Eersfan

I’m a Graham and Beaver fan and I wasn’t there last night. I apologize for all that . I’ve been to plenty of games at Mitchell and there have been horns and cowbells galore on both sides. Giles had air horns last week I’m pretty certain. It just seems a little over the top to enforce something as insignificant as that. I’m sure it came from complaints of having to endure it at BSG. But that’s high school football, if your fans are willing to travel that helps lessen the other teams home field advantage.

A question for the Union fans, did the AD really ban the air horns and was the police enforcing it at the game? I’ve heard comments made about it.

Congrats to the Bears . Between all the hullabaloo with banning the horns, the smack talking parents and having to kick 2 FG’s after a defensive penalty. You guys deserve the win

Grogg. The night Beaver ran up the score, Grogg chose to kickoff after Beaver scored several 2nd half TD’s. And they were shunned by the Coalfield Conference which made it tough on scheduling games. And a lot of those Wyoming , Raleigh and Fayette county schools made it tough on Beaver in other sports for years after that. One year Bluefield was thoroughly beating Liberty Raleigh in a playoff game and a rash of Beavers started coming to the sideline after being poked in the eye. Eventually the trainer went on the field after a Beckley area officiating crew and drew a 15 yarder for speaking his mind. Grogg had some influence up that way and he used that game in 2003( I think it was) to gain some sympathy and some allies as well.

Matewan used to run scores up on teams in the 80’s and 90’s when they had Ron Joplin and Melvin Cunningham. I’m pretty sure they put up 80 on a couple teams

I’ve seen Lebanon play, they have good numbers. I saw at least 45 kids. I grew up with less than 400 kids in our school in class AA in WV. We still competed well against schools with 1000 students. I think it’s more to do with offensive and defensive strategy. Everyone tries to copy everyone else but only the teams with speed seem to excel at it.

Right now Tazewell is in that 2 spot.i believe Chilhowie, PH and Holston could beat them. And I honestly think Richlands will finish SWD # 2 but Tazewell will have a better overall record

The neighboring districts have the same economic woes. And some have never had the coal boost that we had for a few years. It seems like a few surrounding 1A schools have much stronger programs than most of the SWD.

The SWD is 2-10 this season against outside opponents. Through 3 weeks 4 of 6 teams are winless. Why has the SWD struggled?

2 ? Really? Only 2 players have came to Graham to play football since their 9th grade year? And as for teams today being better across the board, not even close. Have you seen the Lebanon’s , Pikeviews and other surrounding teams lately. I played on and against Jr High teams that could beat them. If a team has 1 kid that runs near a 4.4 40, they’re considered fast as a team. We had 2 tailbacks that ran a 4.4. And I remember facing teams that had guys just as quick. As for football IQs and advanced concepts, nope. They’re kids playing Madden that know just as much. And how come back in the 80’s, we would run multiple formations in a game such as a pro set, power and regular I, wishbone and flexbone, then also go spread in the shotgun. Nowadays it’s all out of the gun with way less deception. We played multiple front defenses back in the day were now most schools stick with a base defense most of the game. Usually a 3-3-5 if they happen to have more speed off the edge. As for the 49ers, the Patriots are still winning Super Bowls with the same offense

Speed and Size right there. The evolution came with the spread offense. It turned rugby into full court basketball. As for kids landing in D1 schools. You can thank social media, recruiting agents and parents willing to pay for camps and combines. That wasn’t all available in the 80’s and 90’s. Back then you had better be on TV and in the newspaper to get noticed. So it helps to be located near those outlets. Allen and Powell are talented kids. But it took the legwork of their family and some luck for them to get noticed. Mike Poole was given a scholarship to play football at Miami Fla partly due to a recommendation given to the coaches from Dennis Harrah. Harrah is a hall of famer from Stonewall Jackson. Poole is considered to be the best LB to ever play at Beaver. Imagine how much interest he would’ve got with the help of Camps, Combines and social media.

