you've heard of or seen over the years?

Wise-Central @ Virginia High has been moved to Thursday at 7:00.

Here we go, guys. VOTE for your Top 10, of ANY TEAM IN OUR COVERAGE AREA! The deadline is Wednesday, September 12th at 5:00pm As per usual, I will start. 1. Bluefield 2. Ridgeview 3. Union 4. Pulaski 5. Graham 6. Chilhowie 7. Richlands 8. Virginia High 9. Grayson County 10. Galax

Damn good effort by the Bearcats tonight. 28-21 in the 4th quarter with the ball but an ugly pick six seals the deal. VHS played their best game of the season so far, against the best team they will see this season, by far.

I don't know a ton about Giles this year, outside of the fact that they are young. One of our Bearcat senior's dad is a former Giles standout and he still follows them closely. He and @Hokiebird7 are the only reason I even know that much. I figured that the rivalry aspect would keep it close for 3 quarters but the combination of Graham's athleticism and the youth of Giles would allow the G-Men to pull away late. With that said, I've also heard from others, exactly what you said about Graham's defense, especially the line. If they are struggling that much, then you are probably right, I'm giving a little too much credit to a multiple score outcome.

It's that time, once again. Here's the results of this week's votes! 1. Bluefield 2. Union 3. Ridgeview 4. Graham 5. Richlands 6. Chilhowie 7. Abingdon 8. Pulaski 9. Virginia High 10. Galax OTHER TEAM'S RECEIVING VOTES; Grayson Co. Lee High Marion J.I. Burton Twin Valley

Bears, big!

Graham pulls away late. Graham - 34 Giles - 17