Bearcat Dad

Yeah, I knew who does the picks of games when they are the same class but was unsure as well when teams crossed classes. I'd say you're right.

I saw that. I believe it's because GW is a tad down from previous years, this year. They are still a pretty good team, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if GC wins. They pushed Marion to the limits, which GW did not (I know, I know, common opponents typically don't mean a whole lot). With that said, I still picked GW in the Pick'em lol. Of course, they also picked us to beat Marion, and you and I have talked about the Bristol media and their "feelings" for all VHS sports that aren't baseball. Whoever made the picks may have been drinking last night lol.

It actually is like another state. I lived in VA Beach for about a year. People always asked me "Where in the world did you get your accent from?" Lol

I've been singing Chilhowie's praises since my first top 10 list at the beginning of the season. I predicted that they will be playing in late November and I'm sticking by that. With their schedule, they will be plenty battle tested for the playoffs. I'm picking Chilhowie by 2 TDs

I'm really not sure because they have been very relevant over the last few years in baseball, but have been on a steady decline in football.

Agreed. Poor Lebanon is just plain bad. Our starters we're out by the half. Both our backup and 3rd string QBs led TD drives with ease in the 2nd half last week. If Tazewell is healthy, they will beat Lebanon by 3 TDs

Union Graham Giles Radford Ridgeview GW Richlands VHS Grundy Galax Auburn Chilhowie Narrows Honaker JI Burton Eastside TW WV UVA Ohio St. Georgia TCU ND VT Kentucky Buffalo New England Tampa Seattle Dallas Pittsburgh JSB - 38 Central - 45

This is 100% correct. I can't speak on this from a football perspective, but I sure can in baseball. Virginia High is tied for the 2nd most State Championships in the entire state, in any classification, in baseball. With JJ Kelly no longer in existence, we are the kings of the mountain top in this region, historically speaking, for active schools. We are DESPISED by most other fan bases, purely because of our success. The popular word for people to describe us is "recruiting". Only one of the seven State Championships we have won, could anyone come close to having a solid argument while claiming "recruiting".

Fantastic work, Union_Fan! If VHS meets Union in the playoffs, I'll buy you a drink. You've earned it after this work you've put in to keep everyone up to date. Lol

Nice work, thanks! Two questions for clarity; VHS, Union, Graham, Ridgeview, and Marion are locked in the top 5, it's just a matter of who finishes where, correct? VHS' best case is #2 and worst case is #5? EDIT: Actually, could VHS lose their last 2, then be outpointed by the JSB/LEE winner if they were to win out? Edit x 2: I guess there would probably be a crazy scenario for VHS to finish #1, where Graham, Union, and Ridgeview loses out, and......I just stopped there. Kinda silly to bank on that much lol

You hit the nail on the head about VHS. They're big and athletic. Graham laid the blueprint on how to move the ball against the Bearcats' D. No team we've played has had very much success running between the tackles. Again, we're big up front and have a potential All-State LB in the middle. Any team with any rushing success has exposed our lack of contain to the outside. This includes Carter at TN. High, Scarborough at Battle, Sanchez at Chilhowie, Jordan at Abingdon, and Allen and Cooke at Graham. Cooke's was receiving but outside of one touchdown, most of the damage he did on offense came on bubble screens. Technically a pass play but close to a running play. We have fast athletes on the outside but they are very prone to getting sucked inside and losing containment. Looking forward to this matchup!

Agreed. I know that all of Bearcat Nation hopes to get another shot at Graham in the playoffs. Not at all because we're sure we'd win, but having what's considered to be a good year for Va High, that was just a sad showing on our part, and we would like to show that we're a little better than that score indicated. Va High AND Graham deserved a better effort from us. Thanks, and good luck to you guys as well!

That's what you call a Perfect Storm. Going by what other posters have said on here, that was Graham's most disciplined game played of the year. They were flawless. VHS was just the opposite. Cooke definitely gives Graham the edge in talent, but VHS choked when the lights were the brightest. Players and coaches. If that team shows up against Marion, it will be a similar result.

That would be around the last time VHS has been able to field a consistently competitive team, the late 80's under Wheeler. It's been a roller coaster ride(with more downs than ups) ever since. Locke possibly could have done more with a little more time. He's done a tremendous job of bringing East out of the Sullivan Co. basement. I believe Crist has the program headed in the right direction. VHS loses a few good players after this season, but should have enough coming back to be included in the top teams in the region again next year.

