futbolking

Can we get back to the game at hand, or are we all more concerned about the pre-game? I think it could go either way. Graham has enough talent to beat Richlands. Richlands has the coaching edge and they have "been there" and "done that". This Graham team is hungry and I think they will play hard for 4 quarters this time around, regardless of the outcome. Good luck to both teams and hopefully one of the two will represent Tazewell Co. well in the next 2 rounds. Should be a great one.

I hear ya. I just don't think what Graham does constitutes anybody getting all upset over it. It's their "thing", so be it. I like it.... some do not. Just didn't want the Graham kids being portrayed as something they are not. They are an extremely good bunch of kids.

Check out Oscar Smith's entrance. Like I said, Graham is very tame.

Grow some thicker skin folks. Its kids getting fired up for a game... Good lord, I don't like the picture being painted of this. This is an outstanding group of kids with a lot of character.

My phone stinks..posted same thing 3 times.

Not too bad if its on a Saturday

For out of towners going to this game.... get there EARLY to get a parking spot if you dont want to miss half the game. If you are not familiar with the area, you can park at Bluefield College but they may charge a fee to park there. There is quite a bit of parking at Bluefield College at the dorm behind the dome and around the loop around the college which passes by the Student Activity Center, Tennis Courts and back around to the front entrance...Little bit of a walk from there, however. The stadium lot and Bowen Field lot (baseball field next to stadium) will probably be full by 6:00. You could park at Food City or Dollar General Shopping Center or Wal-Mart Shopping Center, but it's a little bit of a hike to the stadium. Dollar General Market is not quite as far.

Amen. I lived in Farmville for a while, watched the James River District teams. Also went to several games in South-Central Virginia. What Graham does is very tame. I guess folks around here aren't used to it. Lived in Richmond, watched Huguenot, Meadowbrook, Armstrong..... what Graham does is nowhere near "taunting". Like I mentioned before, the cheerleaders at the basketball games down that way make what Graham does look very tame. I like it.....

I'm in the minority, I know but I like Graham's pre-game "taunting", if you will. Teams all across the country do similar stuff. It's kids getting fired up for a game. Like I said before, I've seen much more elaborate stuff at other schools, I guess that's why it's no big deal to me. If it gets them fired up, I say go for it.

The emergence of Jazaire Reed as a running threat has seriously upgraded Graham's offense since the beginning of the season. He has developed into a serious running threat. Teams focusing on Cousin will have to deal with Reed also. Graham's defense has improved due to the fact that Dalton is back and folks are back in positions that they are comfortable with. The line coming in at the beginning of the season was inexperienced and I think they have gotten better. I'm sure both teams have improved throughout the season in different aspects of the game. The ability of Meade to run the ball made the biggest difference in both the Richlands and Martinsville games to me. He was able to get loose several times and keep the chains moving against Martinsville (like he did against Abingdon). He didn't have much success against Richlands. I believe the blocking schemes and lineplay have improved tremendously since the first time around and the defense has improved quite a bit. Martinsville's line was huge (285 avg) and Graham held their own, despite a big size disadvantage. Graham was in position to make plays, but the elusiveness of the runningbacks and athleticism of that receiver of theirs created some big plays against Graham. Should be a battle, as stated before.... I can't wait.

Thought VHSL gets half the gate.

Some would say setting up a Giant Blue helmet, filling it with smoke and placing it on the away team's field for your team to run through is disrespectful... but it's not. I don't see it as being disrespectful at all. I don't see it as a taunt. I just see it as a way of getting fired up before the game. I might be in the minority here, but I like it. It may fire the other team up as well, that may be the downfall of it all. If you guys think this is bad, you should go watch basketball in central and South Central Virginia.... The Cheerleaders even taunt each other and make up cheeers about each other at some schools. Most of the fans feel as if it is just part of the game. When I lived there, I would look forward to seeing what they came up with next.

Maybe Beamer will come out of retirement.

Union will need to control possession and capitalize on their offensive possesions to win. They are a team that is capable of doing just that.

May the best team win and represent Tazewell County well in the semis and finals. Can't wait for this one.

Martinsville sure showed up to play for this game. Excellent team with a lot of talent. It was a battle for sure.

I quit listening a long time ago....

Congrats Union on a great win!!! Now go take down Appomattox!!

Maybe they can get him into Emory and Henry... Who in their right mind would move from the football recruiting Mecca of Florida to Richlands? Just saying... not trying to start anything, that just strikes me as very odd. Unless of course they just want to move back home and that would be understandable.

Martinsville was very impressive. Great speed, good size and some spectacular catches. They were much better than I expected. Graham had to play their best to beat them. Graham's defensive lineplay stepped it up in the 2nd half and I think that was the difference. What a battle!! Graham was very fortunate to get out of there with a win. That team moved the ball on Graham more than any other team they have played this year.

Bogus calls against Graham all night.. Where is this crew from?

Yes

3 amazing catches by the Bulldogs not hurting either..

Martinsville came to play. Big and fast...athletes all over the field.

