Great City

I was agreeing with you 1,000%. I dunno why you got an attitude when I was in total agreement about that GLORY BOY.

Dang. Can't believe I brain farted like that. 
Was talking to my brother during the JV game about how we did not believe any of those kids played football. My bad. 

The one quibble I would have is that the Graham G-Men won “the” state championship in 1955.  When you use “best chance of any 2A team ever”, it’s hard to use that turn of phrase when teams have done it before (just not in most of our lifetimes).  
 
I know, technically, there was no distinction like the A-6A splits we have now back in 1955, but I read your post to mean modern 2A teams.
 
That’s my only hair to split.  Great post otherwise!

Obviously I am a GC fan, so might be just a tad biased. :)
Fairly obvious (to me) that this is a special team. How many other teams in far SWVA can you say the following about? To get a decent seat at a home game, you have to be in the gym between 4:30 - 5:00. Probably earlier for the rest of the home games. You also have to be early at away games if you want a seat. All schools where we play are benefiting from the huge crowds. Home games are projected on a wall in the cafeteria. GC shut down The Arby's. The next two home games (Ridgeview and Daniel Boone) will be broadcast live on FB. GC has two legitimate D1 prospects. GC has a kid with a real shot (pun intended) at becoming Virginia's all time leading scorer. Same kid could also set the single season scoring record.....moving ahead of some guy named Iverson. GC has provided national attention to basketball in far SWVA. (Wonder how many underclassman from other teams have received exposure from the success GC is having this year?)  
NOT saying GC will win a state championship. Just saying that this team has probably the best shot of any team to ever come out of far SWVA. (Radford has a shot this year as a 2A team, but I really do not consider them FAR SWVA.) IF you think this team has the best chance of any 2A team to ever come from far SWVA to win a state championship, doesn't that automatically make them "special"?
Honestly.......if we play our "A" game, do not believe there is a FAR SWVA team that can play with us, and do not believe there is a 2A team in VA that we cannot beat. How often can you say that about a 2A team from far SWVA?
 If we do not play our A game, GC is very beatable. We NEED to be hitting 3s to play our best game. We have had games where we make 14-16 of them, and then have games where we make 4. We are also a turned ankle or stomach bug away from making an early exit from postseason. Teams with a dominant post player are going to cause us problems. All year we have played to our level of competition. That worries me some. The GC team that took the floor at The Arby's and against Cleveland, is not the same GC team I have watched just going through the motions at other games.
Maroons67 pointed out my biggest worry......an injury late in the game. Again....Scotty & the team are in a no-win situation. You have a kid with a real shot at setting two VHSL Records,  gyms full of people who came to see the kid play (see The Arby's), and the job of preparing your team for a state championship run......versus.....running up the score, and an injury late in the game. Truthfully, injuries can happen at any point during the game. Should Scotty take Mac/Zac/Dean out of the game in the second quarter if GC is up by 30 and not play them again unless the score gets closer? That would provide the most injury protection, but not sure that would be doing what is best for the team. (BTW.....where were all you people in football season when we were getting our behinds handed to us? Don't remember a lot of people coming out of the woodwork saying teams should take it easy on us. Just saying. :) )
Some of those old PV football teams were special. Ryan pointed out the big difference. Is fairly common for far SWVA to produce championship caliber football teams. Far SWVA has 2A State Champions in baseball, girls basketball, girls tennis, boys tennis, softball, etc.... How long has it been since far SWVA has produced a 2A State Champion in basketball? Go look it up. I'll wait.
(again......NOT saying GC WILL win a state championship. just trying to point out how "special" it is that GC is legitimately in the mix for a state championship.)

I'm going to go ahead and stop you right there. EVERY GYM IS FILLED WHEN THEY COME TO TOWN. Hate Gate City all you want but you can't deny this team is special. 
The ARBY'S was filled to capacity on multiple occasions, one day at 9am because of this team. And it wasn't just GC fans or fans of the team they were facing either. I was one of the few from Richlands shut out on the first day and outside Viking Hall along side me were people in Chillhowie, Union, Grundy, George Wythe and Lebanon attire, just to name a few...

Scotty is in a no win situation. If you pull the starters early......fans are upset because they came to see the starters put on a show, and he is not doing the best job of preparing his team for down the road. If you do not pull the starters early..........fans are upset because you are running up the score. 
This is a special 2A team, with a special player. A group like this does not come around very often. Got to do what you can to prepare them for a run at a state championship.
At least we are bringing a boat load of fans to the away games, and providing an excellent gate. 

