rhs82

Im from Richlands and if you think Booker is a better athlete than Atkinson you are out of your mind. Booker is a good athlete no doubt about it, however Atkinson was a play maker wherever he was on the field and if you were near him you knew it. 

My vote for Post of the Year!!!

It's better to learn on here than most places though.
 
For example, I learned about the birds and bees one magical night at age 14 in the corner booth at Ralph's from a middle aged woman named Susan. 

Feels like John Luke was looking one of two ways tonight. Either the defenses way or Howies and neither was good. Why run in two minute drill when you gotta score? Lotta questionable stuff both ways.

Richlands is playing scared. They've thrown the ball downfield twice, 9 one was grossly overthrown, and the other was a pick. Gotta throw the ball. It's quit raining.

What a BS call. AHS receiver tackled Collins when he was going for a pick and they call a PI on us?!!

Abingdons defense is the thing that is the most intriguing. They have given up a lot of yards this year to teams who have average offenses. They tend to win some of those games simply because they can outscore those teams. Richlands is a team that can put up points in a hurry. From what I've heard from people who have seen them this year, they are a finesse team as a whole, which could play into Richlands hands. Richlands has dominated the line in every game this year except Union. Also, someone at church said Sturgill is not at 100% and those who have watched film seem to agree.
 
If Richlands comes out focused and ready to play (knowing the 1 seed isn't out of reach), I think they win by 17-21 or so. Abingdon will score, make no mistake about that. But I think Richlands simply scores more.

And if I were sexier and more endowed, I'd be a porn star. 
 
But I'm not.

I think you need to talk to Rick Salyers. I don't have his number.

This is the game I would want to go to if the blues were not playing.
 It should be a good one and should be another good atmosphere at Bluefield !  These are 2 of the best 4 teams in our area ( Richlands & Galax being the other 2....IMHO )  and should be a lot of fun to watch and hard to predict.
I think I am going to take Abingdon in this game.  I like the speed and athletes that Graham has and they are soooo dangerous,  but I think the passing game of Abingdon will be the difference.  Graham had a little bit of a tough time with the blues passing game and Abingdon has a great passing game also with a fantastic QB, and that will be the difference
But if Graham can make some big plays and get the ball in space and be able to utilize their speed & keep the chains moving then it wouldn't surprise me if they pulled an upset.
Of course it comes down to who makes the most stops and I just don't see Graham making as many against the birds high powered offense as Abingdon might be able to make against the GMen.  It did look at times in the Blacksburg game ( watched the game on Youtube )  though that the birds did have some trouble with Bburg's speed and Graham has a lot of that.  Should be really fun to watch.
41 to 28  Abingdon
 I have never been good at picking scores so this was just a very uneducated what the hell guess

I think that it will be a high scoring affair much like last year.  I think that Abingdon has improved on the defensive side of the ball but.... I have seen the G-Men on film some and I think that they are much better as well.  It looks like the G-Men have a physical offensive line.  I would have loved to watch this bunch under Coach Carlock.  I say this without trying to offend the current staff at all.  They are doing a fine job.  I just remember how hard he was and how they played under him.  I'm not sure how many on the current staff played for Coach Carlock other than Coach Palmer.
 
It is becoming increasingly harder for high schools to play great defense from a schematic point of view. (IMO)  Thirty years ago, you could take a group of tough, hard nosed kids and shut down a team because of fundamental play and toughness at the LOS.   Now, you have all of the different offenses week in and week out.  Those really good coaches (like all good ones)  try to match their strengths against a teams weaknesses.  The spread offense is a great equalizer to that physical style of play that used to exist.  Abingdon has done a really good job in doing that. Defenses that are big/physical can play the run well but have match up problems against a fast break offense, so finding that balance is difficult, especially in smaller schools.  The caveat to that is when team sees a Lord Botetourt for the first time,  it takes time to adapt to that style.  It is hard to blitz those teams every play and not have a break down from time to time.  You have to try and get as many athletes on the field as possible to make plays in the open field.  The rule changes have taken some of the physicality out of the game too.
 
Hope to see another great game.

Wouldnt have mattered. Runner was getting hit before he could make it to the line of scrimmage.

I am still hurting from the Hornet sting I guess....lol
 
Great game! Wilsons defense surprised me and I know that they had only given up 5 TD"s all year but I really thought that if River had time to throw that they could not cover all of our receivers. They did for the most part and that surprised me. I really thought that after we got late into the game they would wear down because they had blown most people out and that with our physical play and having to battle until the end in several games this year we would take it to them and win. They did not wear down at all. They were very athletic all over the field and not as physical as Gate City but they were physical.
 
