Bearcat Dad

U - G - L - Y, we don’t need no alibi, ‘‘twas UGLY. Yeah, yeah, ‘twas UGLY!
Bring on baseball season! Lol

I hate to say it, but JSB ends the Bearcats’ 5 game winning streak in the series.
The Trojans kept it close last year, and looked like they may pull the upset, but adjustments were finally made in the Bearcat offensive play calling in the 2nd half.
The two scores for the Bearcats on Friday night were on plays that were mirror images of each other. The #1 WR for VHS got behind the Tazewell defense for long TD passes, in a run heavy, Wing-T offense.
Tazewell’s defense is improved from last year, but still missed a lot of tackles. I believe JSB’s defense is a level above Tazewell’s. I think the Bearcats’ running game will struggle even more than the other night.
The Bearcat defense struggled worse than the offense. Their best player on defense Friday night was a freshman OLB. Now, Battle doesn’t have near the speed that Tazewell does on offense, but they do have some good athletes on that side of the ball.
The jury is still out on how the new JSB coach can make necessary adjustments against teams not named Abingdon. I don’t count that game, because I don’t believe Abingdon will lose to a 2A team this year. If this new coach does as good a job as coach Stone used to, Battle could win this one big.
 

Because he believes it could be closer than some people think, he’s getting carried away? I don’t think it’s a conspiracy against Tazewell. I’m just trying to figure out everyone’s definition of certain terms used when Tazewell’s fan post. Because biggest part of the time on this message board  for the past 14 years I’ve been here, if you’re not for Graham, Bluefield or Richlands on this site than your opinion is irrelevant!.
For my opinion on this Game, for Tazewell to win they got to put together  another complete flawless game like last night! 

This is one of those times that I wish I had to eat a big plate full of crow. Unfortunately, for VHS fans, I hit the nail on the head.
People will learn just how good VHS could have been over the last two seasons, if not for an inept HC. He doesn’t have the talent on the roster to hide behind anymore.
0-10 is not certain this year, but definitely a possibility.
 
Good luck to the Dawgs this year. Those kids have been taken behind the woodshed a lot over the last two seasons. Now it’s their turn kick ass. I stand behind my original prediction of 7-3 at worst for them this year, with a home playoff game in the first round.

This is one of those times that I wish I had to eat a big plate full of crow. Unfortunately, for VHS fans, I hit the nail on the head.
People will learn just how good VHS could have been over the last two seasons, if not for an inept HC. He doesn’t have the talent on the roster to hide behind anymore.
0-10 is not certain this year, but definitely a possibility.
 
Good luck to the Dawgs this year. Those kids have been taken behind the woodshed a lot over the last two seasons. Now it’s their turn kick ass. I stand behind my original prediction of 7-3 at worst for them this year, with a home playoff game in the first round.

I’m not in the same business as your Union friends in calling kids a “joke”, but yes, this will be a very long year for the Bearcats for a few reasons. Now calling certain coaches a joke, I’m all for that!
I no longer have a horse in the race in SWVA football, other than just being a lifelong football fan. If I could change my name from Bearcat Dad, I would, as that moniker is no longer true. My kids are now collegiate athletes.
I will always be a VHS fan, but I am a realist. This board is littered with my posts from the last few years, with both positive and negative outlooks on VHS sports. I’m far from perfect on my predictions, but I am right more than I’m wrong. 
VHS will finish between 0-10 and 3-7 this year for a few reasons, which are......
1) They have a great group of assistant coaches, that are handcuffed by a head coach who is secretly an egomaniac. He says all the right “Coachspeak” to the media and whatnot, but does not practice what he preaches. 
2) The numbers are BAD again for VHS. So much so, that this year, they don’t have a JV team, because they need those bodies to dress out on Friday nights.
3) I love and cheer for those VHS boys, but the fact of the matter is, is that the Jimmies and Joes are just not there to have a successful season this year. They have a few athletes, most of which are very young and very inexperienced in Varsity football. They could potentially be pretty strong in two years.
4) This infusion of youth is in part because, in my opinion, their 3 top returning players are not there. Two because of injury, and one because of a young man’s decision to focus on baseball.
I believe that your prediction, @Counts, is very possible. There is a very big talent gap between VHS and most of the teams on their schedule this year. 

