I don’t think the pre season players mentioning the graham game was meant to be disrespectful . Graham is the defending state champs , and had embarrassed them during the regular season last year. 1 would hope It should be on their minds.
Everything got quite on this game all of a sudden ? Neither team can get to excited by winning this game. Other than a brief celebration for a day or 2.
whomever wins this game more than likely clinches the district and a better playoff seeding. But in reality , there are 4 really good teams In the region . Maybe 5 , if central is for real. The Celebration won’t last long for the winner. On the subject of drug tests. Richlands lost the starting center last year , the day of the graham game. It happens. Nicotine throws a curve ball for all teams. Doesn’t make someone a bad kid. Repeated mistakes that hurt your team does show a character flaw. Let’s hope all players can suit up and play at 100 percent. And even though this is a message board and an opinion based forum, no one should speculate on kids injuries or pee tests IMO, unless they have 100 percent accurate information. I like all the banter about who will win and why though !!
Xayvion and Lester are both great players. Lester may be the player of the year in the district. But I’m pretty sure Webb won’t disappoint. Probably leading the district in all purpose yards vs a pretty tuff schedule. They will double him on d . Probably won’t take to many shots his way on offense and will more than likely not direct kick to him. Only remember one player in the district over the past two or three years that had that effect. Simmons will Be ready for this game as well, and Steele plays best vs the better teams. Not making a prediction. Just think it will bE a good game to watch.
This game will ride a lot on the ability of Steele to run well on early downs. We all know snake Palmer will take Webb out of the game. He will be the only player on either team to receive a true double team, and possible , a safety shaded to his side. This will leave the field open for the other receivers , Simmons , and Steele. Much like the Abingdon game. That was one of the blues better offensive games with several players stepping up. Look for Simmons to play big Friday.
This will be a good one. I’m my opinion , the big plays will determine the winner. Both teams have big play guys. Both teams have a good kicking game. If we are lucky, it should be a great game to watch.
Graham has a few more big play guys on offensive. The blues have the better o line and d line. Give the LB advantage to graham. Special teams to Richlands. Could be a close game. Both qbs have played well.
What would be Grahams best win this season vs a quality opponent. ? Seriously. I’m saying Princeton. Princeton payed really well in an early season loss to tazewell.
Simmons is a good qb. He will be forced to throw the ball on early downs at some point this year. Most of his passes don’t hit the ground. So it’s a good option. They obviously won’t run all over union on first down. Been there. 10 first down ball carries. 2 1st down passes. Obviously passing on first down hasn’t hurt them. Couldn’t run the ball vs gate city. Great play by Steele as of late and better line play has allowed to rush more on first down. Great recipe to get Webb a touch on the first series of last 3 or 4 games even if doubled. Steele has adjusted to running the stretch plays well and is a load. Don’t think Mance’s play calling hurt the blues. Running on first down is always a good option till you run into a team that stops it. His play calling hasn’t changed any. The success at which the run/pass game is working usually determines the play call.
Union and Ridgeview at at top of M7 , Graham / Richlands top of SWD. Then, there a couple teamS in each district that could upset someone on a given night. And a couple of teams that are just bad. Only Marion is way off where they have been the last couple of years in the SWD. If graham is a state championship contender and Richlands just knocked of the #1 Radford from up the road. My guess is that the swd is pretty good. .
Pretty sure the southwest district may have 2 of the top 4 seeds in the region once the playoffs start. Graham is stout. Richlands is much improved. And has played 5 quality teams. I would be correct in saying that union / ridge view would have dropped the bluefield game and Radford was not an easy out. Tazewell was 4 -1 before injuries riddled them. Not sure this is the weakest it has been. Tazewell has been bad for years , Lebanon has as well. And va High hasn’t challenged for the district in several years. Marion being down is the biggest drop off but tazewell already has doubled their win total from a year ago. I wouldn’t write graham out as state champs. And would t count Richlands out of playing for the region championship. Tazewell may also get in the playoffs. Swd isn’t terrible.
