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He’s 24 shy of the overall record. It would take some monster performances down the stretch to get it.

Patrick Henry (Roanoke) Union James River Princeton, WV Gate City Lee Graham David Crockett, TN Virginia Pick Sent to Ryan4VT West Stokes, NC George Wythe Narrows Honaker Hurley Roanoke Catholic Rye Cove Twin Springs Patrick Henry Rural Retreat No. 24 NCST No. 2 Ohio State No. 7 TCU Miami No. 9 Oklahoma State No. 3 Tennessee No. 4 Michigan Atlanta Minnesota New York Jets New York Giants Buffalo Games of the Week: Radford - 55 Ridgeview - 61

Funny you mention that. The one gripe I've had with officials all season long is their complete unwillingness to call pass interference. So long as you don't kill a WR with a trident, you're not getting flagged for it in Virginia high school football. Then comes Tazewell @ Bluefield. It went very poorly for my side, but they correctly called pass interference every single time it was warranted. I could barely believe my eyes. Of course, it happens in a game when you're down by 46 points.

Bluefield. Then probably Tazewell, LOL. Get Graham away from that 2-seed!

D2 was horrifically balanced in the early 2000s. You only had 4 playoff spots in a format where 3 district champions automatically earned playoff berths. The one "wild card" team was always going to be whichever team of Powell Valley / Gate City had 1 district loss due to the strength of the old Lonesome Pine District. Those were the days when you could pencil in those two teams at 9-1 or 10-0 without any thought. The problem was the Cumberland District. Rye Cove (then D2) would win that pitiful district with overall records like 5-5. That left some team as the odd man out in the old Black Diamond District. In 2003, Honaker lost to Haysi 6-0. Haysi went 9-1, with their only loss to D1 Clintwood, and won the BDD. Honaker went 9-1 and missed the playoffs. In 2004, Haysi lost to Honaker 33-13. Haysi allowed just 42 points to the other 9 teams on its schedule. Honaker went 8-2 with no district losses, and won the BDD. Haysi went 9-1 and missed the playoffs. For folks wondering why district champs no longer get automatic playoff berths, this is why!

It did in VA under the old A-AAA, D1-D6 system.

There's a plausible path where both Graham and Ridgeview end up with 276. (1) Virginia beats Richlands. (2) GW beats Grayson. (3) Galax beats West Stokes. (4) Galax beats Grayson. (5) Union beats Abingdon. (6) J.I. Burton beats Rye Cove. (7) Ridgeview beats Bluefield. What then?

This thread could've had a cigarette this spring if not for our meddling General Assembly! I kid. I hope someone is able to hook Mr. Frietes (thank you for your service, sir) up with Mr. White. Thankfully, it appears that Mr. White is still alive and well from all indications.

Pretty sure, yes.

There is some dark voodoo in that series. Richlands hasn’t lost to VHS since the Clinton administration.

Shakes up the bottom of the 2D playoff hunt. Lee will get the 6th seed absent some very weird stuff happening. Tazewell clinches the 7th seed tonight. A Richlands win over VHS + Central loss to Grundy would push Richlands into the playoffs as the #8 seed.

NFHS may be on the fritz for some schools tonight. NFHS did a software update, and something like 12% of high schools have been knocked offline. This includes Tazewell, so there will be no NFHS feed this evening for Tazewell/Marion. Come on out if you can. If you can't, you can find the Tazewell Bulldog Radio Network on Facebook Live, on Android/Apple apps, or at http://www.tazewellbulldogradio.com!

I often wonder what this year’s defense would have done with last year’s offense. My mind races through a situation where we plausibly go 13-0, win the ACC, and make the CFP. Then I snap myself back into reality. Rudzinski was an excellent hire. Kitchings needs to be left on the tarmac. I’m not optimistic about Elliott.

UVA - 13 GT - 6 7:24 - 2nd UVA scores on some really fancy footwork along the sidelines by Dontayvion Wicks. Then the Hoos shank the XP wide right by at least 15 yards. I’ve never seen anything like it.