They don’t get better coaching now, just more of it. As the population has dropped, so has the talent level. Years ago the talent was spread a little more evenly. Freddy Simon only beat Mt View 2 times in his first 10 years at Beaver. After 2001 , Mt Views enrollment started to plummet due to the floods. Leon Gravely was able to get a couple wins against Bluefield , the last in 2006. But all that displaced talent landed at Graham and Bluefield. A few went to Princeton. How good would Graham be without their transfers? How good would their opponents be if they still had those kids? If these coaches were so great, why import better players who have been coached elsewhere? When Richlands started raking in transfers after 2006, slowly Graham and Tazewell started to decline then the coal mines started closing. Which dried up the talent well surrounding Richlands. Which allowed Graham to become Grand Central Station once again. And Richlands is a wreck because they can’t get the talent to fit their system. Then there’s Tazewell , who has been picked clean of their talent by their neighbors for 15 years now. I give those coaches credit though, they’ve plowed ahead and kept coaching while they’ve watched the other two load up on talent (some of it their kids) and that’s admirable . If Tazewell finishes 6-4 or better and makes it to Region I consider it a more newsworthy accomplishment than if Graham goes back to back state champs.

Mount View was still a year away from playing in a state championship and they could’ve handled you guys that year. Graham were just as good in 90 but they didn’t have the luxury of playing Rustburg at Mitchell. Some of the coalfield teams like the Man Hillbillies and Oceana Indians would’ve been tougher opponents than Tazewell and Richlands. How can you tell how good a team is when you play 7 or 8 games against opponents who play the same 7 or 8 teams you play? But that’s how it is having districts in the VHSL.

All the measurables doesn’t mean anything unless he can compete and beat a guy with the same ability. Bluefield Scored 49 points a game just 6 years ago with a line consisting of 5’11 190, 6’2 215, 5’8 220 , 5’8 215, and 5’8 175. 3 made All State. Not one was even approached by a college coach.

Says the observer? Speak up

My point is that you can only gauge how great a team is by who they play. I think this years Graham team has talent but it’s easy to put up big numbers against a weak schedule. Tazewell has a terrible defense and even though Bluefield has some talent, that’s not one of the better Beaver teams to get on the field. You have D1 colleges carrying 160 players on their roster , then you have parents spending big $$$ to haul their kids to camps and combines and social media feeding the hype even more. Any kid that can run a 4.5 or go 6’5 290 will get offers from D1 schools. People remember the hype and not the depth or character of a great team. There is no parity to HS football in this area. Sometimes it’s not about how good your team is that year but how many other teams talent pool has went dry. Every now and then a team will face 5 or 6 teams that year who have their best talent in years. I think the 95 team faced that. If Graham would’ve held Davis to 50 yards or less instead of giving up 2 70 yard TD runs on 1st down, I’d say that this Graham team is a well oiled machine but does that only apply when they face teams like Tazewell , who have 2 solid skill players and would struggle against 1A schools like Patrick Henry , Chilhowie and Galax, or teams like Bluefield who can gather up some of the same talent that Graham does? Comparing these teams who face terrible competition to teams in the past who faced much better competition just feeds into the hype. They get enough hype as it is

That 89 Graham Beaver game was a snooze fest in comparison. Beaver was horrible and fumbled the ball away inside their own 20 2 out of their first 3 drives. I think losing 17-14 and fumbling away the winning TD on the goal line against the soon to be 14-0 state champs makes for a good showing. The 95 team played a much better Beaver team that had several D1 players , Yubrennal Isabelle, Charlie Tynes, Eric Krauss, and other kids like Glenn Keene. Who didn’t have the hype machine working for them like these kids do now. That 95 Graham team played their butts off and beat a great Beaver team. And they played a much tougher schedule after that, losing to a Tommy Crigger led Grundy team and a good Lee team , both on the road. And only by 1 or 2 points. We always hear comparisons to the 89 team and nothing about the 95 team. The 89 team played a weak schedule other than getting thumped by Salem. Then got to play every playoff game at Mitchell including the state championship. What an advantage. The 95 team played only 1 playoff game at home. I never hear these Graham historians mention the 95 team but they talk about the very fortunate 89 team like they were the 72 Dolphins. I believe the last 3 GHS teams, the 1990 team and the 95 team were all better than the 89 team