1. Bluefield (22) 272
2. Graham (8) 250
3. Ridgeview 163
4. Abingdon 162
5. Radford (1) 147
6. Richlands 131
7. Union 128
8. Pulaski County 75
9. Galax 63
10. Chilhowie 46
 
Also receiving votes: Patrick Henry (43), George Wythe (16), Tazewell (12), Giles (8), John Battle (8), Marion (6), Grayson County (3), J.I. Burton (3), Virginia High (2), Honaker (1), Narrows (1)

Curious Bearcat Dad what you think of the current defensive staff?  I know Price has jumped around in various positions at different schools.  Do you think he has what it takes to be successful there?

Maybe we can meet up?? I like meet the people I talk and argue with lol.

I was not at the game, but it’s my understanding that VHS had -17 yards of total offense and 3 turnovers in the first half.
No offense to Union, because they will be in the mix this year in 2D, but the 2017 Bears put 40 points up in the first half against this year’s Bearcat team. The 2018 Bears would have put up 30 in the first half.
I’ve been told by more than one Union fan, whose assessments of high school football I trust, that the 2019 Bears are a little different than we’ve grown accustomed to over the last few years. Not to say they they are bad by any stretch of the imagination. Quite the opposite on defense. I hear the defense will be quite good. I’ve also been told that the offense has quite a few kinks to work out.
I’ve had a relationship with VHS sports for over 30 years as a fan, a player, and as a dad of two athletes. I hope every year that the football program becomes relevant in the region like the baseball program has been for over 4 decades. Even though VHS has been competitive in 3 of the last 4 years, this is going to be one of those really tough years, record-wise. The kids will fight hard every game, but sometimes a team just has a lot of cards stacked against it. This is one of those teams. 
Nobody hopes I’m wrong more than I do, but I guess time will tell.

Are you going be at game bearcat dad??
 

I’m not in the same business as your Union friends in calling kids a “joke”, but yes, this will be a very long year for the Bearcats for a few reasons. Now calling certain coaches a joke, I’m all for that!
I no longer have a horse in the race in SWVA football, other than just being a lifelong football fan. If I could change my name from Bearcat Dad, I would, as that moniker is no longer true. My kids are now collegiate athletes.
I will always be a VHS fan, but I am a realist. This board is littered with my posts from the last few years, with both positive and negative outlooks on VHS sports. I’m far from perfect on my predictions, but I am right more than I’m wrong. 
VHS will finish between 0-10 and 3-7 this year for a few reasons, which are......
1) They have a great group of assistant coaches, that are handcuffed by a head coach who is secretly an egomaniac. He says all the right “Coachspeak” to the media and whatnot, but does not practice what he preaches. 
2) The numbers are BAD again for VHS. So much so, that this year, they don’t have a JV team, because they need those bodies to dress out on Friday nights.
3) I love and cheer for those VHS boys, but the fact of the matter is, is that the Jimmies and Joes are just not there to have a successful season this year. They have a few athletes, most of which are very young and very inexperienced in Varsity football. They could potentially be pretty strong in two years.
4) This infusion of youth is in part because, in my opinion, their 3 top returning players are not there. Two because of injury, and one because of a young man’s decision to focus on baseball.
I believe that your prediction, @Counts, is very possible. There is a very big talent gap between VHS and most of the teams on their schedule this year. 

Should have kept Wheeler. He had that program headed in the right direction.

Think he was referring the D-Line as a unit and not the players individually.
On a side note if the coaching situation and numbers contionue on there trend do you think VHS will start losing players to Battle or THS?

Lots of Confidence out of Bulldog Nation!

