cityofRaven

Purify yourself in the Clinch and you won't want to go to another body of water ever again.

Saturday is supposed to be near 60* in the New River Valley. Looking forward to spending the day on the golf course.

Purify yourself in the Clinch and you won't want to go to another body of water ever again.

You don’t mean someone from across Davis Mountain?

Purify yourself in the Clinch and you won't want to go to another body of water ever again.

Purify yourself in the Clinch and you won't want to go to another body of water ever again.

I bet you're fun at parties.

I bet you're fun at parties.

I bet you're fun at parties.

I bet you're fun at parties.

Whining about the refs 3 days after a win is not a good look. That's something Ridgeview would do. 😂

I think a lot of people are going to be surprised.

I think a lot of people are going to be surprised.

I’m not a hater. You can look at other recent threads on this site where I’ve openly rooted for Riverheads to be successful this season. I’ve also been front and center suggesting RH would have been very nearly as successful in Class 2 the past 8 years as they were in Class 1. 
 
But professionally, I have seen the county legislative agendas over the past 15 years. Redrawing boundaries seems to be a common occurrence in Augusta County. Something that isn’t very common in other counties in Virginia. Seems a bit suspicious to me when that coincides with where the county high schools compete. 
 
But I digress….

Not like Richlands has done in the last few years.

Maybe if I do better, I'll get a main street parade.

🏆
(I’m out of reactions but you win!) 😂😂

They'll find a way to blow it.

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."

#BanNFHS

To my knowledge, he played high school football at Patrick Henry (Glade Spring), he was on staff at Virginia Tech coaching Tight Ends with Frank Beamer under Bill Dooley in 1986.  He coached Patrick Henry (Roanoke) and Lexington (1988 Div. 2 State Champs.)  He was an assistant at Tazewell the year before he took the job at Richlands.  It is important to note that neither Lexington nor Richlands had ever won a state title before his arrival.

His name is Vaught.

Long live RCT!

Baptist Valley Tiger til I die.  We'll see you sumbitches the 5th and 10th game of the season!

I appreciate this perspective, and long for those times. Mine was somewhat different, but no less impactful. There were 5 teams: Richlands Green Wave, Richlands Redskins, Raven Crimson Tide, Cedar Bluff Blue Devils, and Baptist Valley Tigers. I was a Green Wave. Our coaches were young guys that were recent graduates. Chris Grinstead, Kelly Grinstead, and Scott Bumgarner. They taught fundamentals, and discipline. The biggest impact for me was it being an important part of a greater relationship. I learned the Lord’s Prayer, not in church, but as a result of those games or practices where it was recited, and I was embarrassed for not knowing it initially.
Some coaches probably never realize the impact made off the field.