Beckley_WWHS

Ed, I sent you a PM back. I haven't heard anything about who the 10th game is. From looking at Ed's AAA schedules it doesn't look like it will be a MSAC team. I'm wondering if it might be a AA team from around this area? From looking at the schedule it could be a little easier than last season. Last season's schedule was just brutal with Capital, George Washington, Parkersburg, Cabell Midland, Spring Valley, Hurricane. I notice three of those are off there. It still looks like a tough schedule but maybe more manageable getting back to the playoffs.

The WVSSAC website has them scrimmaging Martinsburg on 8/16 at Martinsburg. That is all I know about it.

Ali was able to defend his championship in the 100 at the state track meet. What makes this so impressive is he was injured in Beckley's last football game of 2007. He was unable to run from early November to late April following knee surgery for a meniscus tear. Very impressive accomplishment to still be able to come back and win the 100 with virtually no practice. Good luck to him at WVU where he plans to walk on and play football.

I think Ali has always liked WVU and that might have swayed him that way.

Marquel Ali signed as an invited walk to play football at WVU yesterday. It will be interesting to see what happens with him when he gets with some coaches that know how to coach that type of an athlete. He has never been in an offense where he was really able to turn his speed loose. I wonder what kind of numbers he would have had at a school like Nitro or Martinsburg.

Wow, where do you begin? After all the team had been through, Coach Kidd's health problems, losing two of your top players to grades, the uniform debacle. This team showed up in Charleston and played awesome basketball. First you have Michael Fortune making the one and one free throws with 10 seconds left to tie the game and then win it against Martinsburg. Then in the semifinals, what a big win over a Capital team that had already beat them by double digits twice. A team that was loaded with seniors and many thought was the favorite to win it all. Beckley came out and played the way they are capable of playing and did what they needed to do to win the game. It doesn't get any better than the win over South Charleston in the state championship game. To win the state championship against South Charleston, it doesn't get any more special than that. Coach Kidd was 0-9 against South Charleston with five of those losses coming by five points or less. South Charleston had won 22 straight games coming into this game. What a great game Beckley played against South Charleston. Just like they did against Capital, they came out and played like they are capable of playing and did what they needed to do to win the game. To first beat the number three seed, then beat the number two seed, and then beat the number one seed in three straight games. What a remarkable accomplishment in itself especially with a lack of depth. I can't say enough about these players. Travis Parkulo was the glue to this team the entire way. Damien Tunstalle played like he is capable of playing against South Charleston and Capital. Ryan Powers does what he usually does, played great defense and made big shots. Joseph Rodriguez really did a good job against South Charleston's quickness. What about Joseph Anthony? A 9th grader that has not seen a lot of playing time comes in in the fourth quarter of a state championship game and swishes in two free throws and then gets another big basket. But the two players that were the key to this run were Michael Fortune and Isiah Walton. Fortune played with purpose and confidence in the postseason. Walton was the guy that does all the little things that every team needs. Great hustle, great rebounding. These two players stepped up their games big time. What a great job the coaching staff did. I'm so happy for Coach Kidd after all he has been through. He is a great man and a great coach and he is great for Beckley basketball. Steve Kidd ran this team while Ron was out and did a great job. Gene and Brian Nabors are great for these players. They are young and they can relate well with the players. They came out before each game up in Charleston and went down the bench before the game with empatic high fives to every player on the bench. They bring such energy. Those guys have been in the state tournament before and know what it takes to win it. This was just an awesome job by everyone. A total team effort. I never gave up in these guys and supported them through thick and thin. Sure it was tough a lot of the season but what a way to finish it. Beckley 2008 AAA Boys Basketball State Champions! It doesn't get any better than this.

Yeah, Bailey is the red headed one.

Bluefield 87, Westside 74 - Final I listened to some of this game. Did I hear right that Bluefield couldn't shoot the ball? They were making three's in this game. The third quarter was the difference in the game as Bluefield outscored Westside 25-9. Bluefield was led by Ansel Ponder with 24, Craig Ponder 21, Turquan Casey 18, and Shaun Brooks 16. Westside was led by Eric Bailey with 28, Danny Hicks 15, and Zack Hellmandollar 11.

Beckley opened their season with a win on the road at Riverside. The Beckley team limited Riverside to 3 first quarter points and was in control throughout. Beckley had way too many turnovers but that is not real suprising in the first game. They will have to work on that. Also too many fouls. Great win to begin the season. Next up is a home game on Saturday with 3 time defending AAA state champion Huntington.

