TTownTigers

I will go with Bluefield 24, Graham 21.  I think this game is a lower scoring game and think Graham will have much more total yards, but I have to go with Bluefield (haven't seen them this year though) over Graham (seen them at GC) because of coaching.  I'm not trying to be offensive here and apologize if offending anyone when writing this, but I am not sold a bit on Graham's coaching.  I see a team with great talent, but also a team that loves to talk trash to the opponents which was witnessed at GC and I saw it last year against Richlands in the playoffs.  This shows lack of class in my opinion and this is a direct reflection of the Head Coach who allows it.  Last year, I recall folks talking about Graham trash talking and taunting opponents before coming onto the field and I didn't believe it until seeing them play Richlands in the playoffs.  It's one thing if it happens a couple of times with only a few players and the coach gets on them, etc, but this seems like something the coach is well aware of because it's gone on longer than just a few times.  It is actually being allowed and supported by the coaching staff. This falls into the category of lack of mental toughness and concentration.  Graham had the same self inflicted issues in the scrimmage against GC with snap issues, unforced turnovers, personal fouls, etc.  Lack of mental toughness will cost Graham at least 2 losses this year.  When Graham gets into a contest where the overall talent and skill level of the opponent is close, the mental toughness issue will often tip the scales in favor of the opponent.  This is why I'm picking Bluefield. The Bluefield Coach has been around a long time and he's had great success.  He wouldn't be there this long if he were not a very good coach.  I can assure you that Coach Fry always had teams that were mentally tough and so did Coach Carlock who was another legend in double A ball in Virginia.  They were classy men and their teams had a sharp mental focus.  I just don't see the mental toughness with the Graham team of this year or last year and I think that coaching is directly responsible for this.  I'm just calling it like I see it.  When watching Appo against Richlands in the finals, I saw two very mentally tough teams.  Appo was not just super talented, but man oh man, they were sharp and detail oriented which stems from their Coaching.  In Graham, I am sensing a team with great talent that won last year, and will win this year with that talent, but in 50-50 games where the opponent is close in talent and skill, this issue could cost Graham.  

I will go with Bluefield 24, Graham 21.  I think this game is a lower scoring game and think Graham will have much more total yards, but I have to go with Bluefield (haven't seen them this year though) over Graham (seen them at GC) because of coaching.  I'm not trying to be offensive here and apologize if offending anyone when writing this, but I am not sold a bit on Graham's coaching.  I see a team with great talent, but also a team that loves to talk trash to the opponents which was witnessed at GC and I saw it last year against Richlands in the playoffs.  This shows lack of class in my opinion and this is a direct reflection of the Head Coach who allows it.  Last year, I recall folks talking about Graham trash talking and taunting opponents before coming onto the field and I didn't believe it until seeing them play Richlands in the playoffs.  It's one thing if it happens a couple of times with only a few players and the coach gets on them, etc, but this seems like something the coach is well aware of because it's gone on longer than just a few times.  It is actually being allowed and supported by the coaching staff. This falls into the category of lack of mental toughness and concentration.  Graham had the same self inflicted issues in the scrimmage against GC with snap issues, unforced turnovers, personal fouls, etc.  Lack of mental toughness will cost Graham at least 2 losses this year.  When Graham gets into a contest where the overall talent and skill level of the opponent is close, the mental toughness issue will often tip the scales in favor of the opponent.  This is why I'm picking Bluefield. The Bluefield Coach has been around a long time and he's had great success.  He wouldn't be there this long if he were not a very good coach.  I can assure you that Coach Fry always had teams that were mentally tough and so did Coach Carlock who was another legend in double A ball in Virginia.  They were classy men and their teams had a sharp mental focus.  I just don't see the mental toughness with the Graham team of this year or last year and I think that coaching is directly responsible for this.  I'm just calling it like I see it.  When watching Appo against Richlands in the finals, I saw two very mentally tough teams.  Appo was not just super talented, but man oh man, they were sharp and detail oriented which stems from their Coaching.  In Graham, I am sensing a team with great talent that won last year, and will win this year with that talent, but in 50-50 games where the opponent is close in talent and skill, this issue could cost Graham.  

