SwvaOG

I think the VHS coaches can scheme around some of their OL/DL disadvantages, but will they? Move the pocket, traps, screens, speed options, bootlegs, play-action fakes etc. I would love to VHS pull the upset but it's an uphill battle. Graham by 10.

RV needs to move away from their over reliance of 2x2 sets here a bit and look for ways to get Honaker the ball. It would be nice to see them come out with a definitive game plan that doesn't allow Union DC to just play the same way he did last time. Throw to Deel out of the backfield, stop the deep/double-coverage shots, employ a TE on occasion and....please.....designed QB power and draws.

It was: First Round: #1 RV over #8 Richlands #3 John Battle over #2 Virginia High #1 Marion over #4 Gate City #2 Central over #3 Lebanon Second Round: #1 RV over #3 John Battle #1 Marion over #2 Central Region Championship (Tonight at RV at 6pm) #1 Marion at #1 Ridgeview I think it was good that the region had a bit more parity at the top this year. Gate City has dominated for a long time. But, 1inStripes is correct in that there seemed to a huge gap between the top schools and even the middle schools, much less the bottom. You shouldn't see too many 25-3 games at the high school level with same sized schools.

RV's two loses are to Union and Abingdon. As we've seen, both are good teams. The score of the Union game was a bit misleading as RV had 8-9 drops of which three led to interceptions. What is bad for RV is that it seems they have trouble with a good defense this year. In the past, they would still put up 30 on a good defense, even in losses. This year is a bit different.

They can, but RV's defense is considerably better than Tazewell's. I don't think RV's passing offense is as good as I thought it would be and Tazewell's is consistent. But you gotta go with the better defense when the offenses are equal.

Bro, never noticed the beveled guilt button (lol) for donations. I'll circle back around and kick some in the till.

Yes, they should have overlapped. I played a year with BI at Emory as freshman, he was a senior.

Although volleyball doesn't get much attention in the area, it should. There have been several teams over the past several years that have advanced deep into the VHSL 2A tournament (Gate City, Central and Ridgeview). This year Ridgeview sits as the #2 team in the state and Central has been in the Top 10 most of the year. The tournament started tonight with the Top 4 M7 teams seeded against the Top 4 SWD Teams. #1 Ridgeview vs #4 Richlands #2 Virginia High vs #3 John Battle #2 Wise Central vs #3 Lebanon #1 Marion vs #4 Gate City

Abingdon 30-14

This is pretty damn accurate, IMHO. As I have stated previously, I've adjusted (softened) my view on transfers especially after my oldest son's experience. If you don't think there are cliques and "good ole boy" clubs in most of these small towns then you are fooling yourself. If you are a throwing QB, you want to play in an offense that throws and there isn't one dang thing wrong with that. Same if you are a WR...you want to catch the football and not be a blocking wing in some 1940's offense. Now, throw in parents that over value their kid's next-level potential and, particularly, fathers who can't NOT be involved in coaching their own kids.....and I haven't even mentioned the general sense of entitlement that exists in the kids and parents that wasn't there 20-30 years ago. It can be a mess. These master-plans concocted by the parents and some coaches don't usually result in titles. Just one year ago we were talking about Honaker winning a state championship and they are now on their third coach in less than a year and are fighting to even host a first round playoff game. Disillusioned kids/parents have burned up the road from Richlands down to Honaker going back to the 80's...seeking 1A glory. It will probably happen years from now. It used to be solely based on not-getting playing time. Now, it encompasses that, plus not playing preferred position or in the preferred offense or getting enough touches. Coaches have to recruit their kids out of the halls and onto the field and then they have to continually recruit them to stay with the program. Adapt or die.

You will see that, if geography permits, skill positions are going to follow the best QBs and the best QBs are going to follow offenses that will throw at least 35% of the time. The smarter coaches should have already seen this pattern and acted accordingly. I believe 3-4 already have.

If that be the goal, then Graham is tactical and not strategic in thought and action. Once Graham is up three scores, they would be wise to sub in the following manner: 2nd team C with first team QB offense for a series. 2nd team QB with first team offense for series. (Your C and QB are your most impactful positions to suffer an injury.....so prepare your kids). Wholesale subs after that. If I am Richlands, I am NOT subbing wholesale if down by three scores. They need to get work in and should have a detailed plan to do so. They should know who will be asked to step up next year and should give them some meaningful reps.

Richlands: get more reps and experience from this game. I'd work on repping those core plays and pull out enough flippery to make it fun for the kids. Rotate your seniors in where you can and build more for next season. Graham: avoid injuries, play your key reserves early and often, and the goal should be to play a clean, penalty-free game.

Looks like Lowe fell up into a good situation as I'm assuming he will get the position. I'm curious to see if the Richlands pipeline is shut down for Honaker. Whether they want to admit it or not, they've greatly benefitted from the Blues' fall the past two years. Richlands, offensively, plays a fun brand of football so going to Honaker to "sling it" isn't as appealing as it was. I'm also curious to see if Wicks is interested in going back to Richlands as a potential DC.

The Blues do return a good portion of their starters for next year. I thought they'd be a bit ahead of where they are now....I thought they might get 3-4 wins this year...but two wins in last three games and a good showing against Graham...you can build off that.