I have seen that, over the years, with teams coming out flat after bye weeks. VHS came out flat after the bye against Chilhowie this year. We finally woke up in the 2nd half to win by 3 scores but you could just tell that we were a little off, early.

1. Bluefield 2a. Graham 2b. Union 4. Giles 5. Marion 6. Ridgeview 7. VHS 8. Pulaski 9. Abingdon 10. Lee

After watching film on Marion, it seems that they have a pretty stout D, and Ford runs the ball hard. It's still really tough to make a prediction, so I'll lay out what I think the two most possible scenarios are.... 1. Both teams bring their "A" game and it literally comes down to the last possession to decide a winner, or.... 2. VHS does not call/execute the best game plan to give themselves a chance, and it becomes a runaway, just like @ Graham. At least on tape, Marion seems too fundamentally sound for VHS to try and rely on them to lay an egg. If someone holds a gun to my head and makes me pick, I think VHS wins in a scenario 1 type game. They had a similar game with so much on the line in Bluefield a couple weeks ago and failed miserably. I believe they have learned from that. Also, having it at home, on Senior Night with a packed house, may help. With that said, Marion has had an extra week to prepare, so that may give them the edge. Who knows? Lol Regardless of the winner, if scenario 1 happens, it should make for an excellent game.

Yeah, I saw film on him. He's good. I believe it was #4 who did most of the running against us as a RB. Someone from Graham's side, I believe, told me that he was the backup QB. Not sure if that's true, though.

Graham's RB was pretty good but from an offensive standpoint, Cooke and Allen did most of the damage against us. Pierre, for Abingdon, has an extra gear that I didn't see out of Graham's RB. No slight to Graham's RB, he is a good ballplayer. Pierre also packs a pretty big punch for a smaller frame. He can break tackles. If he were Cooke's size, he would be getting a ton of recognition as well. Pierre, at least against us, had some ball security issues. That would be the biggest knock that I had against him. I've seen Union's front 7. If they play their game, it should still be enough to win the game. Abingdon does do a pretty good job with the Wing-T, which can be deceptive if run correctly, but without much of a passing game, a dominant D like Union's should be ok. Abingdon's coach deserves a ton of credit, with such a drastic change in skill personnel, to still be able to have a productive offense in a completely different scheme from last year.

I agree 100%! It's sickening to hear what some fans say about these youngsters sometimes. I would bet that most fan bases have a couple of people like this. I know we do in Bristol, and I have become notorious for being that guy that if I hear that crap, regardless of team, I am saying something. These are young kids for ****'* sake. To criticize is one thing. To degrade is entirely different. I would love to see those people that are degrading the youngsters to get their sorry asses out there and play. We see it more here in Bristol in baseball, I guess because the expectations are higher, but that's no excuse. During every baseball game, we have 2 very old men who I have dubbed Statler & Waldorf, the 2 cranky old men who sit in the balcony and bad-mouth everyone on the Muppets. These 2 are just much worse. Let's just say that they used to sit pretty close to me. I took care of that lol

As I recently found out, the Falcons' best RB(IMO) was hurt and did not play against RV last week. If he is out again, Union wins this game without much trouble. If he is healthy, Union still wins but it will be more of a dogfight. That kid has legit speed and he is Abingdon's home run threat. He plays a lot bigger than what he is as well. He has never been able to completely get out from his older brother's shadow, but he is still a good ballplayer.

Oh, ok. Thanks! That is a big blow. No doubt that Pierre is the best RB that VHS has played against so far, this season.

I can't speak on GC, but Central was a definite playoff team before injuries depleted them. I felt that when they were at full strength, they were a team that would finish as a 5 or 6 seed with the ability to pull off an upset in the 1st round.

He didn't play? That's strange. He's emerged as their biggest threat out of their backfield. Im not sure if he was hurt late against us or not. He did have the fumble that helped set up our game winning drive. They have a few decent runners, but not having Pierre's speed back there hurts them big time. Maybe @Falcon Mania can shed some light on this?

I would really appreciate Prayers for one of the Bearcats after getting injured against Lebanon last night. He hasn't had his MRI done yet but doctors fear a torn ACL and MCL. He is a Senior, who is a good, hard-working ballplayer, who is a great kid. So hard to see ANY kid get a serious injury, but when it's a Senior, it's doubly tough. It's happened too often in our region this year.