mhsalum

[ QUOTE ] I hate to hear that, Tracy is a good kid. [/ QUOTE ] my sentiments exactly...i'm sure he will rebound nicely and continue to play hard in the postseason.

magna vista jumped out big early, but only lead by 5 at the half. mhs rallied and took a 9 or 10 point lead midway thru the 4th quarter. at one point in the 2nd half the foul differential was 9 to 1 in favor of the homestanding warriors. it seemed that mavahi had this one well in hand though with about 3 minutes or so to play. 2 magna vista students even streaked across the floor with their shirts off while the game was in progress late in regulation with the dogs clinging to a lead. anyways...some costly turnovers, a technical foul for something i didn't really see and a missed point blank layup with about 6 seconds left (all by the dogs) forced overtime. magna vista had regained the momentum and was tough in the extra frame and won by about 5 i think in a pretty low-scoring affair. the same two teams tied for first in the regular season and i believe now have to play a playoff game. date and time (and i guess location) to be determined.

he's done for the year. acl injury.

mhs started slow and trailed by 2 at half. they poured it on to take a 10 point lead or so in the 3rd. then tried to fold in the end...and won by one. the dogs played their first of what figures to be 2 or maybe even the last 3 regular season games w/out leading scorer emanuel reid, who suffered a knee injury in the friday night win over magna vista. mhs moved up and started a sophomore at point guard...that makes two sophomore jayvee call-ups in the starting lineup now.

wow! congrats on that. you're getting married on my birthday. maybe she'll sway you our way...haha. i've already began swaying my magna vista alum our way...she even cheered for the dogs tonight. i agree with your assessment on the officiating by the way...i honestly think they've let the physicality get too far in the last 5 years or so though.

nice game between likely the 2 best teams in region iv...but man, wasn't the officiating just downright horrendous? those guys lost control of the game early in the 2nd quarter...maybe even before that.

[ QUOTE ] I guess if all Bengal fans had your attitude I would feel differently right now. It seems the rift between Martinsville and Henry Co. run pretty deep along many different lines. I wish we had political leaders from both sides that could pull the city and county together but right now we don't. Cabel 18 doesn't help matters either, they seem to want to keep things stirred up between Martinsville and Henry Co.. [/ QUOTE ] i gotta agree here with xdog...except for i will be pulling for bassett to pull off another 'upset'. i've heard people whom i never would've expected smack talk from doing it to perfection. the bassett faithful were even calling in to bill wyatt's radio station for God's sakes! it was laughable. i even had a guy that works for me who graduated years ago from carver and now pulls for magna vista come in dancing this past monday...saying something akin to "the dogs went down, bassett beat the dogs". i guess maybe it's years of frustration coming out...or just more plainly, pure hatred for mavahi. anyways, good luck to the boys from the piedmont.