Tazewell did have around 200 yards on the ground last night. Which is a bright spot but they were not ready to play. Especially on defense. Their defensive backs were supposed to be their strong point but they missed assignments all night. Mount View has enough speed to give Tazewell problems but their defense is pretty bad too. Tazewell has a pretty weak schedule the rest of the way other than Beaver and Richlands . Barring any injuries, 7-3 is doable. And considering that Marion, Va High, and Lebanon might finish 2-8,1-9 and 0-10, they’re a lock for 3rd place in a pitiful SWD

It’s nice to see Isaiah Justice get some media love for his 3 TD 100 yard receiving effort. Talented athlete who has received attention from several D-1 baseball programs as well as the Pittsburgh Pirates. Maybe he’ll garner some interest from some college football coaches as well

There’s always that “ he’s just a kicker “ argument. But when you take a look at the whole picture, the game has changed to accommodate offenses. Turf fields, rules changes , spread offenses , poor tackling and passive defenders. I remember thinking what the Peoples kid did a few years ago was untouchable. But every Saturday morning , you’re reading how some kid at almost any school has put up 200 plus yards on the ground. Sometimes carrying 30 times or more. I remember a kid at Pikeview running for 350 a couple years back. You guys are giving Beavers defense too much credit. They looked horrible tackling, trying to strip the ball on every play instead of wrapping up. The APC, twitter and FB has made these kids household names but they still gotta show it on the field. Martin and Davis sat out the whole 3rd quarter. If kids like RJ Buford and Jake Lilly would’ve had the hype that these kids have backing them, they would’ve been D1 easy. Give Levi Forrest credit, his accomplishments on Friday are universal for any era of football. The ball still has to clear the line and travel wether into the wind or with it.

Jones performance was more impressive because that defense’s only key was to stop him and if memory serves me correct , He was injured on a negative yardage sweep in the 2nd quarter . He sat out a good 10 minutes of the game then came back in and put up 150 plus yards in the 4th

Lester put up unbelievable numbers. But Bluefield’s Achilles heel has always been a mobile QB. It’s almost like they don’t account for a running QB. Ben Meade beat Beaver with his legs a few years back. He was around 200 yards then. Ravenswood beat Bluefield on two separate occasions with a mobile QB. In 2010 , they lost in the state semis when they gave up 200 yards to their QB then lost 4 years later at Mitchell giving up almost 300 yards to a much smaller QB. One year against Wayne they geared up to stop a 6’4 240 fullback but gave up 160 yards on like 5 carries to a wingback turned QB. It was an impressive performance but Beaver has never faired well against a mobile QB and this years team isn’t that consistent in the middle

That is a good comparison but I do think it’s a tougher task for the dawgs. I’m pretty sure in 89 that Richlands , Tazewell and Grundy were all .500 or worse. Throw in a 6-4 Beaver team and a winless Princeton team it’s a much easier road than what these boys have in front of them this year.

From what I remember , Bluefield was hit up for over 100 yards in penalties too. They fumbled the ball away multiple times. Bluefield had 2 PIs in the waning minutes of the 4th. One of which led to a Graham TD. Bluefield played without Martin and Davis for the 3rd quarter. And that Bluefield team is no where near the caliber of Beaver teams in recent years. Graham and Bluefield both have gotten the big stage by hoarding up all the speed and talent in the area. Leaving other area teams depleted to a point they can’t compete with them. The talent level has dropped extensively in the past 20 years. But no one would know that thanks to social media and the APC. If I was Graham , I would quit whining about the officiating and focus on Tazewell. With all the talent hoarded up by the G-Men , they should be 4 TD favorites every game here on in. Tazewell might have a 1 in 100 chance of winning but the ball might land on their number.

I think Graham will be challenged a couple times this year. Maybe not stiff challenges . I’d say LB will still have Bluefields number. 2A in Virginia is pretty weak. Bluefield doesn’t have much competition on their schedule but they will still face solid teams in Fairmont, Keyser, Bridgeport come playoff time. How tough those games will be depends on home field advantage.