VaBearcat88

RUN. THE. DANG. BALL.

Virginia High is in disarray. As a member of Bearcat Nation for 30 years, I have developed a sickening feeling in my stomach that 2018 will go down as the most disappointing season during that time, at least for me. 
Too much ability, not reaching its potential. Friday night’s game against Chilhowie will be viewed by the region as strictly that Chilhowie’s completely dominant, without a thought to the fact that VHS just couldn’t get out of their own way, which is a death sentence against a really good team like the Warriors.
The schedule for the Bearcats does not get any easier, with matchups still against Graham and Richlands to go, as well as this week against the Falcons.
It truly saddens me, but things will not improve for the Bearcats. I feel a more talented Bearcat team in 2018 from 2017 falls from 7-3 to 5-5. 
Abingdon comes to Gene Malcolm and leaves with a convincing win.
 
Abingdon - 40
VHS - 17

Bearcat Dad...I’ve been a Bearcat a few years longer than you. I’ve just come to accept that VHS is not and will not be a football school. Sure, they will  have good teams every now and then. Sure they well have some absolute studs on occasion. Milton Franklin and Darrayl Wilson come to mind.   But it is just a fact that VHS is a baseball school. I’ve been hoping to see an evolution to a total sports school for almost 40 years. It ain’t happening my friend. Enjoy the good teams when they happen but don’t expect it yearly. 

You are spot on! No better way to describe VHS. If I could like your post twice, I would! 
I have no ill feelings toward the baseball program. I played in it, and my son is getting ready to enter his 4th year as a starter in the program.
Like you though, I foolishly hope/hoped that it would become a total sports school. It’s just not in the cards, I guess.

I don’t believe him leaving has been a factor at all. We are running the exact same offense, with the same type of play calling as last season, with the same results, so far. He is a really nice guy, but our offense stunk against solid teams last year as well. We were competitive against teams last year because of our defense. Which was only ranked second in the region, behind Union. This year, our defense has not been nearly as good.
Our base offense is 4 wide, single back spread, with RPO. Our entire offense completely revolves around our QB. 
We were shutout in the second half against Tazewell, scored 7 in the first half against Battle, scored 7 in the second half against Tn. High, and were shutout for 3 and a half quarters against Chilhowie.
Our passing game is connecting for WELL under 50% completion percentage. People see what the newspaper reports, and believe our passing game was the only way we could move the ball, because yardage is the only thing usually reported. 
Go to Hudl and search the recap film against Chilhowie. Look how Hudl breaks down our big plays on offense. Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, run, pass, pass, pass, pass, run. Now, take a look at the film, and of the 10 passing plays, count how many passes traveled more than 5 yards in the air. Only two did.
Those two were deep balls thrown up for jump balls. Now, this all looks good, and it is. Except, the final stat line of our passing game was 12-27 for those 204 yards. Of the 15 incompletions, 2 were intermediate routes that were dropped, and 8 balls went more than 25 yards in the air, most of which were batted down, WAY off the mark, and one that was intercepted in the end zone. 
We had 5 trips into the red zone that resulted in exactly one TD, which was scored when the game was already out of reach, on a 10 yard RUN by our backup QB. Our pass to run ratio in those 5 drives AFTER reaching the red zone, was over 3:1.
My point in all of this is, this has been our offensive approach for 16 consecutive games, since the beginning of Amburgey. We have a record of 10-6 in those games. We have 3 “Quality” wins out of those 10. They all came last year against Abingdon, Chilhowie, and the regular season game against Marion. In the 6 losses, they were all against “Quality” opponents(Tn. High x2, 2017 Marion in the playoffs, 2017 Graham, 2017 Richlands, and 2018 Chilhowie)
In 3 “Quality” wins our passing game produced 5 total TDs(out of 11 total for the team) with 5 turnovers(all by the passing game)
In 6 losses to “quality” teams, our passing game is responsible for 4 total TDs(out of 9 total scored by the entire offense) with 14 turnovers(all by the passing game)
We refuse to change anything, play calls or personnel, so the results will not change.
 
To tackle the other part of your comment, after your prediction, you are correct. The Pioneers may very well make the game closer than it should be. It has happened to us all year long.
When you keep touching the hot stove eye, you will continue to get burned every time. It’s been the story of our offense since the beginning of the 2017 season.

Same thing happened against Chilhowie Friday night. Same thing happened against Battle. Same thing happened against Tennessee High. 
I can be the first to admit, that I’m not qualified to coach at this level. With that said, I can tell you what I’ve seen in 2A West football over the last 3 1/2 seasons. Offense means success, period. There have been one or two teams in that time that have had stifling defenses. Last year’s Union team, for example. They also had one of the top players in the entire state, who touched the ball on every single offensive snap. 
Our defense has taken many steps back from last year, while returning a lot of the players that were there last season, including our all-state LB. We have given up 30 points to Tazewell, 42 points to Tn. High, 37 points to Chilhowie, 27 to you guys, and 13 to Battle. Needless to say, there are some struggles there. We have a golden opportunity on offense, to move the ball on ANY defense in the region, and it is just simply not being taken advantage of. 
It’s ok though. I still love the Bearcats, I stand behind the coaches and players alike. I, like so many others, scratch my head at some things that happen on Friday nights, but none of those guys are professional coaches. They believe they are doing what’s best.
I have a personal relationship with most of the VHS coaches and players. Most of them know who I am on this board. I don’t hide behind my screen name. They know I would state my opinion directly to them, exactly how I type it out on this board. I strongly disagree with how certain things are being handled this season, but they are paid to make those decisions, not me. I still consider them friends, and I love those boys that strap it up every Friday night.
My opinion is just that we will continue to be average, with the way things have been going this season. If we know anything as VHS football fans, it’s how to spot “average”. The disappointing thing this year, though, is we actually have talent.

