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RichlandsAlum

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Everything posted by RichlandsAlum
 
 
  1. The usual suspects should still be strong in Region 2C on the boys side. I don't think Glenvar lost much from the team that won the state championship last year and the same seems to be true of region runner-up Radford. From my own rooting perspective... as a member of the Seminole District, Liberty (Bedford) will be playing a schedule comprised entirely of Division 3 and 4 teams. Based on the rating system the Minutemen probably only have to win about four games to qualify for the regional playoffs -- which would seem to be a pretty attainable goal. Fairly decent talent on this year's team. Two seniors will most likely move on to play in college (one of whom is my son, who could make a commitment to play for a Division II school as soon as next week) and our junior goal keeper is already being heavily recruited as well. Main thing I see is good working chemistry among the team during the fall travel season and a 4-2 friendly win over James River last week. It's entirely possible that they could make a run in the postseason -- they just have to clear the hurdle of getting there first. Certainly an odd situation.
  2. Honestly, I don't think we were lacking at the skill positions. For as many games as we lost during 1980s, we had a pretty steady stream of talented running backs beginning with Sandy Rogers. We just seemed to be unusually snake bitten relative to other teams around us. The Tazewell series is a great reference point and we definitely seemed to be in our own heads when it came to playing them -- particularly during that six year losing streak from 1985 through 1990. One of those games is a perfect example of my reference to the close games we lost and the level of competition overall during our years of struggle. Tazewell won the state championship in 1986 whereas we went 4-6. One might assume that they would have beaten the daylights out of us in our regular season matchup that year. But the actual score of that game was only 9-6 in favor of the Bulldogs. If you look closely at Rick's work on four seasons (and kudos again to him for that), there are countless examples of that sort of thing. For instance.... The 1975 Richlands team started the season with 8 straight wins, but ultimately lost their last two (including a 2-0 loss at Marion) which knocked them out of the playoffs. And on the flip side, Gate City won the SWD championship and was undefeated within league play in 1977. But they only beat us 14-6. (That year we finished 3-6-1. The tie came against Patrick Henry -- who had lost 27 straight games heading into that matchup dating back to 1974. We played the very worst and the very best teams in the district that year within a week of each other and we were almost equally competitive against both. That was the epitome of Richlands football during that time period.)
  3. I've always felt that the success of the 1987 team was largely a combination of Billy Haun's offense and the disciplined players that had been developed by Bruce Evans. Unfortunately for Haun, that specific team was also blessed with talent on both the offensive and defensive lines that graduated with that particular class. The point about winning consistently is well made, and that was a really frustrating aspect of Richlands football prior to Vaught's arrival. We simply didn't win the big games in which we were competitive enough to prevail. And we also dropped a lot of games in inexplicable fashion back in those days (like 41-16 to Virginia High in the regular season in 1987 and losing to Grundy in 1984 one week after we'd beaten a really tough Tazewell team). But it definitely wasn't boring.
  4. I'll offer the following thoughts for the period from 1970 until Vaught arrived 20 years later: - Competition was extremely fierce. Most years within the SWD there were at least 5-7 teams who were fully capable of capturing at least the second sport in the playoffs. - Opportunities for advancement were limited. Until 1986 only two teams from each district made the playoffs. - The well developed midget league program had no obvious connection to the varsity football program. - Expectations for success were consistently high but not always consistently based on logic. - The Blues actually lost a lot of close games during that period. And in some seasons that produced a "snowball" effect and/or momentum that was impossible to break. - There was a lot of other stuff going on in the community that distracted people from playing and/or watching football. (Not all of that was bad. Richlands experienced a kind of "boom" period from the late '60s until about 1980 that fed the relatively large enrollment.) Vaught was actually the first coach with the apparent aptitude to move the program to reach its fullest potential. I know that when he arrived he viewed Richlands as a "sleeping giant."
  5. Vaught was indeed brought in to be "coach in waiting." Although I don't know that there was a specific timeframe implied, I was told that the next Richlands head coach had been hired the day that Vaught was announced as THS assistant. Superintendent Frank Cosby had come to Tazewell County from Salem and still maintained relationships in the Roanoke Valley. Guessing/betting that was the connection. I had a lot of respect for what Billy Haun did in Richlands (still do). But it was apparently never more than a temporary stop for him (alluded elsewhere in this thread in an article linked by sixcat). My impression is that he wasn't necessarily forced out but the leadership in school administration knew that his departure was somewhat inevitable. Vaught's availability just happened to be pretty convenient -- and there was also some chatter then about him deserving a second chance after things blew up for him at PH-Roanoke. Unfortunately the personal grudge that certain Roanoke media members developed against Vaught followed him and nobody knew just how vindictive those guys could be until the sordid events of 1992.
  6. The ghost of Bill Peery says, "Hold my ethereal beer."
  7. Yeah. This thread is supposed to be a celebration of the triumph of humanity -- well, the part of humanity that plays football for Liberty High School anyway...
  8. Yep. I can confirm that. Our student section also seemed to be liberally supplemented last night. Rumor was that kids from other schools (including some Liberty University students) showed up to provide support. Gold roof on a tin outhouse for sure. But still pretty cool. LHS won't be kept down.