From the Roanoke Times: 2A WEST REGION No. 8 GILES (8-3) at No. 1 APPOMATTOX COUNTY (11-0) Friday, 7 p.m. Coaches: Giles, Jeff Williams; Appomattox County, Doug Smith. Regular-season summaries: Giles had rare three-game losing streak with setbacks against Graham (21-14), Galax (17-15) and Glenvar (13-10, OT). ... Spartans opened with 35-28 win at Blacksburg. ... Appomattox County had second 10-0 season in a row, defeating three Seminole District teams that are still in the 3A or 4A playoffs: Rustburg (17-6), Heritage (29-21) and Amherst County (35-12). Giles statistics: RB Austin Pennington (106-922 rushing, 15 TDs; 4-154 receiving); TB-DB Ryan Beidleman (143-812 rushing, 11 TDs; 9-20 passing, 271 yards, 2 TDs; 8 defensive INTs); RB-LB Anthony Meadows (113-755, 9 TDs; 76 solo tackles); RB Brandon Chapman (62-535, 11 TDs); Appomattox County statistics: QB Javon Scruggs (64-93-3, 1,296 passing, 21 TDs; 76-472 rushing, 10 TDs); RB Phillip Fleshman (71-605, 12 TDs); WR De’Von Graves (22-465, 5 TDs); WR Devin Dews (13-247, 2 TDs). Last week: Giles won 56-21 at home over No. 9 Marion. Appomattox County won 63-12 at home over No. 16 Virginia High. Next week: The winner plays No. 4 Dan River or No. 5 Union. Noteworthy: Appomattox has state’s longest winning streak at 26 games. ... Giles edged Raiders 17-14 in 2013 playoffs. ... Graves has committed to N.C. State. ... Spartans will be without Chapman, injured last week against Marion. ... Appomattox lost No. 2 rusher Tre Walker to ankle injury. Prediction: Appomattox County 34, Giles 24. No. 7 MARTINSVILLE (8-3) at No. 2 GRAHAM (10-1) Friday, 7 p.m. Coaches: Martinsville, Orion Martin; Graham, Tony Palmer. Regular-season summaries: Martinsville was 2-3 against playoff teams with losses to Dan River (24-10), Magna Vista (51-37) and George Washington (35-14). ... Bulldogs scored 42 or more points in five wins. ... Graham’s only loss 31-24 at Richlands after opening big early lead. ... G-Men defeated Giles (21-14), Abingdon (33-14), Galax (42-28) and Fort Chiswell (49-28). Martinsville statistics: RB Zanthus Hairston (224-1,585, 27 TDs); QB Aaron Martin (67-142-8, 1,421 yards, 15 TDs); RB Dasyne Hairston 83-788, 11 TDs); WR T.J. Pettway (16-326, 7 TDs); TE E.J. Bratcher (11-284, 2 TDs); DL Akira Price (64 solos, 7 sacks, 31 TFLs). Graham statistics: RB Jamorya’ Cousin (1,460 rushing yards with 156 yards against Galax); WR Taymon Cooke (kickoff return for TD against Fort Chiswell; punt return for a TD against Giles). Last week: Martinsville won 41-13 at home over No. 10 Grundy. Graham won 56-14 at home over No. 15 Lebanon. Next week: The winner plays No. 3 Richlands or No. 6 Glenvar. Noteworthy: Graham plays its games across the West Virginia state line in 10,000-seat Mitchell Stadium, which it shares with crosstown rival Bluefield. ... G-Men knocked Martinsville out of the 2003 playoffs 40-10 in their last meeting. ... Bulldogs’ last season with two postseason wins was 1999. Prediction: Graham 35, Martinsville 21. No. 6 GLENVAR (9-2) at No. 3 RICHLANDS (10-1) Friday, 7:30 p.m. Coaches: Glenvar, Kevin Clifford; Richlands, Greg Mance. Regular-season summaries: Glenvar began season with numerous players out of the lineup and went 1-2 with losses to Galax (31-18) and Cave Spring (21-0). ... Had OT win over Giles (13-10). ... Richlands had perfect season spoiled in Week 9 with 17-10 loss to Abingdon. ... Opened season with wins over playoff teams Gate City (48-7), Union (28-27, OT) and Graham (31-24). Glenvar statistics: RB Jack Leonard (188-957, 14 TDs); WR Alec Thompson (25-655, 10 total TDs); WR-DB Demerea Humphreys (23-330, 4 TDs); QB Jake Mullins (50-104-5, 998 yards, 12 TDs); LB Jacob Tawney (68 solos); DE Hunter Stanley (53 solos, 14 1/2 sacks, 9 TFLs); DL Maxx Philpott (17 TFLs). Richlands statistics: QB John-Luke Asbury (2,569 passing yards, 35 TDs, 10 INTs); WR Cody Howie (51-921, 13 TDs); WR Scottie Ball (20-325, 5 TDs); WR Da’Quan Booker (27-406, 7 TDs); WR Taylor Horn (26-432, 9 TDs); RB Chace Collins (73-437, 5 TDs); LB Dillan Elswick (102 tackles). Last week: Glenvar won 34-27 at home over No. 11 Gate City. Richlands won 51-7 at home over No. 14 John Battle. Next week: The winner plays No. 2 Graham or No. 7 Martinsville. Noteworthy: First-ever meeting between Glenvar and Richlands. ... Mance starred at Giles and played baseball at Virginia Tech. Since 2004, Mance has won 25 postseason games with a 3A state title in 2006 and three 3A state runner-up finishes. Prediction: Richlands 28, Glenvar 21.