Fairlawncat

Guys, keep this in mind. Your tendons and ligaments don't "grow" like muscle does. If you do PEDs and/or Steroids, or just follow the perfect modern day technology and knowledge of muscle growth and fitness, the tendons and ligaments "are what they are." Those are your anchors and attachments for muscle to bone, and based on someone's body frame, they kind of have "set size" of ligament and tendon strength that will not grow in proportion to the muscle growth. That's the main or one of the major problems. Tornado99, heck yes the larger muscle mass helps performance. You want a 225 lb RB coming at you with massive quads and you have to tackle him or the 205 lb RB with normal proportioned quads coming at you? I choose number 2. But, that guy that's 220 lbs with way out of proportioned quads is at much higher risk than the 205 lb RB with normal proportioned quads related to logamental tears.

I know the topic is about Julius, but I submit to you that Thomas Jones is one of the top 10 most underrated players in NFL history.

Denbigh stuns Phoebus 25-21 this past weekend. That's a big deal for the old Peninsula District foe. It's the first time in nearly 30 years (1997) that the Patriots off of Denbigh Blvd in Newport News got a W over the Phantoms. For those not familiar with the Tidewater, Denbigh is where a lot of the military kids from the Army Base- Ft. Eustis (located nearby) attend High School, along with Woodside High.

To beat Bluefield, you neutralize them on the LOS. In the 2nd half, Graham kind of got up off the mat like Rocky on the LOS and went toe to toe with Bluefield. Graham of course, had athletes also and moved the ball in the 2nd half, BUT.....Princeton? Think Khabib Nurmagomedov....Smash. Princeton just went smash mode on the LOS and Princeton this year is very good, but they have been more athletic the previous 3 years than what they are this year, but they are wicked physical and big up front, and they just controlled the LOS in the 2nd half. So for Ridgeview, you neutralize that speed of Bluefield's by winning the line of scrimmage. Easier said than done and Bluefield is also very good up front on both sides.

Oh, his team is special alright..LOL..Gunter is known to be rough around the collar. They play Gunter later in the season and Gunter is a powerhouse with multiple state titles. Life Oak Cliff will get taken to woodshed in about 5 weeks.

Bonham (the losing team refused the running clock at half time). The Life Oak Cliff's QB was told to take a knee with 50 seconds left. He refused that order and through a pass for a TD to put them over 100 points and Life Oak Cliff's fans celebrated and cheered (it's on Instagram). Yes, Life Oak Cliff ran up the score and yes, Bonham was dumb for not accepting the running clock for the 2nd half. Yes, it will come back to bite Life Oak Cliff as they play Powerhouse and multi multi time state champion Gunter later in the season and Gunter is known to be very rough.

What's fun and Very Weird.. After This weekend. All 4 teams nodded up at 19.0 and Dead Even if Games Go as Planned. RV, Graham, GC, Union all four of them tied at 19.0 IF RV loses to Bluefield.. Assuming for Graham.(Graham is open) Heritage wins, Bluefield wins, Union wins Assuming for Ridgeview-loss to Bluefield, S.Gap is open, Honaker wins, Central wins Assuming for GC, it beats Marion, DB wins, Abingdon wins, Richlands loss Assuming for Union, they beat Tazewell, Lee and Graham are open, D.Boone loses to West Ridge. All 4 teams have a power rating of 19.0. Dead Even.

I've read some of your swipes at Appy over the last 2 years. I don't think you would have the decency to even pee on Appy if they were 5 feet from you and burning in flames (Ron White, Circa 1998).

Good points tornado99. My understanding is this as it relates to steroids and I'm talking about Steroids which falls under PEDs, but the two are different in one major way regarding how they protect joints and ligaments. The weight lifting revelation, knowledge, and technology took off in the late 70s/early 80s for the NFL and college, but for High Schools, it took off a touch later in the mid 80s, and there wasn't a skyrocketing in knee and shoulder injuries in the NFL until the late 1990s because the rate of actual Steroids was so prevalent in the NFL and MLB and among college players back in the 80s and up until the mid 90s. Yes, the steroids help build massive muscle (too much for most body frame sizes) but the steroids also helped Decrease injury chances, steroids offer a joint/ligaments protective effect if you remain on them, so it was a wash. The problem? In the late 90s, advanced lab technology surpassed or caught up with strength and conditioning technology and knowledge, and the use of actual Steroids started to go way down among professional athletes and college players, BUT the use of PEDs (non steroids, but still PEDs that build muscle mass) became the new thing, so muscle mass and weight training technology supported massive muscle growth, but a sudden halting of the protective effect of actual Steroids being replaced by other PEDs which could evade lab testing. What did we get? Major increases in knee and shoulder injuries. The above is the way it was explained to me. I'm no doctor or surgeon. The timing of all of the above also goes with more time on the field in the office season stressing those joints out. As weight training knowledge and PED knowledge (increased muscle mass with substances that are no longer pure steroids) has increased, the off season stuff in football from winter to spring workouts to 7 on 7s and camps has coincided to make the perfect mix of ugly circumstances that contribute to knee and shoulder injuries Another simple way to think of the time component and just taking away PED/steroid stuff. 1985. Fewer teams in HS in America make the playoffs. So, a quick 10 week season for many kids. Here's an example. Team A in 1985. A 4 day camp in summer where they are on the field for 24 hours. They go 6 and 4 and don't make the playoffs and the games are 48 minutes playing time x 10, so that's 480 minutes or 8 hours on the field and if you had the summer camp hours, that's 32 hours total. Figure 2 hour practices Monday through Thursday x 10 and that's 80 hours for the season. Add all the crazy math above and you are getting about 112 hours of Total Time that ACL is stressed on for one year. If you take Team A above and place them 40 years into the future in 2025, I can assure you those 112 hours total "joint stress time" for an entire year back in 1985 has at aminimum doubled, and it's probably tripled for some of the major or better HS programs. So, literally just right there by timing method, the odds of injury exposure have doubled or tripled in some cases.