Welcome to Martinsville, home of Timesland basketball's Banner program By Aaron McFarling MARTINSVILLE -- Take it all in, he tells them. See those administrators greeting you the second you get off the bus? Notice how friendly they are? They've probably got sandwiches or pizza waiting inside for you, too. That's the kind of thing they do around here. They may beat you, but they're never going to stop respecting you. Step inside, boys. They call this place "The Doghouse." Enjoy it for the next hour or so, while it's still quiet. It won't be once you tip it off against the home team. See those banners up there on that wall? You know, a lot of people put region and district championship banners on their gym walls. Not these guys. Walls are only so big. Those are just the state championship banners. And look at that: Eight of 'em from 1958 to 1982. Eight! Now turn around. See that other wall? Five more since then. And counting. David Culicerto, the boys' basketball coach at William Byrd, gives his team this little tour every other year. Culicerto doesn't have to play Martinsville High School -- the two schools are in different districts and separated by more than 50 miles, after all -- but he schedules the Bulldogs anyway. He wants his players to see what rich basketball tradition looks like. "You don't pad your schedule by any means by playing them," Culicerto says with a chuckle. "But I think it's good for us in the long run." The long run. That's what it's all about here at Martinsville, and few have mastered it better. When the Bulldogs upset Robert E. Lee in the Group AA finals last March to claim that VHSL-record 13th title, they added to the legend. How did they do it? They weren't overly big or strong or fast. They'd started the season 0-3. They certainly didn't have an 85-game winning streak, as Lee did heading into the game. So how did they do it? Tradition doesn't hurt. n n n Tracy Hairston smiles. Oh, yes, sir, he says. He's heard the stories. He's heard about the time years ago when coach Mel Cartwright Sr., the patriarch of the Martinsville program, threw a runner-up trophy in the river on the way home from getting beat in the state finals. He's heard about that team in 1965-66, which was stricken by a case of the mumps, had a 6-11 record late in the regular season and still wound up winning the state title. He's heard about the great players of the past. Shoot, a lot of them still stop by during the season. And Husky Hall, the legendary coach who followed Cartwright and won seven state titles? Not only has Hairston heard of him, he hears from him every home game. There Hall is, seated in the front row of the bleachers. For a basketball-loving kid born and raised in Martinsville, it's impossible to miss these things. "That's all you hear about since preschool," says Hairston, a senior forward. "They say, 'Come to the Doghouse and play in front of all those people, with all those banners on the wall. You'll have a chance to win state.' That's all you hear from when you're this tall." He holds his right hand a foot from the floor. "That's all you hear." Cartwright was at the center of it all. The ultra-competitive coach led the team to its first title in 1957-58 and stayed involved with the program in some fashion until his death four years ago. He scouted for both Hall and the current coach, Troy Wells. "Any time there was a ball game," says his widow, Brenda, "I would rush home from work, change clothes, and I'd gulp down a sandwich on the way to those schools. "He'd make little notes and then go back and report it to Martinsville: 'This team does this and that. You need to be aware that this player does this and that.' " It was the type of thing that keeps a team connected to its past, but there are many others. Last year, former champions Brian Frazier and Jovan Williamson showed up to play a game of 2-on-2 with current players Emanuel Reid and Hairston. Shaquan Beamer, one of the top players from last year's team, knew all about winning at Martinsville. His father and uncle played for separate championship teams here. And then there's Hall, who retired in 1995 as the state's leader in wins with 610. Rather than sit back and cast a shadow, he shows up and casts good-natured critiques at the referees on game night. "I tell people all the time that I didn't create this monster," says Wells, an assistant from 1979 until he took the head job from Hall. "Coach Cartwright and Coach Hall did. I'm just trying to feed it and perpetuate it." n n n "On the baseline!" Troy Wells shouts." One-thousand-one ... One-thousand-two ..." On an unseasonably warm November night, the door to the Doghouse is propped open as players heed their coach and hustle to the baseline. Nobody wants to still be running when Wells reaches one-thousand-five. The Bulldogs begin a drill where two players sprint to a spot and then compete 1-on-1. It's going pretty well until one player pulls up for a soft short jumper. Whistle. "How tall are you, son?" Wells says. "Six-three," the player responds. "Six-three? The next time you pull up like that you'll be over there next to Coach Jackson getting splinters! You'd better take it to the hole and take it to the hole hard!" "Yes, sir." They've made the state quarterfinals eight of the past nine years, but there's no laurels-resting here. There can't be. Everything's run too tightly for that. Cornrows, long hair, head bands, wrist bands -- they're all forbidden. Players wear a shirt and tie on every game day because Wells wants them to look like a basketball team. "We believe in him," says Reid, a senior. "He's got more state championship rings than we do, so even if it seems kind of funny when he tells us to do something, we listen to him anyway." Practice wraps up with a brief, intense conditioning session. Wells blows his whistle. "Bring it to the M!" he shouts. "One-thousand-one ... One-thousand-two ..." The players sprint to midcourt, where a large "M" is painted on the floor. As Wells quietly gave instructions, there was a moment to take it all in: A dozen players sweating in a huddle, banners to the left of them, banners to the right. And straight ahead? A brand new season, a chance to chase one more.

