I think Gate City has a chance to win IF, and ONLY IF, they can control the time of possession and win in the turnover margin. Ridgeview has one player in particular that has a hard time fielding kicks and holding onto it once he does have it. That could play a major factor in this one.
Overall, I thought Ridgeview played well defensively, but going forward I see them struggling against teams that can get the quarterback out of the pocket. While the defensive line is very big, they are also very slow. Couple that with a young secondary and I see a balanced offense giving them trouble. If not for a few miscues on special teams, this game is over by halftime. I'm sure Coach Mullins and crew will address that at practice on Monday and they should look a little more crisp next week.
That actually came a little earlier when they marked off a penalty on each team that ended with a result that could have used clarification. I don't remember exactly what was called, but it was two penalties, one against Marion during the play and one against Tazewell after the play, so Tazewell got a first down but it was marked as a first and fifteen. A little later in the fourth, a Marion fan yelled something to the effect of "hit the zebras next time" after a penalty and the head linesman took offense to it. Again, not at all that I'm condoning that kind of behavior, but the official probably overreacted considering the amount of times that the official has likely heard that type of thing said during a game. They were quite flag happy over the course of the game. I'm not going to accuse it of being biased either way, there were just a lot of penalties that were likely frustrating to both teams, in particular the unsportsmanlike calls that both teams were getting.
In the day and time that we live in, I think words like this should be taken very seriously. There is coming a day when somebody says something like this and really means it.
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2016 SWVA Sports Pick'em - Week 6
in Pick 'em and Fantasy Sports
Posted
Pulaski Co.
Abingdon
Glenvar
Auburn
Floyd Co.
Perry Central, KY
Paintsville, KY
Graham
Marion
Chilhowie
Grayson Co.
Narrows
Grundy
Castlewood
JI Burton
Thomas Walker
Twin Springs
Patrick Henry
Bluefield
No. 14 Iowa
No. 7 Auburn
No. 11 Texas
Miami
Marshall
No. 3 Georgia
No. 4 Ohio St.
Chicago
Baltimore
Los Angeles Chargers
Dallas
Kansas City
GotW
Radford 54
Gate City 35
Tazewell 62