My take was. As someone posted in this thread, I echoed the same thing after seeing the first scrimmage and that is...we have to run and go back old school like a 3/yds in a cloud of dust team,, and supplement that with short-quick efficient passes. I believe our lineplay was better than Grahams. I think the sizes were similar. They weren't bigger than us and we weren't bigger than them, but our OL is very good and better than it has been. We were at least on the field with Graham and  moved the ball on the ground. I think we are no worse than 7-3. As for Graham, very talented, and explosive plays are part of the game. The 70s and 80s have came and gone, and a team that doesn't move it consistently, but the explodes for a 40 yd run with speed is part of the game. That score counts just like driving the field and running the ball for 5-6 yds a play for 15 plays, and then scoring. We did pretty good with Grahams speed. No question, Graham did some major self inflicted damage. One thing I noticed is something different than all the years under Carlock and that was the lack of discipline. I think Graham has major mental toughness issues with late hits, trash talking and such that alwayst equates to lack of mental toughness in tight situations. This is also reflective of the Coaching Staff. I know nothing of Grahams coach other than folks telling me enthusiasm is up. If Graham would stop the trash talking and jawwing during plays, the miscues and fumbled snaps and formation woes will fix itself. Morality or Character and mental toughness go hand in hand.  You can't have jawwing at the opponent and stupid personal fouls and be without offensive miscues. Their coaching staff needs to fix that quick, and if they are allowing it, then again, the consequences are always self destructive and it will lead to offensive miscues, concentration issues and will cost them in the playoffs. The Graham team I watched was nowhere in the same league regarding mental toughness under those old Glynn Carlock teams. That's my take on Graham. The potential is there for greatness, but with their current state of mental toughness( if this is how they usually play) then they will not get past round 3 in the playoffs.  Finally, the Graham QB is athletic, but he is not very accurate.
For GC, we also had miscues, but some of that as helped/forced by Graham. We are a 7-3 team at worst in my opinion. We have to run it and control clock and keep offenses off the field. That was a little effective toniht against a very explosive team.  I love our lineplay and technique on both sides of the line. I think we will be fine. Our only sure loss is Richlands. Wait and see, we will play right with Union.

Doesn't a "jamboree" have to be your second contest?  Can't be the first?

The lineplay is the best it has been in years in my opinion.  We have some size up front and muscle up front.  We have little speed and look much like many of the old smashmouth teams, but the concern for me is, we have little to no speed.  Even with our teams that went deep in the playoffs or won state titles, we always had 2-3 guys that were lights out in the defensive backfield and could cover speedy WR's giving our front 7 enough time to do damage. That concerns me this year.  We are going to be trouble for opponents if we stay in games going into the 4th because of the lineplay.  We will give people major problems up front, especially in the 4th quarter of games.  Our best pass defense is going to have to be ball control offense both running, and with efficient, short passes in which we have the WR's and QB to be very efficient.  Fundamentally, I like this team.  By first glance, they look like a team that isn't going to beat itself and if we don't beat ourselves, we are going to be much better than many think.  We will learn much in the benefit game against Graham.  Graham, Union, and Richlands in no particular order will be roughly the same across the board with each team having strong points and each team having weak points, but all 3 are heavy weights that have the ability to go deep in the playoffs and maybe end up in the final game.  I think the Graham game will tell us a lot because we will not see more speed against this team than any team all year long, and to go with it, a short passing game utilizing speed and quickness in open space, and them trying to get their speed in one on one situations. This is my major concern.....our defensive backfields ability to contain speed in open space.  Therefore, the Graham scrimmage will tell us a lot, and any scrimmage can tell you something, but I am glad we are scrimmaging a team with speed at the skilled positions.  If we match up with Graham, I will be as excited as I have been for GC football coming in to game one as I have been in many years.

No question, winning brings out players, but there is something more to it in my opinion. I think winning for a long time matters and Richlands has done that, but still, Gate City has been good for a long time and even longer than Richlands with more titles. This leads me to believe, your Head Coach's ability to sell the program to the town and kids at a young age is equally an important factor. It explains why Richlands has more kids out each year compared to Gate City. GC has had coaching turbulence compared to Mance being there a long time, and winning, but also selling the program and building interest. It sounds like the same thing is happening at Graham with their new coach. Their numbers will likely incease the next few years. With the above written, I am talking about programs of similar size. A school like Robinson in NOVA or Landstown in the Tidewater area are huge schools and will likely have out more kids than Div/Class 2 schools if they have a half way decent program. In these two examples, they certainly do. In the case of Richlands, credit winnig and winning for a long time, but also credit Mance's ability to build enthusiasm and interest in the town which is fueled by winning, but there is still that "it" factor for the coach.