was 28-21 with a little over a minute to play. martinsville was trying to tie and a tipped pass was intercepted............mhs fumbled twice and was down 14-0 before we got sit down well. they couldn't recover. good luck to bassett...time to roll out the basketballs!

nope, no excuses...we'll just roll out the basketballs and hit the hardwood to try to win some games same as ya'll. i don't think either one of us have a whole lot for amherst next weekend, but that's why they play the games. good luck today! hopefully it'll be a good, clean game p.s.-good to see that my family member came up with the true facts! :-)

ha! get over yourself man...i'm not trying to run him down here. i don't know the young man. if you say he's a good kid then i believe you. all i know is he's academically ineligble to play right from coach gilbert's mouth...you know how i know that??? the bulletin mentioned him by name!!! i just passed on the info here. it's factual, pertinent info. maybe you should change your name to thin-skinnedTOOproudbengal.

well....last thing i'll say on this b/c the bulletin just printed it and removed all doubt. my first post was correct...starting tailback martin scales is out because of academic problems. they didn't mention any other players, so i guess he's the only one. that's a tough blow b/c he's a starter, but they've got several other athletes that can fill those shoes.

oh and as far as the rumor i mentioned...it seems it may be worse than i originally heard. a family member around our thanksgiving table told that a teacher from bassett informed them that there were 5 kids that have been ruled ineligible b/c of grades. still just rumor at this point i guess...but it's odd that i've heard the same sort of thing twice from two entirely different sources. i guess we shall see come saturday afternoon....mhs has played the last few games and will play the rest of their season without their starting fb/de because of injury.

i heard a rumor...may or not be true...i was eating lunch at a fine eating establishment on the south end of the city limits today and halfway overheard someone mentioning that grades had come out a few days ago and the running back for bassett was gonna be ineligible. heard anything of that sort?

they got us 30-3 in boone a year ago...although the beach boys were coming down off a major upset of the defending champion jmu dukes and never really got off the bus. should be a bit diff't this time. the chants offense is explosive...they can score on almost anyone. problem is the defense sometimes can't even stop the practice squad. app is definitely the favorite, but i wouldn't count out the chanticleers. the good news is that the game is on espnu after the bulldogs game, so i could see both.............anyways, now back to mhs...go dogs!

an excerpt from the bulletin The Bulldogs ran for almost 400 yards on their way to a 32-7 rout over the visiting Cavaliers in the Region IV semifinals. The win earned Martinsville a spot in the Region IV Championship against rival Bassett next Saturday at 1 p.m. i wished it was friday night since i'm seriously considering a trip to boone saturday afternoon instead. go bulldogs...and chanticleers!!!

MHS rolls...32-7 final

i believe....or i'm pretty sure....the new martinsville football website ( www.thedogs06.com ), plans to stream live audio of the game saturday.

i drove by the field today before i knew about the postponement.....we got a load of water here overnight and this morning. i'm sure we could've played though...it looked like the water wasn't standing, but i didn't go down and walk on it. mavahi is lucky to have one of the nicest playing surfaces around...and sometimes the powers that be may be guilty of going a little too far to preserve it.

scammell was at martinsville as an assistant before he took the job at castlewood