River for the most part had plenty of time to throw the ball but it had to be short hard thrown balls and that worked very effectively the whole game. When we tried to throw the ball down the seam or try a fly pattern they were just to fast to jump our receivers and we couldn't manage that. So blaming River for all the interceptions is not fair. Sometimes you just have to shake your head and say great play by the opponent. They were just more athletic than we were in many areas. That being said we had plenty of opportunities to win this game and just couldn't pull it out. Even with 5 TURNOVERS we had a chance to win. That is pretty amazing considering their defense.
 
Our defense was just as impressive as they were. They were definitely sore this morning and now know that FOOTBALL in the "Good Ole SWVA" is very smash mouth and physical. I know we earned there respect because many and I mean many of there fans talked to us before and after the game with nothing but respect. It has been mentioned in many areas that Wilson is hated and very arrogant people. My experience was nothing of the sort. Of course there were some idiots on there side that I had to ignore and there AD was not the best people person I have ever met but the overwhelming majority of the Wilson folks were just great and showed good sportsmanship. There football players also showed good sportsmanship in which I did not expect.
 
I want to say thanks to all of the members on this board for all the kind posts you made towards Richlands this season. I HATE to lose and despise the agony of defeat.....It hurts!!!!!! We had so many great games this year and in many instances during the season it wasn't clear that there was an overwhelming favorite unless it would have been Honaker in 1A and Gate City in 2A. There was some great football and I enjoyed all the games and all the "verbal  jousting" with you guys. We love our football and that's why we spend the time we do on here doing this. Cant wait for next year all ready and our Richlands boys will be back after it in the Fieldhouse working very hard for next year on Monday.
 
Congratulations to Honaker, Haysi and Richlands for there State Semis run. I wish so bad that it could have been different for all three. I know Haysi and Richlands raised some eyebrows and earned respect from how many fans traveled a good distance to support there team. No matter what they say don't believe that we just had about the same number of fans that Wilson had. It wasn't even close because we outnumbered them at least two to one.....just amazing! Big cudos to Tigers gang and all the Haysi fans that made that ridiculous trip to Essex.....that speaks for itself!
 
Thanks LANCE and GMan for providing this outlet for us all......I really appreciate all you guys do. To all the members here and good friends I have made....I hope you all have a Merry CHRISTMAS and a great New Year !

Tbgfan....I agree and well said. I was so proud of our fans today. We were so loud from the entrance of the Captians until the final buzzer it was an awesome feeling. My heart couldn't take much more at the end. Our fans were so loud I couldn't even here the Gate City fans although I knew they were cheering too. It was just a classic played the old fashioned way! Gate City lined it up and said stop me if you can and was very successful in that. I feel very fortunate to come away with the win. Its a shame that one had to lose.
 
Coach Mance and his staff deserve a great deal credit for an awesome game plan and the young men just fed off the crowd and gave it all and it took every bit of it. Well done Richlands  Coaches, Players and fans!!!!!!!!!

It never ceases to amaze me how the Eastern teams all say slow and plodding or big and slow. GC has plodded their way to 5 state titles Appalachia and Powell Valley both have more.  Now that the majority of the teams in the West are playing in the correct divisions other teams will have more soon. I haven't seen the other two teams (Wilson and Nottoway) but they had better be very athletic on D very physical and be able to score just to keep up.
I can't help but think the game in GC was for the title, no slight to the other teams left. If there's a D who could've stopped GC or Richlands on offense I really want to see it. If Nottoway has the D they are claiming, they had better show more offense than they have so far. as much as the loss hurts I don't see Richlands losing. I have been fooled before but I hope they play like they are capable and bring back the title.

I called Mike Seidel and Jim Cantore at the weather channel (for some reason Kait Parker wouldn't return my calls) and I asked if we could get a hurricane like we did before the Handley game, but he said the closest Hurricane got destroyed by an F5 tornado last Friday...

I personally think its a great match up and the teams match up well against each other.
 
1- both very well coached
2- both have decent size
3- both have good Qbs
4- both have good skill players
5- both are very physical
6- both are good in most areas of the game
 
Looks to me like it comes down to execution turnovers and penalties. I am going to wait towards the end of the week to make my prediction.....  seeing where we are on our injured players.

Thanks, Ryan.