UVA - 7 GT - 6 9:24 - 2nd And it’s horrifyingly bad football to watch.

Ridgeview Carroll Co. Bridgeport, WV Radford Central Gate City Pick sent to Ryan4VT Virginia Bluefield,WV Grayson Co. Galax Giles Narrows Grundy Patrick Henry JI Burton Thomas Walker Twin Springs Lebanon Rural Retreat Georgia Tech No. 5 Clemson No. 9 UCLA No. 11 Oklahoma St. James Madison No. 6 Alabama No. 8 TCU Tennessee New York Giants New York Jets San Francisco Miami Game of the Week: Graham - 47

You can't tell me you wouldn't prefer this setup. Just 1 team with a losing record in the playoffs (Gretna, as a 15-seed, who has played a murderer's row thus far). 2 tiny high schools (Rye Cove, King & Queen) set to host playoff games. A juicy Rye Cove/Galax matchup? Huge road trips in the 5/12, 4/13, and 3/14 games? Sign me up...

I still think my system gives us that "satisfactory system" that we've been looking for since 1986. WARNING: This post will be very long. Here's what the "Inaugural Class D" would look like by enrollment numbers: (241) Thomas Jefferson (Richmond): 578 (242) John Marshall: 576 (243) Martinsville: 575 (244) Ridgeview: 570 (245) Glenvar: 569 (246) Page County: 548 (247) Buckingham County: 546 (248) James River - Buchanan: 545 (249) Amelia County: 542 (250) Bluestone: 532 (251) Madison County: 530 (252) Gretna: 524 (253) Giles: 523 (254) Randolph-Henry: 520 (255) Luray: 520 (256) Tazewell: 518 (257) Windsor: 513 (258) Graham: 510 (259) Radford: 505 (260) Lebanon: 503 (261) Mountain View: 499 (262) Fort Chiswell: 495 (263) Grayson County: 489 (264) Buffalo Gap: 483 (265) Brunswick: 477 (266) Northampton: 453 (267) Riverheads: 447 (268) Westmoreland: 444 (269) George Wythe (Wytheville): 436 (270) Essex: 428 (271) Auburn: 422 (272) Northumberland: 421 (273) Patrick Henry (Glade Spring): 420 (274) Grundy: 415 (275) Cumberland: 414 (276) Eastside: 411 (277) Central (Lunenburg): 398 (278) Chilhowie: 397 (279) Mathews: 393 (280) Middlesex: 383 (281) Rappahannock: 368 (282) Appomattox Reg. Gov.: 367 (283) Rural Retreat: 365 (284) Lancaster: 361 (285) Galax: 360 (286) Altavista: 356 (287) Honaker: 343 (288) Sussex Central: 307 (289) Holston: 301 (290) Parry McCluer: 299 (291) Galileo: 292 (292) Franklin: 283 (293) Northwood: 280 (294) Covington: 280 (295) Eastern Montgomery: 279 (296) Narrows: 278 (297) Rappahannock Co.: 276 (298) Castlewood: 272 (299) West Point: 271 (300) William Campbell: 256 (301) Thomas Walker: 252 (302) Bland: 252 (303) Carver College & Career: 251 (304) Surry County: 238 (305) Craig County: 221 (306) J. I. Burton: 220 (307) Rye Cove: 206 (308) Charles City: 189 (309) Twin Valley: 188 (310) Twin Springs: 187 (311) Colonial Beach: 177 (312) Hurley: 174 (313) Chincoteague: 173 (314) Bath County: 165 (315) King & Queen Central: 150 (316) Council: 108 (317) Highland: 57 To save a step, here is what the VHSL Power Points this season would look like between West and East as of this