Class 3, near Richmond. The Bulldogs are hampered with their QB being injured. Defense performed well, but just too predictable on offense in this one.
That sucks. That’s a long drive home after a lose. The weather makes it even worse.
All I saw was score...but that pretty much looked like an ass kicking going by score
It was. Outside of one play during Tazewell’s first offensive series, they were never a threat to score until garbage time. Graham had started pulling starters on D when Tazewell scored the 8 points in the 4th. Graham also had 3 TD passes dropped in the end zone or it would have been a lot worse. I would consider anytime a team has running clock(no matter what stage of a game) a dominate performance.
Considering the Drive down 52, it's a fair trade off. I may be in the minority here, but I like the road trip and think it will be good for the boys. Different experience. A lot of those kids have never been out of the area.
Would they go 52 or could they cut across coalwood? It’s been forever since I have been that way, but seems like it would be a lot shorter unless the roads have gotten so bad you can’t get a bus over it.
It's one of those game-time decision type deals, I hear. He has been nursing a shoulder injury all week. Not sure if will be able to go or not. Would love to see him able to play tonight, but at the same time, he needs to make sure he heals up properly
Hope he is healthy. If there is any doubt I don’t know if this is the game to play him. Graham’s D-Line is their strength. Bluefield’s Qb took some hits last week. If the same happens this week you may jeopardize him being out longer. That’s a tough decision for Tazewell trying to figure out how winnable this game is vs further injury risk.
Graham and Bluefield almost looked like mirror images of each other. Was Graham hyped too much or Bluefield underestimated? What if the Beavers made all their XPs? Graham came out on fire and got that big lead, but Bluefield held their offense scoreless the 2nd half. Did Graham let up or did Bluefield settle down and adjust that well?
Most of those questions can be answered tomorrow night. Tazewell dismantled Va High last week as they should have because Va High is improving, but they're not "there" just yet. Based off one game, one would think this will be a somewhat high scoring (30s) and close game.
The G-Men passing game isn't what it was last year, and even if it was, I think the Dogs would match up there anyways. Clements looks to be a quick and hard running RB, but he doesn't have Bradshaw's moves or speed. I don't see him getting to the edge very easily in this game. I think Graham has the talent to control Tazewell's passing game IF they can get pressure on the QB. I could be wrong, but I'm not sure either team wins this game through the air.
So, it all boils down to the line play between the tackles. Which team will win that battle? I think Graham will have the upper hand here, so I'm going with the G-Men 28-14.
I think people are under estimating how good Bluefield may be this year. They have a very talented skill group and their line play should be improved from last year. They blew out Tazewell last year and beat Ridgeview at Ridgeview. I think this years team may be better. It would not surprise me to see them in the state title game.
This thread is turning into great entertainment! My two cents in a nutshell.
Tazewell’s defense has to stop Graham’s running game.
Graham’s defense has to stop Tazewell’s passing game.
This will come down to lineplay on both sides of the ball.
My contention has been: Graham’s defense is ahead of where they were at this point in previous seasons. We will see if Tazewell D can out play them. I’m not handing Graham the automatic win but I do give them the advantage merely because of their defense. They held Hairston to under 20 yards rushing. That’s big!
Agreed. When Graham has been beaten the last couple of years it’s been because the other team was more physical with better line play. The only time Tazewell has came close was during the Covid year. Tazewell had a senior heavy OL and Graham had four sophomores starting. Funny enough those sophomores will be starting as Seniors this year. If Bluefield couldn’t run on Graham, I just don’t see Tazewell doing it. As far as throwing the ball, that’s an iffy prospect as well. Who is the last team, to be beat Graham throwing the football. Ridgeview only put up 14 points on Grahams starters last year and their QB was under constant pressure. I ain’t saying Graham can’t lose this game, they could have a ton of penalties and turnovers. However, I think the more likely scenario will be the Clements kid with +150 yards of rushing and Tazewell’s starters with around 200 yards of total offense. If the game plan for Tazewell is to drop back and pass the ball 20-30 times, their QB is going to take a beating.
Graham wins by 2+ TDs. I don’t think Tazewell has the better skill players. I would put it more of push. Bluefield has better skill players top to bottom. Outside of a HB pass and few blown coverages the Beavers couldnt move the ball against Graham. Clements will be the best player on the field. Graham will cleanup some penalties and the GMen line will be to much for Bulldogs.
Leave my brother out of this! He was excited to go to Big Stone Gap tonight to call this one. He got himself a 5th of liquor and a big bag of weed in one hand and had his officiating shirt in the other before hitting the road.
That’s the best way to watch scrimmage football, especially if you have no pulling interest in either team.