I'm going to have to disagree and give another opinion. I think the two teams are going to end up playing this season.

One of the primary culprits for increased knee injuries that is even More of a culprit than turf is 2 things. 1. Weight training to the quads at an overwhelmingly more difficult and advanced level compared to 1980 or 1985. Ligaments and tendons are your joint "braces" that support the muscles attachment to the bone. When the muscle is so large (based on body frame size) for that given body frame, that puts massive amounts of tension on ligaments. Don't believe it? We've seen a massive surge in Shoulder Injuries over the past 30 years as well in All Sports. 2. More time on the field for the athlete. In 1980, a week of "two a days," maybe a 4 day summer camp, and 11 weeks of football and it's over. Now, 30 to 33 weeks of "field time." Whether that's winter workouts, springs workouts, 7 on 7s, summer pre camp, summer camp, preseason, then the season. The athlete is simply stressing their ligaments 3 times as long as they were 30 ago. The above is from an orthopedic surgeon I had a discussion with on this a few years ago. Yes, turf does increase risk, and turf adds fuel to the fire for the 2 items listed above, but the 2 items listed above are actually more impactful in knee injury risk than simply turf fields alone. And again, it's not just knee injury risk, shoulder injury and labrum tears have skyrocketed.

Graham is better matchup with Heritage than Bluefield AND Princeton because Graham's D is better than Bluefield's and Princeton's. Offensively, it's all a wash because NONE of the 3 or 4 (Princeton, Union, Graham, Bluefield) would move the ball on Heritage. That defense Graham faced in week 2 is the BEST defense it will face or see through week 15 if Graham makes it that far. Absolutely huge, fast, explosive off the ball, receivers covered in space, Defensive tackles crashing the LOS and backfield. Heritage has a wicked defense. Graham was actually the better matchup with a chance to beat Heritage than Union, or Princeton or Bluefield.

But you didn't say you Believe. How could Bluefield win any game if you "don't believe"?

I believe Heritage would beat Bluefield by 3 touchdowns

I am not "bent out of shape." I just think it's half crazy. But, I still respect it.

Yep, they are 3A and I've read some posts on here regarding Why Heritage Should be better than Graham and Union. I don't argue regarding WHY they should be better and their school size difference. What I'm saying is.....they ARE better. I think you are a nuts if you think Bluefield and Union are better than Heritage and that's not being disrespectful to Union or Bluefield.

The fact that they didn't or haven't played Union or Bluefield doesn't change my point that Heritage is BETTER than Union and Bluefield, whether week 1 or 2 or 6 or 10. And the point stands, as the season progresses, Brad Bradley will have his team make another deep run.

Tazewell will win by 21 to 24 points

Come on John, Be Honest

RV needs to Win One Key Big Game. The talent is there. Great program, but they haven't taken that step like a Union or Graham or Richlands (Richlands when Union and RV opened) and advanced to the state semi's. I recall RV and Bluefield playing 2 times before and RV had some solid teams, but RV came up short Again, in a Big Game. If RV beats Bluefield, it's the kind of win that the Wolfpack needs to take that step to elite type program. The talent is there at RV with great players, but they need that one key "get over the hump" type of win. Bluefield 41, RV 20. The Beavers outplayed Graham and kind of outplayed Princeton. They aren't losing again in 2026. The danger here is when I pick a team to lose by 21 points. Bad history with this. Bluefield better be careful.

100 percent bro. Well said and same here.

My thoughts are.....Grenade Wins.

I think all of you guys in the far west debating on whether Union or Bluefield is the best team that Graham has played is comical. Just my opinion. The obvious juggernaut that has a history of going far deeper and winning more than Bluefield and Union the past 10 years is Heritage. Even with a healthy Palmer at QB, Graham wasn't moving it much on Heritage. That defense was big, fast, explosive and they Dominated Graham on the LOS compared to what Bluefield and Union did. I just see total disrespect for a multi time state champion Brad Bradley and a team that has been elite for the past decade. Bradley has a young and inexperienced team. By game 6 or 7, Heritage whips Union and Bluefield. If they lined up today, Heritage would win both games close, but on 6 or 7 weeks, 2 TD win for Heritage over both schools.

GC is solid. Never thought I would see the day in my lifetime that a Gate City football team is in it to "outscore the opponent or win an offensive shootout." Graham, Union, and RV are all solid, but I think GC might be on the same level this year. Region D is the best region by a pretty wide margin I think, in Class 2 this year. You arguably have 4 of the top 7 or 8 teams in Class 2

Congrats to Graham. I had Union winning by 21 to 24 points over a wounded Graham team and must eat crow......kind of. Clearly, crow is necessary as Graham won by 2 points and that's a far cry from 23 points losing. But, I also think it's concerning if you are quadrupled in total yardage and win the turnover battle 4 to 0, and barely win by 2. But, Graham is also playing handicapped football with the QB who can't run due to injury and that injury means he can't set his feet to throw the ball, and then Graham has some lineman out. I think round 2 is what everyone expects if the two play again and Graham is healthy. It's going down to the wire. Union likely doesn't spot Graham 4 turnovers to 0 next time, and Graham also doesn't spot Union a QB this is hurt and and 2 lineman out, so it will be close. For Union, they have to focus on not fumbling 8 times. 4 of those for turnovers. For Graham, the offensive line is the big concern, getting people healthy, and being able to run the ball with a running back.