week: West Region: (1) Graham - 26.000 [7-0] (1) Radford - 26.000 [7-0] (3) Martinsville - 25.000 [6-1] (4) Ridgeview - 24.286 [7-0] (5) Glenvar - 20.000 [5-3] (6) Grayson County - 19.714 [7-0] (7) Patrick Henry (Glade Spring) - 19.571 [5-2] (8) Rye Cove - 18.000 [6-1] (9) Galax - 17.857 [4-3] (10) George Wythe (Wytheville) 17.750 [5-3] (11) Tazewell - 17.625 [4-4] (12) Grundy - 17.429 [4-3] (13) Narrows - 16.333 [5-1] (14) Twin Springs - 16.167 [4-2] (15) Gretna - 16.000 [2-5] (16) Lebanon - 15.875 [5-3] ------------------------------------------------------- (17) James River (Buchanan) - 15.714 [3-4] (18) Holston - 15.286 [4-3] (19) Hurley - 14.857 [4-3] (20) Honaker - 14.571 [4-3] (21) Rural Retreat - 14.167 [3-3] (22) J.I. Burton - 14.000 [3-4] (23) Giles - 13.667 [2-4] (24) Northwood - 13.000 [3-4] (25) Parry McCluer - 12.143 [2-5] (26) Fort Chiswell - 12.143 [2-5] (27) Thomas Walker - 11.571 [2-5] (28) Craig County - 11.000 [2-3] (29) Eastern Montgomery - 10.833 [2-4] (30) Covington - 10.286 [0-7] (31) Altavista - 10.143 [0-7] (32) Castlewood - 9.571 [1-6] (33) Auburn - 8.800 [0-5] (34) Eastside - 8.625 [0-8] (35) Chilhowie - 7.714 [0-7] N/A: Bland, Twin Valley, Council, Highland East Region: (1) Thomas Jefferson (Richmond) - 25.714 [7-0] (2) Luray - 24.857 [6-1] (3) Essex - 23.143 [7-0] (4) Riverheads - 22.667 [5-1] (5) Central (Lunenburg) - 22.250 [8-0] (6) Buckingham County - 22.143 [6-1] (7) Buffalo Gap - 18.000 [4-3] (8) King & Queen - 17.500 [5-1] (9) Madison County - 17.429 [4-3] (10) Northumberland - 17.333 [4-2] (11) Amelia County - 17.143 [4-3] (12) Westmoreland - 17.000 [3-3] (13) West Point - 16.857 [5-2] (14) Randolph-Henry - 16.857 [4-3] (15) Brunswick - 16.750 [4-4] (16) Franklin - 16.143 [4-3] ------------------------------------------------- (17) Sussex Central - 15.857 [4-3] (18) Rappahannock - 15.429 [4-3] (19) Page County - 14.857 [2-5] (20) William Campbell - 13.250 [3-5] (21) Bath County - 12.857 [3-4] (22) Surry County - 12.571 [2-5] (23) John Marshall - 12.286 [1-6] (24) Northampton - 11.500 [2-4] (25) Middlesex - 11.000 [3-4] (26) Mountain View - 10.600 [0-5] (27) Lancaster - 10.143 [1-6] (28) Colonial Beack - 9.429 [0-7] (29) Windsor - 9.125 [0-8] (30) Cumberland - 9.000 [0-7] (31) Charles City - 7.667 [0-6] N/A: Bluestone, Mathews, Appomattox Reg. Gov., Galileo, Carver College & Career, Chincoteague

Does Galax’s 2015 title have “less meaning” than Westfield’s 2015 title because Galax was in the lowest possible division while Westfield was in the highest possible division? Because this is essentially the argument here.

It’s not as if Tazewell’s enrollment doubles Graham’s. The enrollments are within 100 of each other. And winning a state championship, even in a lower classification, is something special that should be celebrated. Besides, if Graham were truly that much better, under my proposal, Graham would be playing bigger fish in bigger ponds.