No question, winning brings out players, but there is something more to it in my opinion. I think winning for a long time matters and Richlands has done that, but still, Gate City has been good for a long time and even longer than Richlands with more titles. This leads me to believe, your Head Coach's ability to sell the program to the town and kids at a young age is equally an important factor. It explains why Richlands has more kids out each year compared to Gate City. GC has had coaching turbulence compared to Mance being there a long time, and winning, but also selling the program and building interest. It sounds like the same thing is happening at Graham with their new coach. Their numbers will likely incease the next few years. With the above written, I am talking about programs of similar size. A school like Robinson in NOVA or Landstown in the Tidewater area are huge schools and will likely have out more kids than Div/Class 2 schools if they have a half way decent program. In these two examples, they certainly do. In the case of Richlands, credit winnig and winning for a long time, but also credit Mance's ability to build enthusiasm and interest in the town which is fueled by winning, but there is still that "it" factor for the coach.

No question, winning brings out players, but there is something more to it in my opinion. I think winning for a long time matters and Richlands has done that, but still, Gate City has been good for a long time and even longer than Richlands with more titles. This leads me to believe, your Head Coach's ability to sell the program to the town and kids at a young age is equally an important factor. It explains why Richlands has more kids out each year compared to Gate City. GC has had coaching turbulence compared to Mance being there a long time, and winning, but also selling the program and building interest. It sounds like the same thing is happening at Graham with their new coach. Their numbers will likely incease the next few years. With the above written, I am talking about programs of similar size. A school like Robinson in NOVA or Landstown in the Tidewater area are huge schools and will likely have out more kids than Div/Class 2 schools if they have a half way decent program. In these two examples, they certainly do. In the case of Richlands, credit winnig and winning for a long time, but also credit Mance's ability to build enthusiasm and interest in the town which is fueled by winning, but there is still that "it" factor for the coach.

From what I recall in the Wyoming East game, the coach at Wyoming East felt Bluefield was running up the score, and they did a couple of weird things in this game.  The punted early a couple of times on early downs giving the ball back to Bluefield.  They also had a fair catch on a kickoff in the game from their own 35 yard line.  The next play, they did a free kick which obviously had no chance and had people stunned and wondering why there would be a 82 yard field goal attempt who were unfamiliar with the rule.  Imagine the shock of the fans when the kick clearly fell short, and Bluefield took over possession at the Wyoming East 35.
 

Weirdest thing I've ever witnessed in any sporting event involved the two crazy special teams rules that occurred within seconds of each other.  In 1992, Cherry Creek, CO vs Arapahoe High, Colorado.  With 2 minutes left in the game, Cherry Creek was down 10 to 9, and they had the ball on their own 3 yard line.  The game was all but over as Cherry Creek was going to have to drive a ton of yards under 2 minutes on a team in which they hadn't moved the ball much all game, but Cherry Creek had a good field goal kicker and they were going to try to drive half the field and try to win it with a long kick. They had 3 timeouts left.  As the Cherry Creek QB took the snap from his own 3, the ball flew lose and when the Cherry Creek QB fell on it, he was laying in the endzone, a safety was called, and all of a sudden, it was a 12 to 9 game with about 1 minute and 52 seconds left in favor of Arapahoe, and the game surely or at least, likely out of reach at this point.
After the safety, Cherry Creek elected to punt the ball instead of kicking it to Arapahoe.  Cherry Creek had all 3 timeouts left and was planning on stopping Arapahoe and getting the ball back, and hopefully getting the game tied with a long field goal kick. In Colorado back then, you would kickoff from your own 30 yd line. Keep in mind that Cherry Creek had 3 timeouts left after the safety, so they elected to punt to Arapahoe instead of attempting an onside kick. The punt was mishit and went straight up into the air passing the line of scrimmage by 11 yards and landing at the 41 yd line, then taking a crazy bounce backswards for about 5 yards and stopping at the 36. Cherry Creek fell on the ball and it was first down Cherry Creek!.  Keep in mind, a free kick situation/free punt after a safety is still like a kickoff, whether it's kicked or punted, and the same rules apply in that....if the ball goes ten yards, its a free ball.  
It was Cherry Creek ball at their own 40 with about 1 minute and 45 seconds left in the game and Cherry Creek was down 12-9 with a chance to tie.  They drove the field, took some timeouts, and facing a 4th and 3 at the Arapahoe 20 yard line with 13 seconds left, they tied it with a 37 yard field goal.  Surely, it's going to OT now.  Well, not so fast.  Cherry Creek kicks off, but the ball is badly hit, not sure if they were trying to squib it or what, but the ball went 20 yards in the air and Arapahoe fair catches it with 7-9 second left.  At midfield and 7-9 seconds left (can't remember the exact amount), Arapahoe drops back to pass and attempts a hail-mary ball, but a personal foul is called allowing time for one more play from the 35 of Cherry Creek.  Here's the rub on this one.  Arapahoe lines up for a field goal and the officials stop the game.  The Arapahoe coach is screaming at the officials giving an explanation and evidently, he knew his stuff.  Fans are looking in disbelief, especially the Cherry Creek fans. The rules stated that even if a team didn't attempt a free kick after a fair catch on a kickoff on the very first play, a penalty negates that play and is enforced, and the team has the option to it again since the very first play after the fair catch was a penalty.  And yes, a 52 yard field goal won it with no time on the clock giving Arapahoe a 15-12 win.  The rule is or at least....it used to be......if you fair catch a kickoff,  you immediately have the option to attempt a field goal/free kick the next play, but EVEN if you don't attempt one the next play and you simply line up your offense and run a play, if there is a penalty on that play, then you still have the option to kick it after the penalty is enforced.  The Sporting News wrote an article on this game and ESPN even talked about it 2 weeks later.  It had the 2 crazy special teams rules in full effect.