One of the best football players in SWVA that very, very few will talk about is the Moss kid from Marion. Very few will talk about him because he doesn’t touch the football (unless he destroys the ballcarrier and causes and recovers a fumble). The Bearcats have played Marion 3 times in the last 2 seasons, and every time I’ve watched him, he has impressed me very much.
If I’m not mistaken, he has already been voted All-Region twice in football, and he is an absolute stud in the heavyweight division on the wrestling mat.
My son graduated VHS this spring with multiple scholarship offers in two sports. He has been mentioned by many associated with VHS football over the years(not me) as one of the best two-way football players from VHS in a long time. He played against the likes of James Mitchell, Taymon Cooke, Cam Allen, John-Luke Asbury, Jake Sturgill, Matthew Fulton, Javon Scruggs, DeVon Graves, Landon Lowe, Seth Johnson, Jeb Stidham, Cody Howie, Hunter Collier, Greg Sanchez, Logan Branson, Courtland Carter, Ryan Gibson, Lane Scarborough, and many others, and he says that Moss is one of the baddest MFers he’s ever lined up against. Film proves that to be true.
Just like my kid and the Stanley kid from Lebanon last year, Moss plays at a school that is mostly an afterthought in football in our region. This usually means that the standout players get very little recognition by the casual fan. 
A big difference between the first set of names I mentioned and kids like Moss, are that the first group of kids played on really good teams. All of those kids in the first group were/are uber talented, but nearly all  of those kids did not have to shoulder a huge majority of the load of responsibility for their respective teams, except for maybe Scarborough at Battle and Collier at Gate City. Hell, just about all of the guys in the first group have a teammate mentioned in that group. Those kids in the first group also had other really, really good teammates that I didn’t even mention, and most had top notch coaches as well.

The season will be here before we know it and it's time to start up the annual SWVA Sports Top 10 Poll!
Bearcat Dad has passed the reigns to me for this fall and I'll be accepting responses for the preseason poll through a Google Form until Aug 28th
 
To fill out the poll, go here: https://forms.gle/4aje4MHRDpnojyEA7

Speaking for young families in areas like Bristol, Va and Scott County, they head next door, across the state line to NETN to work in cities like Bristol, Tn, Johnson City, Piney Flats, Kingsport, and others, where there are a plethora of opportunities in the world of manufacturing. 
I turn 40 in a couple of weeks, I live in Bristol, Va, and in all of my working years, I’ve only spent four of those years working in Virginia. One year of which I worked in Va. Beach, when my kids were little, where I found out that I wasn’t made for living in a big city. There are just more opportunities in NETN, than in SWVA.
Definitely true about the competition for jobs in the rest of Virginia. Even with the Hampton  Roads area housing 1/4 of the state’s entire population, there is always work available, but there are plenty of people looking for work.

Virginia High being covered by WCYB. That is amazing!😂

I'm not saying this is true of Tazewell coaching staff but a lot of high school teams (coaches) aren't knowledgeable enough to make adjustments during a game. Coaches need to become "students" of the game and the game playing has evolved. A coach has to know enough to put players in positions where they can be successful and you keep adjusting until you get it right , in game, after game, etc. 

What jobs are there around here that pay well? There's the school systems, hospitals, a couple of tech companies in Lebanon & some tech jobs coming to the Oxbow Center in St. Paul. Outside of that, I can't of many. It's sad. 

Wow I had no idea thanks for the reply. Lebanon and VA high might be a good game  this year. 

The Bulldogs will be able to name the score against VHS. Gonna be a really tough year for the Bearcats.
I believe the Dawgs will challenge Richlands for 2nd place in the SWD. I’m not sure if they can actually get over that hump, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they finally did.

The Bulldogs will be able to name the score against VHS. Gonna be a really tough year for the Bearcats.
I believe the Dawgs will challenge Richlands for 2nd place in the SWD. I’m not sure if they can actually get over that hump, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they finally did.