Here's my proposal, which I think would be equal parts fun and fair. (1) Reduce the number of classifications from 6 to 4. Initially, divide the classifications strictly by population. There are 317 high schools in Virginia, so the top 3 classes (which I will call Class A, Class B, and Class C) will have 80 schools each, while Class D will have 77 schools. (2) Divide the 80 (or 77) schools within each Class into East/West Regions (for Class B, Class C, and Class D) or North/South Regions (for Class A). 40 schools will be assigned to each region (except for Class D East Region, which will have 37 schools). The Regions will be purely based on geography. If you are the 37th westernmost school in Class C, you are in the West Region of Class C. Class D will, by definition, include the schools like Council, Highland, etc. which do not field football teams. Hence, Class D will likely never have a perfect "40" teams in each Region. (3) Playoff seeding will be determined based upon VHSL Power Points, which would be slightly reformulated. For Class A, wins will have a base score of 26 and losses will have a base score of 14. For Class B, wins will have a base score of 24 and losses will have a base score of 12. For Class C, wins will have a base score of 22 and losses will have a base score of 10. For Class D, wins will have a base score of 20 and losses will have a base score of 8. Rider points would remain the same: wins by a team that Team X defeated are worth 2 additional points per win, while wins by a team that defeated Team X are worth 1 additional point per win. Out-of-state games would be based upon enrollment alone. If Bluefield High School has an enrollment that places it within the 3rd quartile of Virginia high schools, it will be treated as a Class C game. (4) The top 16 teams from each Region will make the playoffs, straight bracket style. The winner or the East/North Region will play the winner of the West/South Region for the Class Championship. (5) Here's where it gets fun and exciting. The top 4 teams per Region, based upon playoff performance, will promote to the Class above them for the next season. Stated differently, if you make the Region Semifinals, you move up a Class for the next season. If you are in Class C, and you lose in the West Region finals, you will be bumped up to Class B for the next season. Likewise, the bottom 4 teams per Region, based upon Power Points, will demote to the Class below them for the next season. If you go 0-10 and are last in Class B, East Region, your school demotes to Class C, East Region for the next season, where in theory you will play lighter competition. Over time, this should create a nice balance in competition while making the earning of a state championship more meaningful for everyone involved. Likewise, there would be no need to calibrate the Classes by enrollment every 2 years, which is a pain in the hindquarters: you do it once, and it sustains itself. The only thing anyone from the VHSL would have to do is to split the schools into regions each year, which is pretty simple if you have a ruler and pencil. Most of the schools in SWVA would start in Class D. John Battle, Marion, Virginia, Central, Gate City, Union, Lee, Richlands, and Abingdon would start in Class C (as would Appomattox). Pulaski County would start in Class B. Patrick Henry (Roanoke) is the westernmost school that would start in Class A. Over time, most of the SWVA schools would find themselves clumped back together in Class C and Class D. The historically strong programs (Graham, Union) would probably find themselves in Class B over time, with a possible foray or two into Class A should there be a run of athletes like Graham has had over the last 5-6 years. It would also create some special seasons for schools like Tazewell. Imagine the 2023 Bulldogs, who should be pretty good, playing in a Class without having to face Ridgeview, Radford, Graham, Riverheads, or any of the teams above in Class C in the playoffs. It gives each school the opportunity to excel if they are closer to the top of their Class. Further, teams in Class C and Class D can play each other, though it would benefit Class D teams more than Class C. It's not a perfect plan, but it beats what we have in place. Of course, the VHSL would never consider this.

If Ridgeview’s coaches could call a competent, complete game, that would be an interesting matchup. But I agree, much as we saw with Richlands circa 2004-2016, having the same alpha dog for years on end gets tiresome. But it’s cyclical…no program endures forever. Talent ebbs and flows, and coaches come and go.

Part of the issue that often goes unspoken is that these opinions are frequently given by members who have 2, 3, 4+ usernames. That’ll get an account banned fast despite what seems like a minor infraction.

I live rent-free in a bunch of folks’ heads, apparently. Quite honestly, I don’t get it. If my primary allegiance was to a 7-0 team, I wouldn’t give nary a care about a .500 team that my team defeated by 30 in Week 2 of the season. It’s almost as if fear is the primary motivator, but surely that’s not it…

Thanks for your meaningful input. BTW, I promise I’ll get my rent check to you for that studio apartment I occupy in your cranium.