Dawgs ready for Round 1 Martinsville's Tracy Hairston takes a snap in practice on Wednesday. (Bulletin photo by Andrew Stevens) Thursday, November 16, 2006 By ADAM REGAN - Bulletin Sports Writer Taylor Edwards and his Martinsville seniors will share a common bond when they take the field Friday against Carroll County at Dan Greene Memorial Stadium. The Region IV semifinal game could be the last for Edwards, who will retire after the season, and the senior class, which compiled a 21-20 record over the last four years. Edwards explained the “do-or-die†situation to his team in a meeting earlier this week. “I said to the seniors, ‘I’m just like you guys. We’ll be playing for our high school careers,’ †said Edwards, who sits on 202 wins in his 25-year career. “That puts an added sense of urgency on Friday’s game.†The Bulldogs (6-4, 4-1 Piedmont) will face a formidable Cavalier team (6-4, 2-2 Southwest), which has had two weeks to prepare. A 20-14 loss to Graham two weeks ago took Carroll County out of the running to host Friday’s game. Martinsville is coming off a costly loss of its own  a 21-18 overtime affair to rival Bassett. Edwards, however, is not concerned that his team’s focus might be stuck a week in the past or a week into the future, where a possible rematch with the Bengals could take stage in the regional final. “Our guys are going to go out there and play hard,†said Edwards. “We still have everything we’ve been working for in front of us ... we can’t ask for anything more. “Anything less than a trip to the regional title game will be a disappointment.†The senior-led team has no intentions of going home early. With halfback Snook Hairston (who rushed for 1,005 yards this season) as their centerpiece, the Bulldogs will look to score early to put Carroll County’s methodical running game at an extreme disadvantage. The thought that Edwards and his high school career are on the line Friday has admittedly “scared†Hairston. But the senior believes fear breeds a better performance. “We play every game as if it’s our last,†he said. “We’re going to leave it all out on the field. “I don’t want to stop playing until we reach our goal.†The thought of a rematch with Bassett also motivates Hairston and his teammates. He usually doesn’t take sides on games that don’t involve the Bulldogs, but he will certainly pull for the Bengals in their regional semifinal at Magna Vista. “I want Bassett,†he said. Unfortunately for Hairston, the only thing he can control this week is his performance against the Cavaliers. The Bulldogs’ offense has hung 25.4 points per game this season on their opponents. That number was enough for Carroll County Head Coach Tom Hale to label Martinsville “the best team in the region.†“We’re going to have to play our best football to beat them,†said Hale. “The only chance we have of doing that is to slow the ball down and keep their offense off the field.†The Cavaliers’ wing-T offense hinges on long drives that produce scores. Fullback J.T. Turner and halfback Andy Singleton share the work load and will seek to put the Cavalier offense in third-and-short situations. Hale would prefer an early score to quiet the raucous Bulldog fan base, but he would settle for an extended Hairston vacation on the sidelines. Quarterback Tracy Hairston has rushed for 665 yards at 8.2 yards a clip and completed 50-of-77 passes for 661 yards and four touchdowns. “Their speed is definitely going to be an issue in the game,†said Hale. “We might have some trouble adjusting to it as we haven’t seen anything like it this season.†Martinsville’s team speed also trickles through to the defensive side of the ball. Its speed from sideline-to-sideline could cause problems for the Cavaliers’ option-attack. “We’ll need to be physical up front on defense,†said Edwards. “They are tough on the offensive line. “We need to make our key reads because if they catch us guessing, we’re in trouble.†The Bulldogs have given up just 15.1 points per game and surrendered 137 yards per game. Linebacker Courtney Martin leads the Bulldogs in tackles with 117 followed closely by linebacker Steve Fuller, who tallied 108. Edwards shared Hale’s assessment of his team’s speed, but questioned just how much of an advantage it may be. “The only thing I’m concerned about is the weather,†he said. “If it’s raining and slippery, our speed will make no difference.†Friday’s forecast calls for only a 20 percent chance that precipitation will spoil the Bulldog’s speed advantage. A rainy day, however, would certainly characterize the city of Martinsville’s mood if the Bulldogs make a quick exit from the regionals  even more so if Edwards were to make his exit from his 25-year craft.

wild game. something like 3 or 4 turnovers in the last 5 minutes of regulation. the last one came with mhs having a 1st and goal from the one...overtime ending. mhs gets a fg in OT...bassett wins it with a touchdown. martinsville's offense was just plain abysmal.

oh i agree with that part. the team's are just starting to get in a rhythm at this time of year. having this week off isn't a great idea as you suggest. however, in this case i think it's also a huge plus for carroll in that they'll get a firsthand look at mavahi playing a team (bassett) that they may need to show their whole playbook against.

having this week off, they'll get to bring their whole staff just 90 short minutes down the mountain tonight to scout their next week's playoff opponent.

42-21...the cougars played a great game tonight. they just didn't have an answer for the dogs' offense...namely victor hairston. i think he had either 4 or 5 of the dogs' 6 scores.