Graham and Union are working harder that everyone else....no doubt. They have football programs...not teams. I would expect that GC is getting close to being a program as well. They have great numbers in the JV/Middle school and good size. Great programs develop their football players by taking D rated talent and turning it into B level talent. Those two programs are way out front. Ridgeview pushed for a couple of years based on skill player talent as, for some reason, there are talented athletes running around over there. If they took the next step to being a serious football program (year round focus and serious S&C) they would be right there with them. Virginia High is another team and may make the jump to a program.....if they do, watch out SWD because they have athletes.

It is mostly consolidated in one class, the Freshman class, which has a significant amount of holdbacks (like 10 or 11). You'd like to see it spread out a bit. I've always believed you have to have two consecutive good classes back to back to challenge for state. It seems like RV has their super classes spread out by several years (Class of '23, '25 and '28). RV's sophomore class (which, in all fairness should have those 10 or 11 hold-backs in it), now is very thin in terms of numbers and talent. Additionally, the 8th grade class is thin numerically, so the middle school team was mostly 7th graders and the JV team didn't have those 9th grade holdbacks playing because they were pulled up to varsity. The 7th graders have a lot of holdbacks as they wanted separation from the 9th grade super class. So, they are now on a every-other-year pattern of talent. IMHO, it looks like RV is too heavy on slot/WR/DB types and too thin on OL/DL. They will have to rely on the pass for the next several years to help them out but they will have to find their next O'Quinn to make that work.

I mentioned this a couple of years ago about WRs. We had a two year period where the WR play in SWVA was the best it has ever been in my lifetime. Cassius Harris set all time receptions record for a year and, at the time, a single game and he was voted as the third best WR in the region his Jr. and Sr. year. His single game record was broke last week by a WR from Lebanon. The passing game has finally hit SWVA....but I'd argue it hit several years ago. In 2021 you had Harris (Tazewell), Sage Webb (Richlands), Xayvion Bradshaw (Graham), Brandon Beavers (Ridgeview) and Carson Jenkins (Gate City). Every one of those played college ball at the D1 or D2 level. Bradshaw was 1st Team All-State and Harris and Beavers were 2nd Team All-State....three out of six possible selections were SWVA. In 2022 you had Marcel Baylor (Radford) and Brandon Beavers (Ridgeview) both 1st Team All-State and Cassius Harris (Tazewell) as 2nd Team All-State. That is three of the six selections for the whole state being SWVA for two years in a row. They didn't even cover Parker Prioleau who went to Emory as a slot WR. Not only were they skilled but they were legit fast. I followed track closely and Webb, Bradshaw, Jenkins, and Beavers were legit 4.5 or faster and Prioleau and Baylor might have been as well. The passing game has finally showed up in SWVA. Now we are seeing a bumper crop of talented QBs....and not just system QBs...but legit QBs who can make all the throws on the field like Reece and O'Quinn. Now, couple that with younger coaches who actually game plan to utilize their WRs as weapons and embrace it (Honaker, Lebanon, Richlands and RV to a lesser degree) and you are seeing big numbers.

Union 21-14

To be fair they’ve played Shelby Valley, Pikeville and Bluefield all within the last three schedule cycles. Additionally, Union has played a few Burton and TW’s and Twin Springs over past several years. They need to look more toward KY for some scheduling. Drop Burton and keep Grundy who is a respectable 1Aprogram.

I would argue they’ve always been there. What game have they won that they had no business winning? Now, think about the big games they have lost against teams with equal or slightly lesser talent. They consistently punch below their weight. There isn’t the passion and drive to win the region, the year round focus and preparation.

Ughhh.....I just want to see one dang team be able to run any semblance of a two-minute or hurry up offense. When you get the ball with 4 minutes left and some timeouts you should not run out of time three or four plays later. Why in the heck do you run a spread if you cannot go tempo when it matters???

Hmmm.....well, I'd do the following now, which would keep everything copacetic for next 10-12 years and not cost anything. 1) Rezone Abingdon to bring them down to 2A. They need to "lose" 150 kids. 2)Rezone Holston all the way up to Exit 19 to pick up 75 kids....would make them significantly more healthy. 3) Rezone Patrick Henry to pick up 25-50 4) Rezone John Battle to pick up 25-50. The zones would "float" and be reevaluated every 3-5 years to keep numbers sustainable. This would fix Abingdon's 3A in a 2A conference and reduce their playoff travel. It would add another 2A school to the region and it would make Abingdon's three neighbor schools healthier. Furthermore, it wouldn't cost money. Long-term, I think you have to look at eliminating John Battle and reallocating those kids to VHS and Abingdon and keep Abingdon's border tight to its south (Holston) and east (Patrick Henry).

Well, to be fair, they clinched the Mountain 7 on their last visit to Abingdon ('22), missed the away game COVID year ('20) and the game before that ('18) was the infamous "Abingdon kid's foot landed 20 inches out of bounds and they called it a TD" OT loss game. It was, quite literally, easily seen from the stands...horrible call. Ridgeview was outplayed on the OL/DL by a considerable margin but Trenton Adkins was a man amongst boys and gave them a chance to win. Those are the only two trips Ridgeview has made to Falcon stadium.....I was surprised to learn that as I thought there was another loss in there somewhere. In 2016 the Falcons were part of the SWD.

What is a TE? Asking for some Ridgeview friends.