Tiger 2000

I usually agree with most of your comments but this one not so much. I think I’ve missed about the same amount of games since 2003.   This years team went 6-4 in the regular season.   The only game the blues lost that they had to play in the regular season was graham.  It would be easy to fill a schedule  minus bluefield , Abingdon Radford  , union , gate city , as your non district games. You could finish the season at 9-1 and get a soft first round game.  Then maybe win the next round.  Then people outside the program don’t realize that you actually are not that good.  This years team and last years team were 6-4 teams.   Last years team made it at least 1  round   Further than they should have. This years team probably made it 1 less round than they should have.  
 
Simmons played well.   Cox came in several times early in the season and looked awful.  Just wasn’t ready. His feet were not ready. Tuned the gate  city game around in a hurry.  I said it earlier and will again.  No skill players other than Webb.    No Lbs  other than Absher. Steele ran hard this season. . Some of the other wr caught a few balls but needed to be capable of scoring or winning 1 v1 matchups consistently.  The Altizer injury hurt the blues tremendously.    This was a 6-4 team that could have maybe won another game or 2 but could have also lost 2 more in the regular season.  Simmons played good. Exceeded expectations.  Doesn’t make him the best qb around.  Not trying to make that argument,  But was gritty in wins over Abingdon , Radford , tazewell , etc.  The blues will be starring at another 6-4 season unless the get some skill players fast.   I think cox will be a player next year If he works on his feet. His arm is great.  Needs months of feetwork.  If he does, it  will add a dimension next season that the blues lacked. I would love to see Webb back 10 lbs heavier and Steele 10 lbs.   They say both of them are tireless workers in the offseason. if they all buy in and develop a couple lbs they can exceed expectations.  I’m disappointed with  the lack of toughness from the blues this year and last but saw some flashes with some of the younger players at times this year. 
I can’t wait till August . Good luck to all the area teams in the playoffs  this year. and hopefully  the blues will be right back in the thick of things at this time next year.  

Congrats to Central for their win last night,  they were the better team and made the plays they needed too to win the game and I wish them the best going forward !

Ladies and Gentlemen, what we have here is a glorified pissing match 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Aim for the Cheerios boys, aim for the Cheerios! 

Props to Coach Mance for calling it like it is.  Too many coaches these days like to make excuses as to why their team lost, but he didn't and gave Central credit for making the plays necessary.  Richlands is blessed to have him as their head coach.  

Most teams on any given night can lose , M7 or SWD. One or two missteps or bad calls can change a game. SWD did have some weak teams this year. I have no clue if next year will be better. This thread reminds me of my daddy can beat up your daddy. We’re all semi-intelligent, we can count, M7 has three in the semis, SWD will have one. Do we really need a thread like this? Let’s focus on game threads. Let’s just hope whichever team from 2D wins the Regional Title whether it’s M7 or SWD, they bring that ring back to SWVA. Sorry... a bit of a ramble. 

I do understand that the Central QB had less yards than Simmons. But, he looked much, much quicker, smarter, and well balanced in this match. And you have to look at who most of his yards have come against. Most of his passes, the receiver had to catch up with, as they were never right on the money or close. Webb is good, don't get me wrong, but when you over extended the one bright spot, who else are you going too? Webb is great, but we don't have another receiver that is consistent to that degree, even if it is just an screen route, that Simmons has hit consistently against a good defensive back field. Simmons is not a top five quarterback, he had Webb to make him look better, but he is not where near the top five. Could it be to his play or his core around him? That is up for debate.

My reply was to the guy that said Simmons wasn’t even close to top 5. I agree with Lester. Pickett and the others. Not saying that Simmons is better. The comment was basically that simmons had a solid year. No true fan or coach envisioned Simmons td / int ratio to be so good or for him to throw. For as many yards or as many touchdowns as he did.  Qb play didn’t doom the blues tonight or this season. Couldn’t run the ball tonight and Webb probably only had 85 to 95 yards receiving.  Central used a good blueprint.  They stopped the run. Then limited Webb’s touches.  That’s why the kicks went out of bounds. I don’t blame them.  I would much rather give a team the ball at midfield than kick it to the 20 with potential of the big run back.  Good game plan and they made the big play in the fourth quarter.  Richlands was not good enough all year to overcome those type mistakes. A true 6-4 type team. 

#1 Lester from graham.   2 Pickett. 3  #3 Simmons from Richlands , he has quietly threw for close to 1500 yards without a lot of  proven receivers .   I’m sure there are a few that I may have missed. Didn’t see them all play but those 3 are solid.  

I dont know stats for sure this list is for the most part an eye test
1. Simmons GW this kid is lights out and by far the best true QB in the region even if you cover well he is capable of breaking a 40 yard scramble
2. Lester Graham - one of the top athletes in SWVA. He is playing out of position at QB that is the only reason he is 2 on the list
3. Simmons Richlands- Mance has a great system and this kid has learned it as the year has gone on. It doesnt hurt that he has the webb kid to throw it up to
4. Thomas VA High- I know he is a running back but he does catch the snap for them more times than not. If this kids was on any other team he would be an all state kid for sure. If he can get some help look out he could be future POY in the southwest district
5. Pickett Galax- I havnt seen him play but they stats yall keep throwing up are pretty darn impressive. 

Did I say anything about illegal formations? I just said I wondered if Mance would raise the issue about Wise having too many men in the backfield. If an official isn't on top of it and the OL manage a step back, it's basically a wedge. 