  9. Final score was 49-6 Amherst. But from the atmosphere after the game someone who wasn't aware of that might easily form the impression that Liberty actually won. The student section (which was loud and active for the entire game) stormed the field and embraced the team and pretty much everyone was in an upbeat mood. Very odd. But still a thing of beauty. You've gotta love small town Friday night football.
  10. Makes the score 6-42 with 10 minutes left in 4th quarter. But the home crowd here at Minutemen Stadium just went nuts!
  11. Since football scheduling is typically based on two year contracts, I'm not expecting any possibility of "relief" until the current alignment cycle expires. And I'd expect Liberty to continue to play our county neighbors Staunton River and Jefferson Forest regardless of where we land in that process.
  12. The situation at Liberty is a result of several factors combining to produce kind of a "perfect storm" this season. Chris Watts left as the all-time leader in head coaching wins a few years ago. For the duration of his tenure the Minutemen were somewhat competitive in the Seminole District, which translated into some success at the regional level (including a state title in 2002 and a state semifinal loss to Richlands in 2005 that could have gone either way). But for the last five years or so of Chris' tenure he was struggling to plug some holes. Enrollment at LHS has declined for years despite some growth in the Bedford area and a steady increase in school age population. Big contributor there is local perceptions of relative school values, a very liberal zone transfer policy maintained by the County school system, and some active recruiting activity on the part of private schools in the area (including, but not limited to, LCA). Not sure if this is accurate, but I was told that 5 current starters for Jefferson Forest are kids who live in Bedford but transferred from Liberty. The recreation system that used to sustain the program got blown up ten years ago with the City of Bedford's reversion to Town status. The biggest travesty there is that nobody realized it (including Coach Watts) until it was too late. Compounding this is the shocking level of ignorance about that issue that still exists -- with the current coach griping about a Town recreation program that hasn't existed since 2013. There was a huge vacuum in leadership of the athletic department when some very crucial decisions were being made (such as hiring the replacement for Watts and representing the school's interests in the realignment discussion). Being forced to remain in the Seminole definitely doesn't help (and somebody needs to jerk a knot in several tails associated with the VHSL). But this team would still probably be struggling even if the logical move to the Dogwood would have been approved -- basing that on a 19-0 scrimmage loss to Altavista this year. Rumor I heard is that the Three Rivers District has agreed to accept us -- but I don't think it's possible for that to benefit the football team in any way prior to 2025 One silver lining should be that there is a harsh glare cast on the fact that some changes absolutely need to be made. That's noteworthy because the community is typically very slow to react to changes (or even acknowledge them ) -- see my comment above about the Rec program. Another positive is the fact that the kids are demonstrating some amazing resilience. We had to do away with JV because of numbers and there have been quite a few injuries. But LHS still shows up to play and the hometown crowd still shows up to support them. I'm not really aware of any kids who have quit the team. We also have received a lot of social media attention from opposing fans who have noted that. So in a really weird and pyrrhic sort of way we are still proud of our guys. I estimate that we have about 30 kids who are able to play right now -- unlikely that we ever had anything close to 47. Not that it matters -- and I'm honestly not looking to justify the situation in any way -- but other LHS programs are still performing well. The cross country team just won the Region 2C championship. The volleyball team easily qualified for regional play. And I'm not joking or exaggerating about the band/music program, which is really coming along. Looking ahead, pretty much all of the winter and spring teams are poised to be competitive in the Seminole, easily qualify for the regional playoffs, and a couple have a chance to wreak some serious havoc at the Division 2 state level. Long story short, this is a blip. A painful one to be sure. But Liberty won't stay down. And once the Minutemen are allowed to play against reasonably comparable district opponents, I think all programs (including football) will be just fine.
  13. Don't know what kind of paying crowd that football matchup would generate. But pretty sure the LHS band is better than Bburg's.
  14. Liberty (Bedford) is currently 0-9 and has been outscored 544-0. But I'm positive that the team will suit up to finish the season against Amherst on Friday and we'll still have the usual "Senior Night" observances. So what's Blacksburg's issue? (On a completely random aside, this edition of the Marching Minutemen band is really good. So there's that.)
  15. Membership in the Three Rivers was mentioned as an alternative for Liberty but I think it wasn't pursued because of the relative travel increase that would be involved. There is actually a vocal segment of the LHS fan base that prefers membership in the Seminole because of the really easy travel logistics. Apparently they're okay with watching their kids' team getting clobbered as long as they can be back home in bed by 10:00.
  16. Liberty (Bedford) wins 3 games and in the process of doing so will qualify for the Region 3C playoffs. To back off on that a bit, it would be a bold prediction to state that the Minutemen will win a game at all this year.
  17. Until the VHSL fixes the classification system at the district level (i.e. having all district members be part of the same classification -- which worked extremely well from 1970 to 1986), the playoff system is going to be suspect at best. Liberty-Bedford might be the poster child for this in soccer next year. The Minutemen will be in Division 2 but forced to play in the Seminole District (comprised of Division 3 and Division 4 teams). This year they only won 3 games. But given the point system and differential, that might be enough to get them into regional play next year. And within the specific region, they might actually be competitive in the postseason. Madness.
