Weir looking very impressive...

[WeirFootball 10]

I went up the Dave Wannstedt 7 on 7 passing tourney at Pitt today to watch Weir compete, and they did extremely well. They ended the day at a perfect 5-0. They defeated Pittsburgh Central Catholic(2004 PIAA AAAA state champs and the #8 ranked team in the nation last season), Thomas Jefferson(2004 PIAA AAA state champs), North Star, Richland, and Manheim. They played very well on both sides of the ball. Weir will be a team to be reckoned w/ in 2005. I'm not guaranteeing anything, but they look very solid.

[edrforshey 27]

on Saturday 6/18?

[WeirFootball 10]

No, I don't think so. They usually only participate in the Pitt and W&J passing tourneys.

[GMan 3,569]

[ QUOTE ]

I went up the Dave Wannstedt 7 on 7 passing tourney at Pitt today to watch Weir compete, and they did extremely well. They ended the day at a perfect 5-0. They defeated Pittsburgh Central Catholic(2004 PIAA AAAA state champs and the #8 ranked team in the nation last season), Thomas Jefferson(2004 PIAA AAA state champs), North Star, Richland, and Manheim. They played very well on both sides of the ball. Weir will be a team to be reckoned w/ in 2005. I'm not guaranteeing anything, but they look very solid.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

After having seen PCC and TJ a couple of times in the playoffs on Fox Sports Pittsburgh last fall, I would say that is no big deal. Neither of those teams ran what I would consider a "passing" oriented offense. And if I remember correctly both teams were fairly "senior-laden"...lots of "new blood" in the mix this year...just my opinion...

[WeirFootball 10]

When you're a WV AA team and you beat the AAA PA state champs and the AAAA PA state champs who were nationally ranked back to back in a passing scrimmage, I'd say that's pretty good. TJ has a kid that already accepted an offer to play at Pitt(it's on the front of pantherreport.com) and Weir shut him down. I don't think there is any other AA team in WV that had the speed and athleticism to beat those teams in a 7 on 7 passing scrimmage.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

I think the GMan's point is that those teams aren't built around the passing game, so this type of "scrimmage" isn't their forte nor shows their real strength. I watched PCC on Fox Sports-Pitt last year a number of times and they rarely passed the football, maybe once a game. They were a line'em up and run it down your throat team in every sense of the word.

[GMan 3,569]

That is exactly what I meant B_R. As a very wise man once posted on VAPreps...

 

"For what it's worth, anyone who thinks they can get a picture of any team's capabilities by watching a 7-on-7 is clueless. The entire dynamic of football changes when add linemen. It's like saying that a fast track guy makes a good football player--that conclusion alone would be laughable. You might (a big maybe!) get a feel for the kind of athletes a team may have but even good athletes have to play together and LINEMEN are they key to any team's success, not the hot dog so-called "skill players" that are used in 7-on-7's."

 

DetCord

[goalie 10]

true true.

[WeirFootball 10]

I'm not going to argue b/c no matter what I say you're going to downgrade it. No team in your area could hang w/ the teams up there, but Weir did. And TJ does pass the ball. One of their WR's already verbally committed to Pitt. We will see this season.

[GMan 3,569]

[ QUOTE ]

I'm not going to argue b/c no matter what I say you're going to downgrade it. No team in your area could hang w/ the teams up there, but Weir did. And TJ does pass the ball. One of their WR's already verbally committed to Pitt. We will see this season.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

I'm not arguing, just stating my position. I've watched plenty of PA football on Fox Sports...the best teams up there could not hang with the best teams in VA...PERIOD. I personally saw several teams last season that could hang with the best in Western PA...and those teams were no where close to being the best in VA.

[WeirFootball 10]

Well guess what, I don't watch them on Fox Sports, I watch them live. I try to make it to the WPIAL championship games every year and teams in VA would not beat the best of PA. That is why Central Catholic was ranked 8th in the entire nation. When you talk about the states that are strongest when it comes to football, you include PA, TX, CA, OH, and FL. VA has strong football programs, but aren't one of the most states w/an insane amount of talent like the other ones I've named.

[djr4hurleyfb 12]

As a whole, I am of the opinion that Pennsylvania is a stronger football state than Virginia. However, when it comes to the Tidewater region by itself, it is considered among the top 5 REGIONS to recruit from out of the entire country (I have seen it as high as 2nd, behind only South Florida).

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

[ QUOTE ]

VA has strong football programs, but aren't one of the most states w/an insane amount of talent like the other ones I've named.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

You obviously don't know much about Virginia high school football then. Virginia has produced a large amount of D1 football talent, especially in the last decade or so. Virginia has become a bigger hotbed for D1 caliber players than Pa. and Ohio. Honestly, the only states producing more quality football players than Virginia is Texas, Florida, and California. However, per capita Virginia is the best in my opinion.