The future of schools and consolidation, closer, etc., rests in combining schools in different counties.  There are already places in the US to include West VA, that are doing this.  It will become more frequent as counties will have to innovate to maximize funds.  These funds are limited as public education will continue to take a hit as Medicaid continues to grow.  I am not saying Medicaid is good or bad or this or that.  I am not talking about the politics of it.  I am simply talking about the facts of it, and the fact is....Medicaid is a run away train that state and federal regulators have no idea what to do with and is taking up large percentages of budgets, and it's growing. This means that state and local governments have to cut somewhere, or at least have to have some serious innovation in other funded areas such as....education.   The combination of schools in separate counties in order to maximize limited funding will occur in SWVA as well.  Maybe not tomorrow or in the next 5 years, but in the next 10 years, it's a definite thing that is simply going to happen.  
Two examples of what the future could look like and these are just examples, and I am not saying the exact two examples below will happen, but you will see things similar to below...
Rosedale area- new school where Richlands, Honaker, and Lebanon kids attend (2 different counties).   It's not going to be popular and it's already controversial as traditions are changed or lost when county schools combine, but you can imagine how unpopular it will be when schools of different counties combine, but.......money matters and when strapped for funds, there are little options.
Combining an independent city-non county school like Galax with Grayson County and a school built in the Baywood area, etc. (1 independent city school with another county school in this example.)  I know it's crazy, but things of this sort are the future.

They also call them, "state champions".  The VHSL didn't make them forfeit because common sense was used.   There are concrete rules that must be followed, but concrete thinking in the face of common sense shouldn't always be the case. What I am getting at is........1/8th of a difference would not have made a difference in the way Richlands dominated the game after the first quarter, and the VHSL knew that.  Additionally, one must realize that if Richlands were to win that game (and they did) there was going to be an excuse REGARDLESS of whether there were cleats involved and that's exactly happened.  Before Richlands was found out regarding the cleats, the talks of "a needed investigation" into the Richlands fire department and watering down the field was already the first thing to come out of Salem.  It would NOT have ended whether cleats were involved or not.  There was going to be an excuse if Salem lost. Now certainly, the clear-cut cheating made the scandal bigger and it should have, but you can better believe, there was going to be a scandal regardless, if Salem were to lose that game.
Final example, Salem went to Lee High a few years earlier and lost in the state semi's.  They petitioned the VHSL to investigate Lee High into "muddying up" their field.  If Salem would have traveled to Amherst or Blacksburg and lost, it would have been chalked up as a loss and nothing more, but when losing in far SWVA, they simply couldn't stand it, and yes, there was exactly that, an excuse made for the loss.  With all of this written, that no way justifies what Richlands did.  That was a boneheaded move, but I don't call every player on Richlands team from 92 a cheater.  They had no clue about another 8th of an inch being in violation of cleats.  I call them players, state champions.  I was at that game and Richlands was clearly better.
P.S.  A little know fact many forget about is what the VHSL did to Richlands the next season.  Richlands was banned from the playoffs.  The 93 team in my opinion was equally as good as the 92 team by seasons end.  They were 7-3, but all three losses were close and nail bitingly close.   By season's end, that team was rolling. Richlands in fact, did receive punishment for their actions, and many fail to bring up the 1993 team and what may have been when discussing the cleats scandal.  If that 93 team could have made the playoffs, they could have made some noise and been trouble.  They dramatically improved from game 1 through 10.