Riverside and Woodrow don't play until the 20th. I don't know how Riverside beat them.

I personally think that Princeton lost a lot last season when they lost Jevon Carpenter. He really made that team go, could shoot, probably their quickest player. What did he make 2nd team all-state in AAA. He was a pretty good high school basketball player. They also lost their best hustler in Casey Lineberry. Lineberry didn't have the basketball talent that some have, but he played hard and his hustle was huge for them. Princeton still has the Minnix twins and Jewell. All three can shoot and you can't let them get hot from the three point line. Princeton like anyone can still beat you like most teams if they are taken lightly and you let their shooters get hot. I just thought Carpenter and Lineberry were two very important pieces to their team.

lol...I think Anthony is 15. Here is the link: http://p205.ezboard.com/fwvhighschoolbasketballfrm1

Coach Kidd is a good man, a religious man, a hard worker. I think no matter who replaced Barksdale was going to hear the talk from the fans and feel the pressure. Barksdale is one of those guys that just can't be replaced and everything be just like before. Kidd hasn't done a bad job. I really like the Nabors boys. They get along well with the kids. They will be your friend but at the same time they aren't afraid to stand up to the kids. I saw the youngest one, Gene, at a football game get on a group of kids for cussing. There were women and children around. He made it clear that if he heard it again, he would have them removed. I think it is good that the kids have someone like them that will be a friend but at the same time will teach them right from wrong. I think they are a nice boost for the Beckley bench. Beckley has the potential to have a good team this season. I agree with a statement I heard Maris Lowery say. "I think Beckley has a legitimate shot to win the state title. They may not be in the driver's seat, but they are in the car". Nearly everyone returns from last season's young team that got off to a very rough start before bouncing back somewhat. Michael Fortune and Ryan Powers are back at guard. Athletic wings, 6'4" Cameron Hallcomb, and 6'5" Damien Tunstalle are back. Vashawn Wood and Travis Parkulo are back inside. Also Joseph Rodriguez is back after a year's absence. His quickness on defense and true point guard skills will help this team. Kevin Starkey is back after being lost last season to grades. Also, 6'5" 9th grader Joseph Anthony will play varsity. This kid has a ton of potential. Here is a YouTube video of Anthony going up for a dunk last year in middle school. The quality of the video is not very good. It's hard to believe that this kid was just in the 8th grade. lol

Keep him in your thoughts. http://www.register-herald.com/highschoolsports/local_story_322002527.html?keyword=topstory

It looks like they are heading that way. If you are a fan of good basketball, Beckley is the place to be as it looks like there will be a third basketball powerhouse in town. Mountain State Academy dropped out of the SSAC. They would make quite a Class A team. They will still be playing some of the Class A schools from West Virginia in the regular season. http://www.register-herald.com/highschoolsports/local_story_319232314.html

The main reason that Beckley joined the MSAC is because of Lilly wanting the football team in it. That is really the only thing I like about the conference is that it is easy to get a 10 game schedule. The bad thing about it is Lilly wanted in it so bad, but the football team has the biggest trouble competing in it. Beckley competes real well in most of the other sports in the conference, far more so than Princeton or Greenbrier East. They are actually one of the better teams in basketball, volleyball, soccer, track, baseball, most of the sports. I just don't care for the conference. It is way too big with 16 teams in it. Most of the coaches of the other sports don't like being in it either because they are stuck playing all of those teams where as many of them would like to schedule closer teams to cut travel time and expenses. I really dislike the conference in basketball. You are forced to play all 15 other teams and then in the MSAC place game. By the time you have 16 games tied up there, add three more for the Coal Classic and there are only 3 spots left which have been going to a game in the Hoops Classic, and Parkersburg South home and away. We can't schedule teams like Bluefield and Wheeling Park, some of the nice rivals over the years. Then there is no room for the WJLS holiday tournament to start the season either. Like I said, it is great for coming up with a 10 game schedule for football, but that is about all I like about it. Hey, maybe Bluefield can try to get in as a AA school. That would fix your problems of trying to get a 10 game football schedule real quick. lol