Graham then Ridgeview. After the region D championship, I am not convinced that Ridgeview can handle Graham at the LOS. Graham returns 4 of 5 starters on a O-line that dominated region D last year except for the early game with Union.
The real question is: Why are coaches even “recruiting” at all?
By the letter of the law, so long as the kids’ addresses change by virtue of the parents’ move, the kids are allowed to play immediately, without penalty. However, far more families in this area rent than own their homes. The rental market is so robust that it’s simple to jaunt across the boundary lines at will. This leads to situations where Richlands (circa 2010) becomes little more than the Coalfield All-Stars and where Graham (circa today) becomes little more than the Southern West Virginia All-Stars.
It’s a juicy ethical question whether or not coaches should induce families to make those sorts of moves solely for the purposes of sport. I come down as a hard NO on it for a multitude of reasons. I would love to see the VHSL come down hard in imposing transfer limits upon kids. Absent a written petition and exception made by the VHSL, beginning with a child’s 6th grade year, a 1st transfer should result in the loss of 2 months’ participation in sport. A 2nd or subsequent transfer should result in the loss of 2 consecutive semesters participation in sport.
At some point, the tail has to stop wagging the dog.
With the good comes the bad. Multiple kids in Bluefield move across state lines in every grade, every year. There isn’t a lot to do in this area and having them sit out sports for even a couple of months could be detrimental to a kid who has no control over the situation. It’s the same as area teams holding players back for football. Sure, you could make a rule addressing it but you going to be punishing a lot of kids also.
Gfan, everything you wrote sounds spot on to me regarding my limited times watching Graham last season, but I will write this...and I wrote about it every time I watched Graham last year regarding how solid Graham looked, but with one concern and that is.......Graham needs to design some shallow crosses. In order for the Meadows kid to work the middle of the field more than the QB you all had last year, Graham's offense needs to send a WR or RB 5-7 yds off the ball across the middle of field on a pass route. Graham is very solid and has been solid for many years under Palmer who's work as Head Coach needs no debating. He's solid as is their coaching staff, but the only thing (literally only 1 thing) that has perplexed me in watching you guys is very few to sometimes none (not 1 the whole game) short passing routes in the middle of the field.
It could very well be preference on purpose, as many coaches in High School are not big fans of middle of the field stuff because of the turnover risk and when you have the athletes to simply run 3 or 4 flag routes and still complete a pass for a long gain or touchdown, but it can be a big plus against athletic teams. Just my opinion. With all the above written, common sense also tells me we are talking about a team that has made deep runs in the playoffs and playing for state titles, so very, very, very little critique needs given. I'm just doing it because I like talking about football and love the discussion. For the 1 concern I listed above, I could list 10 other overwhelmingly positives that most other teams wished they had.
I think that’s a fair critique. I do think skill set had something to do with last year. They lost D Brown early in the year which was more of a possession receiver. They did tend to throw more intermediate passes in the spring when J Blevins was QB. That’s not a knock on Z Blevins from last year, I thought he was the best player in region D, just was a better throwing the ball down field.
I call bullshit on that. They don't have any more safety concerns than most any other high school
Bluefield has really good back in Hairston, so if I had to guess I would say it was to get more touches. I might be the only one who thinks this but feel like it would be better to have the Floyd kid in the backfield and Clements at wideout. Clements is explosive but took a beating last year. I think you may get more out of him using him similar to the way they did Bradshaw. Meadows will be fine at QB. He will do better job in working the middle than Blevins. Blevins just through one heck of a deep ball and was an escape arrest when under pressure. Given what Graham has coming back on the line, I think they are the favorites to win D.
If you put both districts together who the best team out of the two is it GMen or Ridgeview is what I am wondering?
I would still give the edge to Graham just based on what we saw last year. Graham won that game on the line of scrimmage. They are returning 4 out of 5 linemen. Meadows is a big loss but Omari Hill looked impressive in what action he saw on D last year. Ridge view may have the flasher skill players but i would bet on the team that wins in the trenches.
I think ridgeview will be a bust, I've heard lots of bad attitudes from players and coaches. I think Lee is going to go further than Ridgeview IMHO. Central will impress, they will upset Ridgeview in either first or second round and Central will play Graham for Regional final.
Great prediction! Graham will also have a post championship game hangover which will lead to Marion winning region D.
I think Tester has a good chance of being Region D D-POY as well not seen the Lucas kids play much myself..Tester can play anywhere on D I've seen him the S-CB - MLB-OLB .. play them all at a high level seems like hes in on every tackle breaks on the ball great always in the right place at the right time.. i know he had at least 6 INT'S last year in 6 games.. not sure how many he finished with this season..
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That sucks. That’s a long drive home after a lose. The weather makes it even worse.