biggamesjames

I will call it like I see it Coal Covered Rebel and I saw what I saw. Seemed pretty obvious to me. If you don't like to second guess coaching staffs then that's up to you but some of us may feel empowered and knowledgeable enough about football to do so. Not saying our game plans would have worked better but seriously doubt it would've been any worse. Alot of it is still about player execution....but when you decide to become a coach you open yourself up to being critiqued. It's the nature of the business. Coaches that don't like it should probably try a different career. It's the same with officiating. This is a spectator sport we're talking about...and this is a message board where people are expected to post thoughts and opinions. I will say this though, the Essex game plan didn't bother me as bad as last year against Altavista watching a 2500 yard rusher get a total of 6 carries in a close game. Sometimes being consistently good and solid is better than being occasionally amazing and dynamic. Less is more. Being a genius is great as long as you still know how to tie your shoe...etc.

I agree Redtiger. Really needed some playaction. Got to use their speed and quickness against them. Can't line up and just beat their db's. Needed some more deception and misdirection. We averaged close to 6 yards per carry when we ran the ball and that's a winning formula to set up the play pass. They dropped 7 or 8 guys into coverage most of the game and our QB was in a tough situation to sit back there in shotgun and just throw darts all day. If we would have let him be more of a game manager and give the ball more to one of the best FB's in the state and also a pretty good HB I think it would have put him in a more manageable situation...plus he really excels in ball fakes and throwing off playaction...just the type of QB he is. He's a Steve Deberg/Chad Pennington/Chris Chandler type QB and we put him in situation that he had to be more of a Peyton Manning or Dan Marino. I thought we would have learned a little more from facing AltaVista last year in this same game. I guess I thought wrong.

First off the targeting call was not only legit, it was one of the easiest calls of the game. Two different officials threw their flags immediately. It was clearly a shot to the head with the forearm...flag was thrown as it should have been, no question about it. And yes Yates #34 was playing with the flu. Vomited throughout the game because of the high fever. Hope he gets some fluids in him and gets well. Was a gutsy performance by him and he obviously wasn't at his best...also was a huge gutsy call by Colley to go for 2. Big time win.

The targeting call was ABSOLUTELY legit. It was an easy call really...there was no question about it. I agree with Redtiger though that such a penalty should not include an ejection. That's not right in my opinion.

I'm not just talking about Honaker fans sitting over there. I'm talking about those that created a cheering section for the other teams. I'm sure it wasn't everybody from Honaker but I do know a few for sure. One of them is a coach and co-worker of mine and he had quite a few players with him doing the same thing. I do know Honaker's QB was backing Haysi though cause he tailgated with us and stood near us. I know it wasn't everybody in Honaker. Doesn't matter to me anyway though, I'm for Honaker all the way tomorrow. Take Radford down!

I saw sooo many Honaker players and coaches come to Haysi playoff games supporting the opposing teams last year (Galax and Alta Vista) that it's difficult for me to go show support for them Redtiger...There was an entire cheering section of Honaker people in their stands in both of those games. I will be cheering for Honaker anyway though. Just silently from home :)

Absolutely CLASSLESS display by many Covington players and coaching staff. Their community should be embarrassed going out like that. Haysi should appeal the ejections and should win. Covington was out of it at that point and had nothing to lose by starting a fight except honor and respect. Haysi had a tremendous amount to lose. I believe when VHSL watches the tape they will see Covington was clearly the instigators and should rule accordingly.

I'm not a fan of the Ridgeview name. Super generic. I preferred numerous names over that but the taxpayers got no say in this. I really liked Skyline High or Havenwood High. I would have been ok with either Mount or Grand Vista High. Even Ridgemont high would've been better. Fast Times! However, I do like "Wolfpack" as the nickname.

I too am looking forward to another great season for Haysi in 2014 Redtiger. I believe we will have another excellent team.

I keep seeing it written everywhere about this being the best season in Haysi history....it was truly a great season but it was actually Haysi's 4th appearance in the state semi-finals. Not sure how any of the 4 can be considered the best since they ended in the same game. I guess the only argument that could be made on that is that 05 was the only one with more than 1 loss. So that leaves 3 best seasons in school history I guess.

I agree redtiger. If he's given an opportunity by a college like that I believe they will be glad they gave it to him. If they take a look at his #'s in the weight room I believe he will get one. Hopefully Tanner O'quinn is getting some looks too. Blake Branham has came on lately as well. All 3 of Haysi's Sr's can play in college IMHO.