McClung 39, Ervin 22, Dean 13, Sharpe 2, George 2, Vermillion 2, & Compton 2
Score by quarters:
GC                      23    39     60     82
Cleveland           31    42     60     72
At one point in the second quarter, GC was down by 17 points. Defensive & rebounding efforts intensified.
Great win tonight against a very athletic Cleveland team.
GC has gone 2-1 in games against North Carolina's #1 ranked team, Kentucky's #2 ranked team, and Tennessee's 4th ranked AAA team. 

Game can be viewed here:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2160546170625899&id=1990330337647484
 
 

Cleveland HS Twitter:
Amazing atmosphere for our Blue Raiders to compete in tonight!  Thank you Gate City for welcoming us and hosting a battle between our teams until the end!  Best of luck as you finish the regular season and hope you go far into the tournament.

Sounds full of sarcasm to me

Sounds like GC has a case of the Hokies. 

Gate City isn’t losing by 26 at home to anyone short of a college team.

Was a great Arby's experience for GC. We go 3-1 in the tournament. 
Great effort in a 16 point loss to North Mecklenburg........the #1 ranked team in North Carolina. Demolished Tennessee High by 36. Great 3 point win against Fern Creek.....the #2 ranked team in Kentucky (read that online. assume it is true.). Played a great game today in a 12 point win against Lakota East from Ohio. Lakota was a very physical, athletic team who played a tight man-to-man defense. 
Showed us things that we need to work on. 
 

Was a great Arby's experience for GC. We go 3-1 in the tournament. 
Great effort in a 16 point loss to North Mecklenburg........the #1 ranked team in North Carolina. Demolished Tennessee High by 36. Great 3 point win against Fern Creek.....the #2 ranked team in Kentucky (read that online. assume it is true.). Played a great game today in a 12 point win against Lakota East from Ohio. Lakota was a very physical, athletic team who played a tight man-to-man defense. 
Showed us things that we need to work on. 
 

Not even gonna lie, that was the most fun I’ve ever had at a basketball game. 

Not much to say. Our draw sucked. 
Would have liked to have seen us get an opening round win, but it is not in the cards. 
Will still be some great experience that will pay off down the road. Will expose our weaknesses, kids will play in front of an amazing crowd in a big arena, and will give us some humility. 

Not much to say. Our draw sucked. 
Would have liked to have seen us get an opening round win, but it is not in the cards. 
Will still be some great experience that will pay off down the road. Will expose our weaknesses, kids will play in front of an amazing crowd in a big arena, and will give us some humility. 

We GC fans have enjoyed an ultra-successful football program for many years. Our basketball team has been pretty decent the last 20 years or so also. :) I can see how a lot of us would come across as arrogant....I would prefer "confident". :) 
There are only a handful of football programs in our area who have the same type of legacy we have........PV, Appy, Graham, Richlands, Union is working on it, and a few others. Of course we have gotten on some nerves and ruffled some feathers the last 50 years. To a lot of teams down our way, beating GC in any sport is looked at like it is a big deal. Battle just got their first ever home win against GC. Guess that was a big deal for them. (Just like GC beating V-High in baseball is a big deal..........for the same reasons.)
Don't kid yourselves.....SOME of the posts on this board reek of jealousy and of the pleasure of GC literally stinking up the joint........which is fine. We have dished it out for many years. Is unfortunately time to "take our medicine".
I was an Akers' supporter initially. Obviously it is not working out with him. The program is tracking backwards with him at the helm.
Unfortunately............there is not an easy fix. Going to have to have a new HC. Going to have to create more interest in the program. Going to take some time.

We GC fans have enjoyed an ultra-successful football program for many years. Our basketball team has been pretty decent the last 20 years or so also. :) I can see how a lot of us would come across as arrogant....I would prefer "confident". :) 
There are only a handful of football programs in our area who have the same type of legacy we have........PV, Appy, Graham, Richlands, Union is working on it, and a few others. Of course we have gotten on some nerves and ruffled some feathers the last 50 years. To a lot of teams down our way, beating GC in any sport is looked at like it is a big deal. Battle just got their first ever home win against GC. Guess that was a big deal for them. (Just like GC beating V-High in baseball is a big deal..........for the same reasons.)
Don't kid yourselves.....SOME of the posts on this board reek of jealousy and of the pleasure of GC literally stinking up the joint........which is fine. We have dished it out for many years. Is unfortunately time to "take our medicine".
I was an Akers' supporter initially. Obviously it is not working out with him. The program is tracking backwards with him at the helm.
Unfortunately............there is not an easy fix. Going to have to have a new HC. Going to have to create more interest in the program. Going to take some time.