There is a scripture that says "if one can put a thousand to flight, two can put ten thousand to flight".  
I think Coach did it to give dimension and strengthen the running game.  They are both different runners.  Webb is a finesse runner with speed, Steele is more of a "up the gut" runner.  Either way, I think it bodes well for the "new season".  Also, it takes pressure off of Simmons to settle down in the pocket,  and  be accurate in finding his open receivers.  

Maybe Mance will raise a stink and not allow Central to have eight men in the backfield every snap lol.

I've been with Marion Football since my oldest started playing in 2011 (the start of the good run) and then my nephew after him and now I'm in it for the next 5 years because of my youngest sons and it looks like it is going to be a long 5 years. Let's face it Tim didn't get left with much, Carroll knew when to get the hell out of dodge because he wouldn't be fairing any better. Tim controls the team and he doesn't let the players or parents determine who does what, which is not a bad thing. One thing Marion needs to do IMO is get rid of the stupid rec league football and get into travel ball but that won't  happen because then many Dads wouldn't be able to coach their little Johnnys and make them the stars of rec league teams. I've had parents tell me that they told their child to quit if they didn't get to play when they hit middle school ball and up. That is just stupid if you're good enough to play you'll get to play and if not well then you need to work harder and try to improve so you can get some playing time. So many parents build mediocre kids up and have them thinking that they are the next big superstar when in all reality they suck.  Didn't mean to ramble on but I agree with you though I don't know if Tim can survive but I do know he means well and cares about those boys and I wish him the best. 

I am of course a Richlands fan and played back in the 70's and have been hit similar and made similar type of hits,  and we would have been praised for that back then,  but now with the new rules you get flagged and tossed for those type of hits. I understand why and I think you need those rules to protect the kids,  but in my opinion, like several have stated already, he should have been flagged and gave a 15 yard personal foul and maybe even warned by the refs to not make another high hit again or he will be tossed,  but he should not have been tossed that time. I understand the refs doing so because it happens so fast and the hit was high and looks violent and they want to error on the side of safety,  but the kids only have so many games to play in and you hate to see one taken,  but the refs have to make a call without the benefit of a replay.
  I understand why they did what they did,  but just think it should have been a 15 yard personal foul and the kid stays in the game.

I am definitely biased toward Richlands.  So here you go.
 The hit was close enough/ high enough  to where a ref is gonna flag it.  Football is a tough sport and it was a division 1 athlete coming in hard like he was supposed to.  I don’t think he deserved to be ejected.  At all.   I do think that he now knows , that he definitely could have got low and ran through him.  He made the hit like everyone did up untill a few years ago. The rules have changed now and we still see some hard hits like the one he delivered . He is a good player. Hated to see him go.   It was definitely a 15 yard penalty by definition. But probably tossed him unnecessarily.  

When hearing about this I was under the impression that the Richlands player was hit from behind in the back of the helmet but after seeing the vid that was not the case. I pull for the Blues every game they play so I’m usually a little biased towards them but I don’t think that hit deserved an ejection. A personal foul yes, but not an ejection.

Said it when it happened. Personal Foul, clearly a hit that was to high, but no ejection warranted. The officials got one half of the situation right. We have to remember the officials have two decisions, not one.
Was it high contact, head to head, at least a personal Foul, etc?
Does the above warrant and ejection?
Like I said, they got one half of it correct.

At first I thought it was a clean hit but after reading the rule, I see it was called correctly and I agree that it did not warrant an ejection.  We are all human.

I am definitely biased toward Richlands.  So here you go.
 The hit was close enough/ high enough  to where a ref is gonna flag it.  Football is a tough sport and it was a division 1 athlete coming in hard like he was supposed to.  I don’t think he deserved to be ejected.  At all.   I do think that he now knows , that he definitely could have got low and ran through him.  He made the hit like everyone did up untill a few years ago. The rules have changed now and we still see some hard hits like the one he delivered . He is a good player. Hated to see him go.   It was definitely a 15 yard penalty by definition. But probably tossed him unnecessarily.  

Great game G-Men!!!! That first half was a good one. I'm not sure why Webb didn't get the ball more. Graham's defense come together tonight was really attacking the ball. 
Good luck to the Blues the rest of the way. Glad to see both teams leave there tonight without any injuries. 

Got to give props to Graham's offensive line.  Richlands was playing at a high level and Graham's offensive line got the best of Richlands.  We were able to get a nice push against a very solid defensive line and that's an excellent sign if your a Graham fan.  Our offensive line has been improving and they grew up tonight.  Guys like Kiser, Atkins and really all 5 from tackle to tackle really have stepped it up. Graham can certainly lose again in the Region.  Union showed us that, but if your a Graham fan, you have to like your chances.  We have a pretty solid football team and they were down and disappointed after the Union loss, but the G-Men are far from done yet.

I would think Rex & Snake have prepared the defense as well as they possibly can for this game. We’ll see if the boys execute like they should, block, stick to assignments, stay focused, etc. I look for them to shut down Webb. If they can put pressure on Simmons early that would be a plus. He’s not used to big game pressure like Lester. Hopefully, they prevent Richlands from getting that newly found running game going tomorrow night. They really haven’t been tested since Union so tomorrow night will tell the tale as they say. 

Just more motivation.   Best of luck to both teams.  Hoping for an injury free and good game.  Have fun and good luck.

Speed. Can Richlands contain Graham's speed? I know that Richlands has a very fast and talented playmaker in Webb, but the GMen have 5 or 6 of those guys. I think the lines and defenses will be very comparable. Will the Blues be able to contain ALL of Graham's athletes? The answer to that question determines the winner.
Good luck to both teams!

Sending good vibes out to the GMen and Blues for a fair, competitive, and injury free game tomorrow night. With that said, go GMen and bring home that win!