How about the amateur move of kicking the ball to Webb on the opening kickoff. Won’t catch a union team or most coaches, with 5 weeks of huddle to review making that mistake.
Since this thread is called “ the backyard brawl “ these newest posts are much better. I wasn’t interested , when it concerned the north , and south concession stands of Honaker high school. It would be easier to call it “ the one end where the good hot dogs are at and the end where the hotdogs are nasty. It would be easier for the ones following who are not familiar with geography and compasses. However the recent content on this thread is much more becoming of this great rivalry.
It can’t be “your year” if you had everyone healthy when graham took you all behind the woodshed in week 2. And they may do it to Richlands., But if they do. It will not be said by Richlands fans that “ this was our year “. Maybe there is just a difference between what Richlands considers a good year and what tazewell considers a good year ?
Nobody wants to see any players out. I know for a fact that Richlands players would want chance and jo jo playing if they could. it would make things much tougher for the blues because both of those kids are great athletes. A win is a win. But there is no glory in knowing tazewell will be without several of their horses. Hopefully it’s a good clean game and I’m sure tazewell will show up and rally for the guys that are out. Looking forward to it.
It can’t be “your year” if you had everyone healthy when graham took you all behind the woodshed in week 2. And they may do it to Richlands., But if they do. It will not be said by Richlands fans that “ this was our year “. Maybe there is just a difference between what Richlands considers a good year and what tazewell considers a good year ?
And unfortunately all 3 parties must agree. The success rate in overturning an ejection is probably less than 5 percent. The referee would have to admit maybe they either missed something and/ or , overreacted , and the principals from both schools would have to get involved. So more often than not , it sticks. And no one wants to play or at least they shouldn’t , vs a team without one of its best players. So I do hope it gets worked out.
I hope all 15 fans that Radford brings with them come early and stop by one of our finest eateries , and then feel the urge to leave the game early because the tornadoes are rolling.
Thats not a prediction. Just my hopes for Friday night.
I’ve said many times that Bluefield has more talent than any team in our coverage area. And its not even close. But even with that talent gap, it was still 24-21 at halftime and should have been 28-21 the other way. Bluefield probably wins either way. But we played them tougher than most expected.
Here is another Richlands fan admitting the talent gap. Game should t have been as close as it was. Richlands can what if all night. The on side kick penalty appears to be a bad call and killed the blues momentum at a big time . The defensive pass interference was a terrible call. No one will even dispute that . That was a big call. Webb’s dropped touchdown that would have tied the game late in the third quarter 31 to 31 was a huge play that hurt the blues. However if he doesn’t line up the game may have been over earlier IMO. The blues played really hard. Can’t overcome the beavers athletes. They are very good. And more talented. And that isn’t an opinion. It’s a fact. Hard play. Good coaching. And a few explosive plays kept this game interesting. And the 2 or 3 bad calls kept the game from being interesting till at least late 4 th quarter. That’s the only complaint. I hope the beavers win out. Their players played hard and fast. Liked watching them.
The blues played tough. Simmons played good with all the pressure and Webb put the team on his shoulders in the first half. For bluefield. I was impressed with Martin , Davis , and house. The kicker is great too . Good sportsmanship on both sides. Bluefield is the better team. No one can argue that and be taken seriously. The blues played tough. Kept it within reach most of night. Good game. Bad officiating for sure. But the best team won and the blues played well enough to beat most of the remaining team a on their schedule. Good ball game. A lot of players on that field that will play Saturday ball. Don’t get to see that each week.
Parsons : way to get philosophical on what was a really good thread. You quite possibly ended any further conversation on this subject because we are all confused.
I think both games have a possibility of being close. I like tazewell by 7. Richlands / Bluefield closer than it will get predicted. Good game last year till end of third. I was on record last week saying “Richlands by 10 “ and had union graham coming down to the wire., so my gut feelings are probably gonna be off this week.
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Graham vs Richlands
in SWVA Football
Posted
I don’t think the pre season players mentioning the graham game was meant to be disrespectful . Graham is the defending state champs , and had embarrassed them during the regular season last year. 1 would hope It should be on their minds.