We GC fans have enjoyed an ultra-successful football program for many years. Our basketball team has been pretty decent the last 20 years or so also. :) I can see how a lot of us would come across as arrogant....I would prefer "confident". :) 
There are only a handful of football programs in our area who have the same type of legacy we have........PV, Appy, Graham, Richlands, Union is working on it, and a few others. Of course we have gotten on some nerves and ruffled some feathers the last 50 years. To a lot of teams down our way, beating GC in any sport is looked at like it is a big deal. Battle just got their first ever home win against GC. Guess that was a big deal for them. (Just like GC beating V-High in baseball is a big deal..........for the same reasons.)
Don't kid yourselves.....SOME of the posts on this board reek of jealousy and of the pleasure of GC literally stinking up the joint........which is fine. We have dished it out for many years. Is unfortunately time to "take our medicine".
I was an Akers' supporter initially. Obviously it is not working out with him. The program is tracking backwards with him at the helm.
Unfortunately............there is not an easy fix. Going to have to have a new HC. Going to have to create more interest in the program. Going to take some time.

Definitely go to the Arby's if you can. Lots of good basketball.

I am not sure if some of you guys realize how little control the AD has at GC.  The AD, at least at GC, has almost no control over the day to day activities of each sport  All of that is on the individual coaches  
He is an easy target because I do not believe many people would describe him as warm and fuzzy. He can also be not very politically correct.  
If you are going to blame him for the woes of the football team, then you need to praise him for the success of the other programs. 
Akers was hired by a committee. Having some knowledge of the process, I believe the committee made the best choice they could have made. (No. I was not involved,)
However, it is now painfully obvious that Akers cannot remain the HC at GC. (Without a major attitude change, he will not be successful as a HC at any school). 
We GC fans have high expectations. That is also pretty obvious. ?  Would we give a coach 5 years to rebuild our program? Of course we would...if we see the coach making progress. Does not necessarily have to be progress in the win column. We want to see more kids coming out for the team, some progress each week, and a general excitement about the program. Unfortunately we are seeing the opposite. 
Akers is finished at GC. Just a matter of when. 

I am not sure if some of you guys realize how little control the AD has at GC.  The AD, at least at GC, has almost no control over the day to day activities of each sport  All of that is on the individual coaches  
He is an easy target because I do not believe many people would describe him as warm and fuzzy. He can also be not very politically correct.  
If you are going to blame him for the woes of the football team, then you need to praise him for the success of the other programs. 
Akers was hired by a committee. Having some knowledge of the process, I believe the committee made the best choice they could have made. (No. I was not involved,)
However, it is now painfully obvious that Akers cannot remain the HC at GC. (Without a major attitude change, he will not be successful as a HC at any school). 
We GC fans have high expectations. That is also pretty obvious. ?  Would we give a coach 5 years to rebuild our program? Of course we would...if we see the coach making progress. Does not necessarily have to be progress in the win column. We want to see more kids coming out for the team, some progress each week, and a general excitement about the program. Unfortunately we are seeing the opposite. 
Akers is finished at GC. Just a matter of when. 

Great City, I apologize for quoting you with my previous post  You only offered your honest opinion of how the Blue Devils could have kept the game competitive.  I was unable to make it to the game but know that the final score was 45-7.....so I thought to suggest that if GC would have continued to throw the ball it would have made a bit of difference was inaccurate......well my assessment could be false.  The facts are GC is 0-6.  They have scored a total of 48 points, given up 218, and been shut out twice, as per Maxpreps.  The last five years, GC has went 29 and 35, inwhich 2014 they had a 11-3 season.  The previous head coach walked away.  The entire coaching staff, with the exception of Coach Akers, walked away after last year.  I won't mention DBs QB being a GC kid or the other obvious GC athlete not playing football.  I may be way out there but it appears obvious something is wrong.
I hope you can accept my humble apology.