Health Miller, class of 2001 had some big offers if I'm not mistaken.  I don't know if that's internet era or not.  Coleman Thomas of Fort Chiswell had offers from Tennessee, Florida State, WVU, VT, UVA, and Maryland.  Florida State is certainly big time football, but he was still a 3 star on Rivals.  James Mitchell is a 3 star on 247 sports and a 4 star on Rivals.  Since the early 2000's, he would be ranked higher than anyone in SWVA that I can think of regarding recruiting ranking and offers, etc.  However, Jake Houseright was ranked higher out of Gate City than both Jones brothers and was the 31st ranked player in the United States by SuperPrep, but this was before the boom of the internet (internet was already around though).  Houseright and both Jones Brothers were on at least one High School American list.  Both Jones bro's were honorable mention USA Today All-Americans, but Houseright was an All American on most of them including Prepstar, NRA (no longer around, former recruiting ranking service), and Superprep.  In the last 25 years, if going by recruiting ranking only (not future success in NCAA or NFL) but by recruiting ranking out of High School only, Jake Houseright would be the highest ranked recruit out of SWVA slightly ahead of both Jones Brothers. 

They also call them, "state champions".  The VHSL didn't make them forfeit because common sense was used.   There are concrete rules that must be followed, but concrete thinking in the face of common sense shouldn't always be the case. What I am getting at is........1/8th of a difference would not have made a difference in the way Richlands dominated the game after the first quarter, and the VHSL knew that.  Additionally, one must realize that if Richlands were to win that game (and they did) there was going to be an excuse REGARDLESS of whether there were cleats involved and that's exactly happened.  Before Richlands was found out regarding the cleats, the talks of "a needed investigation" into the Richlands fire department and watering down the field was already the first thing to come out of Salem.  It would NOT have ended whether cleats were involved or not.  There was going to be an excuse if Salem lost. Now certainly, the clear-cut cheating made the scandal bigger and it should have, but you can better believe, there was going to be a scandal regardless, if Salem were to lose that game.
Final example, Salem went to Lee High a few years earlier and lost in the state semi's.  They petitioned the VHSL to investigate Lee High into "muddying up" their field.  If Salem would have traveled to Amherst or Blacksburg and lost, it would have been chalked up as a loss and nothing more, but when losing in far SWVA, they simply couldn't stand it, and yes, there was exactly that, an excuse made for the loss.  With all of this written, that no way justifies what Richlands did.  That was a boneheaded move, but I don't call every player on Richlands team from 92 a cheater.  They had no clue about another 8th of an inch being in violation of cleats.  I call them players, state champions.  I was at that game and Richlands was clearly better.
P.S.  A little know fact many forget about is what the VHSL did to Richlands the next season.  Richlands was banned from the playoffs.  The 93 team in my opinion was equally as good as the 92 team by seasons end.  They were 7-3, but all three losses were close and nail bitingly close.   By season's end, that team was rolling. Richlands in fact, did receive punishment for their actions, and many fail to bring up the 1993 team and what may have been when discussing the cleats scandal.  If that 93 team could have made the playoffs, they could have made some noise and been trouble.  They dramatically improved from game 1 through 10.