  18. On a very local level, my observation is that high school players aren't making free throws at a high percentage. Until (or unless) those percentages improve, I predict that the rule change will slow things down considerably and that teams won't be any less aggressive. Just my two cents for the sake of discussion.
  19. Sounds very good all around. One of my oldest son's LHS teammates played for Emory & Henry a few years ago. My observation is that they are very forthright in their approach to recruiting. And if they've said they'll be watching him then that's definitely a solid option for him. If he wants to broaden his horizons a bit or simply test the waters, then I'd highly recommend attending an ID camp. The likelihood of landing an offer from the host school may be a long shot, but he will at least get a chance to perform in front of their coaches as well as those from several other "lower level" schools who will be there. My 16 year old accepted an invitation to attend an ID camp at a Division I school last month. As a result he received 3 offers from Division II schools and one from a Division III coach who were there. The host school is actually still communicating with him but ultimately we don't really expect anything to come of that. The recruiting companies and sites are in business to make money (no surprise there). But there are sites where he can create a free profile that will garner immediate interest from schools who are looking for players with his particular metrics. Our high school coach prefers fieldlevel.com. Both of my sons also got a free profile from ncsa.com in conjunction with their participation in some travel tournaments. Both generated several hits and immediate invitations from several D-III type schools across the country. But the Division I schools generally operate on direct scouting of their own or recommendations/tips from their ID camp partners. All of this is offered based on my personal observation so far with my two older sons. My oldest decided pretty early in the process that he cared more about where he wanted to go college for reasons other than soccer, so he never seriously considered any of the offers he received. My 16 year old is at least looking into it -- but I wouldn't be surprised if things turn out the same way with him. Good luck!
  20. If your son has interest in playing soccer in college but isn't wed to the notion of a four year school, Southwest Virginia CC has a team and I think they are actively looking for players. The other advice I'd offer would be for him to participate in ID camps (and here is a link for ones offered within Virginia: https://www.collegeidcamps.net/virginia-mens-soccer-camps.html). Just bear in mind that those are extremely competitive and a lot of them are stocked with invited players. I have a 16 year old junior who is currently participating in the recruiting process. I'd be happy to share some personal insight into that if you or anyone else might be interested. (And have already done so privately with a few friends here.) Our local school (Liberty-Bedford) will be competing in its last season at the Division 3 level for a while. We lost several seniors from last year's team that made it to the Region 3C playoffs but actually kind of underperformed. Not really sure what to expect out of them this year but a lot of them played travel ball together and did pretty well this past fall.
  21. We will show up and play them. We'll lose by a couple hundred (possibly each time or collectively). But we will show up.
  22. And how do you measure that? Most obvious metric is winning -- and our program is at a decided disadvantage there thanks to the VHSL.
  23. All about ratings points. Although Liberty will accumulate a minimum amount for simply playing above their classification in district play, it's unlikely that it will amount to enough to qualify for postseason compared to other Region 2C teams. Any Seminole District win would be huge in that regard -- but the Minutemen are oh-fer in district play for two years straight now. The need for opponents in higher classification is two-fold. One side is the points argument above. At some point you actually have to win to accumulate enough points to qualify -- and wins against higher classification schools are more valuable than equal or lower tier teams. The other side is that the closest schools in the same classification have effectively refused to play us. So if you're going to travel outside the immediate area it makes sense to be even more strategic in scheduling (i.e. find a relatively weak Division 3 or Division 4 team). I'm assuming that we'll continue to schedule county rival Staunton River (which is a Division 3 school). Typically we do have a reasonable shot at beating them, which helps. But the simplest (and arguably most reasonable) thing would have been for LHS to play in the Division 1/2 Dogwood District. Outside of Appomattox, the Minutemen would likely be competitive with all other members -- but nothing close to dominant in football. Yet that was the argument that Dogwood schools effectively made to keep us out (caveat there is that it probably would be true in all other sports). I've been an apologist for the Virginia system for a long time. But it is inherently screwed up in a big way now. Admittedly it takes having your own ox gored for people to even know or care what's happening. And recent reclassification may be driving a lot of scheduling decisions for 2023-2024.
  24. Outside the area, but has some relevance that I will get around to explaining... Liberty (Bedford) has quite the conundrum. Assigned to Division 2 next year but still stuck playing in the Seminole District -- where the Minutemen still aren't exactly competitive in football. Basically our brand new AD (in his first year at that level) will need to find three nondistrict opponents that we can beat -- and who are willing to play us -- who happen to be in classifications higher than Division 2. And even that might not be enough since I think the number of teams that will qualify in Region 2C is contracting next year. So for those who wonder why/how teams with 3-7 records make the playoffs in Virginia.... Well, this is one source of that madness.
  25. Chiming in... Pretty sure their colors were a shade of Light Blue and White and their mascot was the Indians. We played them in basketball there in middle school and they wore uniforms of that color emblazoned with "Cleveland." I'm assuming those were leftover varsity uniforms from years back.
 
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