Yeah the point about his height is probably true but I think is vastly overrated in terms of a rb. He will prob be written off for most positions on defense because of height but should not be for rb. There are alot of rb's who have success despite being short in stature. E&H or UVA-Wise would both likely be beside themselves to get Bowen. It is my understanding that Carson Newman is very interested and to me that would make more sense from a talent standpoint. I figure somewhere like Appalachian State or Marshall would really like what they saw if they got to take a good look at him.

Taking nothing away from Peoples at all, he was everything that was advertised and then some. He does have a real nice offensive line though and an underrated supporting cast, even though some of them were under utilized from what I could tell. Haysi does have some other really good players I agree and was no doubt the better team overall, but Bowen was about 80 percent at best yesterday and played lights out both sides of the ball the entire game. Anybody who saw Haysi's 1st round playoff game without him will attest to how much he was missed. Completely different team without him on the field on offense. I'm not real sure about your division 1 assessment either. Sometimes players from small isolated towns slip through the cracks on the recruitment trail. Their measurables are very similar in terms of production. Similar in TD's, yards per carry, etc...Peoples had a lot more carries. Bowen would have went over 3,000 yards had he gotten as many touches. Their combine type measurables are similar as well...speed, strength, etc. Peoples has a size advantage but Bowen prob has an overall strength advantage. I'm sure alot of colleges are trying to catch up on film now that Bowen's name is getting out there a little more.

Yes, I was surprised at how well the Haysi defense defended Dixon, who is a good back as well. I look for Galax to go deep into the playoffs next season.

Best rb? yes I think so. Best player? I'd argue that based on what I saw yesterday. In my opinion at 100 percent Jeffrey Bowen is the best football player in SWVA.

Galax did depend too heavily on Peoples, but they beat some very good teams by doing that. They have a very good offensive line and will be a really solid team next year. I thought the key stat was the Haysi defense holding Peoples to about 7 yards per carry while Bowen was able to average about 10 yards per. As good as Peoples is, one of the best backs I've ever seen in h.s., Jeffrey Bowen was very, very impressive yesterday and stepped up to the challenge in a big way.

Some classy posts sixcat. Saw your friend from Haysi who now lives in Galax at the game today and got to talk to him quite a bit. It was a very entertaining game. Enjoyed getting to see Peoples, who is the real deal. Bowen played very well also. Two of the top all around football players in the state on the same field today. Pretty cool.

So I guess you're really confused by Auburn's blue Tigers? Missouri's Tigers? Detroit's baseball team? Silver and blue Lions with their NFL team? Blue and orange Gators in Florida? Blue Wildcats in Kentucky? Teal Panthers in Carolina? Orange and blue Broncos in Denver? The list goes on and on. Confusing that people think the teams colors have to be the same color as the actual animal.

I think the big question is why did you go through Meadowview? That is about the 10th best way to get to Haysi from Galax

The inaugural year of the Black Diamond District was in 1978 and yes, Pocahontas won it for their one and only time that year. Prior to '78 most of the teams in the newly formed BDD were in the Clinch Valley District. Garden won the BDD in '81 and '86 and '89 I believe. I think Hurley won it in '82, '83 and '92. '88 was Honaker.

yeah I think the 2nd and 3rd seeds in 1A west is prob better matchup wise than 1 seed because of who you will get in 2nd round. However, gotta play everybody anyway so might as well welcome whoever comes to haysi and see what happens. makes no difference to me anyway because i'm in win it all or nothing mode anyway. get the ring. i believe this haysi team, if playing well and taking care of the ball, is good enough to beat any 1A team in the state.

Haysi BDD champs in 79, 80, 84, 85, 87, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 01, 03, 06, 08, 09, 13. 19 overrall, 17 under Colley. Interesting in 04 and 05 Honaker won BDD both years while Haysi went18-2 in those 2 regular seasons and beat Honaker in 05 playoffs before going on to win Region D. Also interesting that Honaker has narrowed the gap in recent years. At one point in the series from '89-'99 Haysi won 9 of 10.

I think Ft Chiswell and Honaker both have an easier path to the 3rd round than Haysi. However, they would meet each other at that point if both are still alive.

Yeah, assuming Haysi takes care of Eastside the potential 2nd round matchup with Galax is a very tough draw for a #1 seed. How did Galax get such a low seed? I think VHSL points system has a few issues.

I will give our defensive coodinator some props too..and even though he coached at Ervinton he is a Haysi graduate. Was a nice scheme last night. Much better than the scheme we had for Clintwood. I think we will scheme Clintwood much better if we play them again. With how the seedings look at the moment we cannot face Honaker again unless it is for the state championship, which would be awesome. Honaker really didnt have an answer for Bowen getting the edge and didn't have an answer for the defensive pressure and pursuit. We ran stretch plays and toss sweeps all night and they could never stop it. Those 2 factors were the deciding keys of the game in my opinion.