That’s one of our biggest issues. In 5 games, #2 has had more than 11 carries, only twice. One of those games was out of necessity because of injury to our freshman RB. Against Battle he had 8 carries(barely won) and another 9 carries against you guys(barely won). He has 4 catches on the year(none of which were designed plays to him, only checkdowns) for nearly 20 yards per catch. He is averaging over 9 yards per run for the season. He was an all-state LB last year and the coaches feel he is more valuable to their defense, which has seriously limited his opportunities on offense. 
Our QB definitely has the ability, but has not shown the confidence in his two years against stronger opponents. The confidence seems even less so far this year, but we keep going to the well, over and over, with the same results. 
I love both of those boys as if they are my own. The distribution of opportunities on offense have been grossly mismanaged between the two. 
I’m in complete agreement with your take. I’ve just lost faith that what you suggest, will happen.

The VHS staff as a whole isn’t big, but we do have 4 brutes! One former D1 lineman who is about 6’6 350, another former collegiate player who looks like he was chiseled out of stone, a former collegiate baseball player that could have played football in college as well who’s about 6’3 275, and our new addition to the staff that was a collegiate all-american and played a few years on Special Teams and at LB with the Jacksonville Jaguars. No description needed for him lol.

He is!

Rose an iron-built force for Va High...
https://www.heraldcourier.com/sports/rose-an-iron-built-force-for-virginia-high/article_2eeeab3c-c1f9-11e8-b448-9f3045378a82.html

Va high 34
Chilhowie 32

This is the surest way to get a prediction correct. Pick one team, wait a day or so, then pick the other team. I like it! 🍻
I’m with ya, though. Go Bearcats!

A man with integrity!  

I'm with the rest of the 2A crowd.  I'm going to take the Bearcats.  And no it won't be an upset like Casey Goetz will say.  It'll be VHS just flat out beating a 1A team they should beat.

Let me have the Cats in an upset - VA High has played in close games all year, Chilhowie’s combined opponent record is 7-16 and they haven’t been tested. We are forgetting VA High only trailed 5A Tennessee by 7 going into the 4th quarter plus they are coming off a bye. Should be a close one - I think we have another shootout with a big special teams play by VA High being the difference:
Cats 38 Warriors 30
this will be the second WCYB Game Night VA High has been a part of - will the game be broadcast on tv? If not how can someone keep up?

Let me have the Cats in an upset - VA High has played in close games all year, Chilhowie’s combined opponent record is 7-16 and they haven’t been tested. We are forgetting VA High only trailed 5A Tennessee by 7 going into the 4th quarter plus they are coming off a bye. Should be a close one - I think we have another shootout with a big special teams play by VA High being the difference:
Cats 38 Warriors 30
this will be the second WCYB Game Night VA High has been a part of - will the game be broadcast on tv? If not how can someone keep up?

Let me have the Cats in an upset - VA High has played in close games all year, Chilhowie’s combined opponent record is 7-16 and they haven’t been tested. We are forgetting VA High only trailed 5A Tennessee by 7 going into the 4th quarter plus they are coming off a bye. Should be a close one - I think we have another shootout with a big special teams play by VA High being the difference:
Cats 38 Warriors 30
this will be the second WCYB Game Night VA High has been a part of - will the game be broadcast on tv? If not how can someone keep up?

Love some Over Confidence!

@swva_havok_fan don’t know if I would want to be the top of WCYB poll, they are always wrong lol

Let me start by saying that mine and my family’s thoughts and prayers are with the entire Chilhowie community over the recent, tragic news of the loss of one of their own. 
On a much less important note, there is a high profile football game to be played on Friday night. Last year’s game saw the Bearcats give the Warriors their worst loss of the regular season. Both teams return a high number of players from that game and are a combined 8-1 this year.
Emotions will run high for a number of reasons Friday night. I expect a hard fought game from both teams. I feel the Bearcats have what most 1A programs don’t have, to allow them to match up with Chilhowie; speed.
I see this game being close through 3 quarters, but I believe the power aspect of the VHS running game will eventually take its toll on the Warriors.
 
VHS - 34
Chilhowie - 19
Good luck to the Chilhowie players and God be with the entire community thru this difficult time.
 

Chilhowie wins with ease, 42 to 21. Virginia High is a good team, but they aren't as good as last years version. I have a feeling they may lose a game they shouldn't in the next few weeks as inconsistent as they have been at times.

A lot of confidence coming out of WCYB darling Chilhowie!  Basically both teams return same amount of talent and it was a 3td win for the Cats last year. I do think this years versiion will be close, but no way Chilhowie wins easily. 

Chilhowie 26-14, but would love to see an upset.

This is our (WCYB) Game Night Game of the Week. Casey, PJ and Dave will be live at the game for the 5, 5:30 and 6pm newscasts.