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The officials by and large allowed a great deal of contact last week. There were a few instances of clutching and grabbing by the VHS secondary that went uncalled. Most of the penalties were procedure penalties of some sort, for both teams. I'm hoping for a well officiated game on Friday.

He was throwing a tennis ball with full velocity on Sunday. Just some soreness is all. I think he'll be good to go.

As far as I know, back to normal this season.

That’s kinda my point…there have been a lot of “46-8” halftime scores over the years…

That’s a perfectly reasonable take, and I appreciate your input. Unlike some of your less intelligent compadres, you see the strengths and weaknesses well. I believe Graham should be favored, because of precisely the advantage you cite: big, strong linemen that can exert their will over 48 minutes of play. Line play wins at all levels of the sport. But unless you predict scores like “Graham - 84, Tazewell - 0”, it’s not going to be enough for the more dimwitted among us. I do not discuss Xs and Os with Tazewell’s coaches at all. If I did, I’d be absolutely mum on the subject. That being said, if Palmer gets cute and has Meadows throw 20-25 passes, it’ll end poorly for Graham. If Harris uses Taylor like a battering ram with 15+ carries, that’ll end poorly for Tazewell. I’ve watched a fair amount of film on Graham. The run D, yes, light years ahead of even last season. The pass D, I don’t agree. There are pretty glaring weaknesses that a good QB and sound WRs have the potential to eat up…and they’re things that can’t be fixed very well in real time. And that’s where the differential in the lines can be neutralized to a degree. Tazewell’s line doesn’t need to bulldoze Graham’s line; it just needs to give Creasy 3-4 seconds to make reads and deliver the ball. It’s going to be a fantastic chess match to watch in real time.

Wasn't the entire point of "Little Giants" that the Giants ended up beating the heavily favored Cowboys? Seems like an odd flex...

Delusion is cute.

I love how the narrative shifts from “Virginia High’s going to beat Tazewell” to “Beating Virginia High by 25 proves nothing.” Y’all are a riot. I’d be very surprised if Graham blows Tazewell out. No SWD team in the last 2 seasons has played Graham closer than Tazewell has. Again, Graham should be objectively favored in any game they play until proven otherwise, but this Tazewell team has each and every tool to give this Graham team an unpleasant time. Will it translate into a win? Join me at 6:30 PM on Friday night to find out.

Almost sounds like you run the joint!

Get there early. That place is going to be jam packed, and parking isn’t the most plentiful.

This. I think the Richlands/Gate City game said more about Gate City than it did Richlands.

Graham would be well advised to bring that “real defense”, whatever the Hell that means, to the second half of their games. Graham looked impenetrable in the first half, and looked very beatable in the second. That tends to happen at times when your starters haven’t played deep into the 2nd half for most of their careers.

That’s a weird hill to die upon, but you do you.

They did. He was not particularly effective and took some shots that rattled him. 15/26, 152 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT passing. 3 carries, -9 yards rushing (2 of which were sacks).

I follow both teams, for reasons that should be obvious to longtime readers of this message board. So I will try to give as unbiased a take as I can. Tazewell’s offensive scheme is tailor-made to give this iteration of the Graham defense some major headaches. For just the second time in the Palmer era, Tazewell simply has better athletes at the skill positions on offense than does Graham on defense to cover them. That’s no disrespect to Graham, whose athletes are capable but raw and relatively inexperienced. If Graham doubles Harris, they’re signing their own death warrant. Virginia High tried that, and Creasy went 9/11 for 162 yards and 1 TD. Creasy’s first pass of the season wasn’t to Harris, but a 65-yard gain off a swing pass to K. Taylor. McDonald, Alley, and Gillespie are more than capable of eating up soft spots in coverage and taking 6-10 yard bites out of a defense. Graham’s formula for success is leaning on that veteran line to wear down Tazewell throughout the course of the evening. Tazewell’s OL and DL are markedly improved, but the lines are not on Graham’s level. Palmer & Co. also cannot rely on simply being vanilla on the offensive end, either, because Tazewell’s defense is good enough to avoid letting 1-2 different plays beat it. Graham has to get push, and Clements has to run downhill…find the hole and hit it with conviction. If Graham tries to throw the ball 20+ times, that’s going to play right into Tazewell’s strength. Graham should rightly be favored. To be the man, you’ve gotta beat the man. But there are reasonable paths this game could take that could end Graham’s 6-year winning streak over SWD opponents.

This game went exactly as everyone predicted. Tazewell rushed a scant 49 times for just 341 yards. Creasy threw a whopping 11 times, 0 of which went to Harris. Tazewell’s D was gashed to the tune of 70 rushing yards. Ho hum, nothing to see here.

We could have let the Graham folks believe that all week. Good going! 🤣

3-0 in Tazewell County! Marion makes it 4-1 from the SWD (obviously, someone had to lose THS/VHS).

Damn, the BHC blew our surprise strategy. 😠

Northside Abingdon Patrick County Princeton, WV Radford Central Gate City Union Ridgeview Chilhowie Craig County Rural Retreat Glenvar Blacksburg Alleghany, NC Narrows Honaker Hurley North Greene, TN Cumberland Gap, TN Twin Springs Holston Games of the Week: Graham - 45 Pick Sent to Ryan4VT Patrick Henry - 38

I vote based upon which team is projects the best. If Pulaski County (a 4-6 4A team) matched up with Twin Springs, Pulaski County would have made pretty quick work of them. Hence, I'd rank Pulaski County higher.

Chilhowie's most successful play of the evening was misdirection out of their double-wing. Send the A-back in motion. Fake the handoff off-tackle to the HB, give to the A-back cutting inside. They ran that play 8 or so times, and gained probably 60 yards out of it. As you say though, that provides good film session fodder for maintaining gap discipline and avoiding getting caught on your heels. It's going to be an excellent game Friday night.

Strained hip flexor. I'm glad to hear that you've never made a mistake. Must be hard to take a shower when the water keeps parting after it leaves the showerhead.

Until one of 2-4 can prove differently, I don’t see how this is even an argument.

Sprained hip flexor from what I’ve heard, and if that’s accurate, that’s something that isn’t going to be 100% by November, much less by Friday. One of those injuries where he may well be able to play but will cause him a great deal of discomfort and some loss of mobility.