Well it was an improvement over last year's 1 win team but still a frustrating season. This is the fourth time in the past five seasons that Beckley has missed the playoffs. The upside is the Beckley team was much improved and competitive with most every team they faced and they could have easily won two or three more games if not for silly mistakes. I heard an interesting stat on the radio before the game last night. In John Lilly's 8 years at Beckley, this was the first time that the two middle school teams had combined for a winning record. It seems many have blamed the failures on poor coaching, but there just hasn't been a lot of quality football players when they get to high school. There have been a few very talented players (Manns, Ross, Ali) just not the depth you need. That being said, I think the Beckley team will be much improved next season and there should be some good teams in the next few seasons. As I said, the middle schools both had winning records. The 9th and JV teams both finished 7-2. There will also be a lot of players returning off this team. All four linebackers return (including leading tackler Ryan Stafford, and a very good sophomore and freshman), three in the secondary (they will get Lanny Meadows back after starting in 9th and 10th grade but having to sit this season out with a shoulder injury), a few players that played on the line are back, two quarterbacks, all the receivers, the fullback, punter, and kicker (a sophomore who only missed one, maybe two extra points). The only real hole to fill will be at running back with Marquel Ali (who had a knee injury in last night's game, lets hope he is ok) and a couple others graduating. There are a few talented young players that will probably step in there. There is just no excuse now for Beckley to keep having losing seasons. The last several seasons have been rough if you are a Beckley football fan. Will they finally turn it around now? The promising amount of talent returning and the records of the younger teams say they should. Or will there be more disappointing seasons?

Beckley was able to overcome some costly mistakes and defensive breakdowns to pick up a road win at Princeton. Blaine Mayo had 12 carries for 154 yards and a TD and Marquel Ali had 18 carries for 153 yards and a TD. Both had long TD runs. Ali added five catches for 61 yards and a TD. Quarterback Ryan Stafford had two TD passes. As I said earlier, there were way too many mistakes for Beckley in this game. Several drive stopping penalties, three turnovers, and the defense struggled at times. Those things won't work against some of the better teams on the schedule. Still a good win. Captial comes to Beckley on Friday. This will be a big test. Beckley will have to bring their A game.

Everyone really worked hard in the offseason from the coaches tweaking the offense and the players working hard and it has paid off so far. I think most everyone around here would have been very happy if you told them before the season the team would be 2-1 after three games against three playoff teams from a season ago. I didn't really expect Beckley to go to Parkersburg this early in the season and knock them off at home especially since Parkersburg has won 15 straight games. Who knows what might happen if they play again. The good news is the team is off to a good start. The bad news is there is a very tough schedule ahead including Riverside, Capital, Hurricane, and George Washington. This is a pretty good football team though. If everyone stays healthy, I don't see any reason as to why Beckley can't play with every team left on the schedule and have a chance of beating all of them. They have to win the games that they should win (Spring Valley, Greenbrier East, and Princeton are games that Beckley really can't afford to let get away), and get at least a couple wins against those four I mentioned above. Also this season, there are five or six underclassmen starting on both sides of the ball so there should be at least something to work with for next season. Those two really bad seasons, the majority of Beckley's starters from the previous years were seniors. The running backs are mostly seniors but that should be the only area where Beckley is really losing almost everyone for next season. Things are off to a good start, lets just hope they keep it up.

I thought these two teams were very evenly matched. Beckley had the advantage in total yards 286 to 258. The game was tied 14-14 at halftime. Cabell Midland got the ball to begin the second half and the Beckley defense was able to come up with a stop. Ali then broke loose with a 70 yard TD run that was the game winner. He finished the game with 138 yards on 13 carries. He also had a couple of great plays on defense with an interception and a thunderous hit on a Cabell Midland receiver to break up a pass in the 2nd half. The Beckley defense pitched a shutout in the 2nd half and the team didn't have any turnovers in the game. It was a great team effort for Beckley and a big win.

They are doing quite a bit out of the spread offense. There are some new things in there. The coaches have gotten a few new players to come out that fit the offense. Basketball players Vashawn Wood and David Allen are out and playing receiver positions. A couple of good players that were ineligible last season, Kevin Starkey and Blaine Mayo, are back and that helps. Starkey and Wood are also starters on defense. The offense is definitely not as predictable and there is a lot more depth at the skill positions.

Great team effort for Beckley, able to overcome 5 turnovers and get the win. A more spread out offense with a lot more variety and a much improved defense that limited Huntington to very few rushing yards. Beckley definitely won the battle on the line of scrimmage and the big guys were able to give the backs running room. The team still has to get better and cut down on the mistakes but this is a great start to the season.

I heard today that Clemson, Penn State, Purdue, Ohio, Akron, Vanderbilt, and Colorado along with WVU were showing interest in Ali in football.

UCLA offered quite a while back. I haven't really kept up with it too much lately. I'd expect more to come.

Ali ran a 4.31 in the Nike combine in Columbus and a 4.29 at the Scout.com combine in Pittsburgh. He also took state championships in the 100 and 200. Give those backs a line!