V-Cats

I wonder if the answer would be bringing someone in from outside the area
No idea who that would be of course but it would be a good way to fix the in-fighting

Sometimes I like to drop acid and put The Hollies on too.
I usually stay away from all message boards though. 

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.

Makes the score 6-42 with 10 minutes left in 4th quarter.  But the home crowd here at Minutemen Stadium just went nuts!

Well deserved retirement, Coach Tarter is a good guy and undeserving of the hate from Richlands’ folks. He stepped up when there wasn’t anyone else. Hopefully, someone can come in and build them back! 

Tarter is a good guy and has his heart in the right place.  He was handed a complete shit-show.  He stayed one season too long and is getting crucified for it.  It is time for him to retire, enjoy visiting his sons and tend to his beloved garden.  I wish him a peaceful retirement.  
 
Next coach needs to have some piss and vinegar to him and a nice chip on his shoulder.  Hopefully the fans will give them some space….gonna take 2-3 years to get good results.

Had to copy and paste from another thread.
 
There’s no way a sane person would stick around after this year. All you torches and pitch fork fans are getting your wish. I appreciate Jeff Tarter for stepping up and standing by these kids, his only payment has been hate and he didn’t deserve it. 
 
Little note to whoever is crazy enough to pick up the reigns, remember how fair weather Richlands fans are and good luck. Go blues! 
 

Good for Tarter who is a class act and that man has put in incredible work for his school and community for decades. The school and town of Richlands was lucky to have him teaching, leading, and mentoring kids for decades.  Enjoy retirement coach. 

Some craziness tonight for sure! I'll post 1D shortly.
2D
Rank Team Record Total Points Rating 01.) Union 9-1 275 27.5 02.) Graham 9-1 261 26.1 03.) Gate City 7-3 224 22.4 04.) Tazewell 7-3 221 22.1 05.) Ridgeview 7-3 204 20.4 06.) Marion 5-5 181 18.1 07.) Lee 4-6 169 16.9 08.) Va High 4-6 165 16.5  
2C
Rank Team Record Total Points Rating 01.) Radford 10-0 284 28.4 02.) Gretna 8-2 245 24.5 03.) Glenvar 8-2 229 22.9 04.) Appomattox 5-5 215 21.5 05.) Chatham 6-4 190 19 06.) Patrick Co 5-5 185 18.5 07.) Floyd Co 3-7 175 17.5 08.) James River 3-7 159 15. 1C
Rank Team Record Total Points Rating 01.) Grayson Co 9-1 231 23.1 02.) Narrows 8-2 223 22.3 03.) George Wythe 7-3 209 20.9 04.) Bath Co 9-1 202 20.2 05.) Galax 6-4 196 19.6 06.) Parry McCluer 6-4 168 16.8 07.) Fort Chiswell 4-6 156 15.6 08.) Giles 3-7 155 15.5         1D
Rank Team Record Total Points Rating 01.) Honaker 10-0 260 26 02.) Rye Cove 9-1 224 22.4 03.) Twin Springs 8-2 194 19.4 04.) Patrick Henry 7-3 194 19.4 05.) Grundy 5-5 181 18.1 06.) Chilhowie 5-5 177 17.7 07.) Eastside 6-4 177 17.7 08.) Rural Retreat 5-5 173 17.3

Grayson leads 14-7 in the 3rd

Scorestream says 7-7 in the 3rd

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.

2004, when King's Fork opened in Suffolk. They won their '05 opener.
Even Council scored 5 TD's their 1st season.
- - - 
Liberty scored 12 to close out last season vs. JF.

A VHS fan giving Grundy hell for the field in the playoffs.  How 2004 of you. 🤣
From a VHS alum.

I am not aware of any team that has gone thru a 10-game schedule without scoring.

Team Points Record Previous This Week 1 Radford (11) 209 10-0 2 BYE 2 Union (4) 206 8-1 1 vs John Battle 3 Graham (1) 179 8-1 3 @ Richlands 4 Princeton (3) 175 8-1 4 @ Parkersburg South 5 Honaker 148 9-0 5 @ Rural Retreat 6 James Monroe 94 7-1 7 vs Bluefield 7 Ridgeview 80 7-2 10 vs Gate City 8 Rye Cove 63 8-1 11 @ #12 Twin Springs 9 George Wythe 56 6-3 NR vs Auburn 10 Grayson County 39 8-1 6 vs #11 Galax 11 Galax 38 6-3 NR @ #10 Grayson County 12 Twin Springs 34 8-1 12 vs #8 Rye Cove  
Also receiving votes: Gate City 32, Tazewell 29, Abingdon 28, Pulaski County 22, Bluefield 17, Narrows 14, Patrick Henry 8, Virginia High 5, John Battle 3, Rural Retreat 2, River View 1
Dropped out: Tazewell (8th), Abingdon (9th)

Tear em out!!

Tear em out!!

Speaking of cancels.....John Marshall, yes, that John Marshall, just canceled on Riverheads for game 10 due to lack of players. Evidently, they only had 3 point guards, 2 shooting guards, 3 power forwards, and 2 centers available to suit up.

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.)

The amount of hubris that exists in Salem astounds. 

Blacksburg is obviously horrible, but to forfeit? Nice way to send your seniors out by taking away their final game. I remember when Unaka (TN) declined to play a 1st round playoff game against an outstanding Greenback team. I didn't like it, but Unaka was down to about (IIRC) 15 players, and it was a 3 hour bus ride to Greenback. Paying for the bus, gas and meals to take a massive beatdown made it more understandable than what Blacksburg is doing. 

"When life gets tough and things don't go your way, always remember, it's ok to quit." - Blacksburg High Administration 

Team Record Last Week 1 Union (5) 8-1 W vs Abingdon 37-20 2 Radford (13) 10-0 W vs Carroll Co 56-0 3 Graham 8-1 W vs Tazewell 49-6 4 Princeton (2) 8-1 W vs Grennbrier East 55-0 5 Honaker 9-0 W vs Northwood 48-7 6 Grayson Co 8-1 L vs George Wythe 23-0 7 James Monroe 7-1 W vs Nicholas Co 28-12 8 Tazewell 6-3 L vs Graham 49-6 9 Abingdon 5-4 L vs Union 37-20 10 Ridgeview 7-2 BYE 11 Rye Cove 8-1 W vs JI Burton 46-0 12 Twin Springs 8-1 W vs Thomas Walker 73-29   Gate City 6-3 W vs Central 43-6   Galax 6-3 W vs Ft Chiswell 42-27   Patrick Henry 6-3 W vs Chilhowie 35-13   Pulaski Co 3-6 W vs Hidden Valley 41-19   Narrows 7-2 W vs Craig Co 54-0   Chilhowie 4-5 L vs Patrick Henry 35-13   Bluefield 4-5 W vs Giles 47-13   George Wythe 6-3 W vs Grayson Co 23-0   Montcalm 7-2 W vs Richwood 47-6   Rural Retreat 5-4 L vs Holston 29-28   Virginia High 4-5 W vs Lebanon 20-12

Virginia High 20
Lebanon 9
4:22 4th