They also call them, "state champions".  The VHSL didn't make them forfeit because common sense was used.   There are concrete rules that must be followed, but concrete thinking in the face of common sense shouldn't always be the case. What I am getting at is........1/8th of a difference would not have made a difference in the way Richlands dominated the game after the first quarter, and the VHSL knew that.  Additionally, one must realize that if Richlands were to win that game (and they did) there was going to be an excuse REGARDLESS of whether there were cleats involved and that's exactly happened.  Before Richlands was found out regarding the cleats, the talks of "a needed investigation" into the Richlands fire department and watering down the field was already the first thing to come out of Salem.  It would NOT have ended whether cleats were involved or not.  There was going to be an excuse if Salem lost. Now certainly, the clear-cut cheating made the scandal bigger and it should have, but you can better believe, there was going to be a scandal regardless, if Salem were to lose that game.
Final example, Salem went to Lee High a few years earlier and lost in the state semi's.  They petitioned the VHSL to investigate Lee High into "muddying up" their field.  If Salem would have traveled to Amherst or Blacksburg and lost, it would have been chalked up as a loss and nothing more, but when losing in far SWVA, they simply couldn't stand it, and yes, there was exactly that, an excuse made for the loss.  With all of this written, that no way justifies what Richlands did.  That was a boneheaded move, but I don't call every player on Richlands team from 92 a cheater.  They had no clue about another 8th of an inch being in violation of cleats.  I call them players, state champions.  I was at that game and Richlands was clearly better.
P.S.  A little know fact many forget about is what the VHSL did to Richlands the next season.  Richlands was banned from the playoffs.  The 93 team in my opinion was equally as good as the 92 team by seasons end.  They were 7-3, but all three losses were close and nail bitingly close.   By season's end, that team was rolling. Richlands in fact, did receive punishment for their actions, and many fail to bring up the 1993 team and what may have been when discussing the cleats scandal.  If that 93 team could have made the playoffs, they could have made some noise and been trouble.  They dramatically improved from game 1 through 10.

I used to love it when the Gate played Marion early on and on the road when it matched up with a VT home game. A vacation day would be taken that Friday and arriving at Hungry Mother the Thursday night before. Gameday was on Friday with a nice campfire on Friday night after the game and off to Blacksburg on Saturday morning with breakfast at the ole Iron Skillet in Wytheville/Fort Chiswell on the way up (Don't think that is there anymore). Times were fun, except the couple of years in the late 80s when Marion had a kid named Puckett that was a human tank wearing football cleats.  Talking about smashmouth football. Geeesh!
It's hard to imagine how time flies and how its been since 2000, and it seems like yesterday when we were having the Scarlet Hurricane on the agenda. 
P.S. one poster wrote how Giles and Union should play. I would love the matchup, but man thats a good 3 hour haul. That's like Graham playing Wilson Memorial or Giles playing Nottoway. 3 hours is a long way.

Thank God!  

I wasn't placing Gtown on a pedestal. I'm simply saying, Georgetown is in fact, major college basketball regardless of how many sweet 16s of late. No question, they are not now what they once were. Neither is Wake Forest, NC State, Indiana, Arkansas, Memphis or many others, but....they are considered by the average fan as major college basketball. Signing two top 100 players in the last 24 months is something ETSU, LaSalle, Murray State or Old Dominion can not and will not do. As for Georgetown, I am no fan and truly don't like their coach. But.....compared to his current offers, Georgetown is in fact....on a Pedestal.

I wasn't placing Gtown on a pedestal. I'm simply saying, Georgetown is in fact, major college basketball regardless of how many sweet 16s of late. No question, they are not now what they once were. Neither is Wake Forest, NC State, Indiana, Arkansas, Memphis or many others, but....they are considered by the average fan as major college basketball. Signing two top 100 players in the last 24 months is something ETSU, LaSalle, Murray State or Old Dominion can not and will not do. As for Georgetown, I am no fan and truly don't like their coach. But.....compared to his current offers, Georgetown is in fact....on a Pedestal.

Health Miller, class of 2001 had some big offers if I'm not mistaken.  I don't know if that's internet era or not.  Coleman Thomas of Fort Chiswell had offers from Tennessee, Florida State, WVU, VT, UVA, and Maryland.  Florida State is certainly big time football, but he was still a 3 star on Rivals.  James Mitchell is a 3 star on 247 sports and a 4 star on Rivals.  Since the early 2000's, he would be ranked higher than anyone in SWVA that I can think of regarding recruiting ranking and offers, etc.  However, Jake Houseright was ranked higher out of Gate City than both Jones brothers and was the 31st ranked player in the United States by SuperPrep, but this was before the boom of the internet (internet was already around though).  Houseright and both Jones Brothers were on at least one High School American list.  Both Jones bro's were honorable mention USA Today All-Americans, but Houseright was an All American on most of them including Prepstar, NRA (no longer around, former recruiting ranking service), and Superprep.  In the last 25 years, if going by recruiting ranking only (not future success in NCAA or NFL) but by recruiting ranking out of High School only, Jake Houseright would be the highest ranked recruit out of SWVA slightly ahead of both Jones Brothers.