[tom 10]

i think the WEIR Red Riders should just move on up to a D1 schedule, i mean after all, no other HS in WV or PA can hang with them and they obviously are 'Div 1 athlete central' or w/e..so why not just schedule MU, WVU, OSU, PITT, PSU etc etc..hail to the red riders, hail to the kings..blah blah

[WeirFootball 10]

Where did I say Weir could beat anybody? I said they did very well at a passing scrimmage against top notch teams in Western PA. I know Virginia plays good football, but when you talk about states w/ the top teams, OH and PA have to be up higher on your list. OH boasts teams such as Clevenland Benedictine, Canton McKinley, Massilon, Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, Cleveland St. Ignatius, Cincinatti Moeller and PA has powerhouse teams like CB West, Central Catholic, Woodland Hills, Erie Cathedral Prep, Aliquippa, and Gateway. I don't follow VA high school football too much but I know that I always hear PA and OH listed among the best w/ CA, FL, and TX.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

I found this interesting piece from USA Today dated Feb. 6, 2002 and thought it back up my point. It should be noted that a number of high-caliber D1 recruits have come out of Virginia in recent years and the 2006 class could be the best of them all. The article is focusing solely on the mighty Tidewater of Virginia. The talent inland in Virginia is just as good, but just not in such large numbers. Note the part I've put in bold with quotes from one of the better high school recruiting gurus in the business.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/football/2002-02-06-tidewater-focus.htm

 

Tidewater area awash with football talent

 

By Ray Glier, special for USA TODAY

 

By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY

Plaxico Burress caught 66 passes for the Steelers this season.

 

The spigot opened more than 30 years ago, and all manner of high school All-Americans, college All-Americans, and NFL All-Pros and Hall of Famers started to pour from that coastal region of Virginia called Tidewater. Michael Vick. Bruce Smith. Ken Easley. No one is quite sure how to explain it. Norm Snead. Leroy Keyes. Henry Jordan. Ask anybody who lives there and they fumble for an answer to the pipeline that delivers such skill. D.J. Dozier. Chris Slade. Mel Gray. Is it the water? The oysters? The beach? Chris Hanburger. Dwight Stephenson.

 

You don't have to tell Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer it's a gold mine. Of the 39 high school players who have so far "officially" visited Blacksburg during the current recruiting season, nine are from the Tidewater area, which includes Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Suffolk.

 

"We're working like heck to get the fence up to keep them all for ourselves," jokes Beamer, whose program has been to nine consecutive bowl games with help from Tidewater talent.

 

Plaxico Burress. Robert Banks.

 

The list doesn't even include the best kick returner ever to play in Tidewater. "Bubbachuck" isn't in football any longer. He's collecting a paycheck from the Philadelphia 76ers under the name "Allen Iverson."

 

The list also doesn't include the fastest runner to play in the area. Andre Cason of Virginia Beach is a former world recordholder in the 60 meters.

 

Six players from the region have been named first team in the 20 years USA TODAY has been picking All-USA squads, including Terry Kirby of Tabb and Ronald Curry of Hampton, who made the team twice.

 

"The area doesn't produce as many players as Texas, California, or Florida," says Ken Easley, the former All-Pro safety with Seattle who played at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, "but we do have a lot of talent in this area."

 

Why?

 

Easley, co-owner with Bruce Smith of Norfolk's Arena Football League team, thinks the stretch of military bases and shipbuilding yards is significant. Norfolk Naval Station, with nearly 70,000 employees, is the world's largest.

 

"You have to look at the military presence and the cross-section of people whose children are going to school in the system," Easley says. "There is a nice mix from various parts of the country. My father, for instance, was a Marine. I think those demographics of the area have something to do with it."

 

Recruiting analyst Tom Lemming says simply, "You have to go there every year; it's one of my five most important stops for the whole nation.

 

"Los Angeles is No. 1; Chicago is No. 2; Houston is No. 3. Then you have Tidewater and the Miami area. There are so many good players coming out of (the Tidewater area)."

 

Tidewater's reputation has grown large despite a relatively small population (1.5 million). Los Angeles is 3.6 million, Chicago 2.8 million, Miami-Dade County 2.2 million and Houston 2 million.

 

Beamer, who has coached 15 years at Virginia Tech, feels tradition and coaching have kept the spigot open season after season.

 

"It's the quality of coaching first, I think, because the high school coaches know how to teach the game at the high level," he said. "And then I think it has built on itself over the years."

 

One reason the level of high school football has improved could be the success of Hampton High under head coach Mike Smith. The Crabbers have won 11 state titles, and Smith's teams have won 333 games in 31 seasons.

 

"I think we have helped raise the level of play," Smith says.

 

Lew Johnston, coach at Western Branch High in Chesapeake, has been in the Tidewater area since 1963. Three of his former players are at Virginia Tech.

 

"Going to (high school) games is still a big deal here," Johnston says. "For the big games we'll get 10,000 to 12,000.

 

"I think some of the players coming up now are saying, 'Look who came before me. What can I do to be like them?' I know some kids saw the newspaper article and photos showing the house Michael Vick built for his mother. They said, 'Look what I can do.' "

 

Poo Johnson, Vick's mentor at the Greater Hampton Roads Boys and Girls Club, says players like Vick don't just turn up on the football field one afternoon. Someone sees the gifted when at 10, 11 years old and nurtures them.

 

"When you see some of these kids and the talent they have, you try and prepare them to go on to the next level," Johnson says. "They have the talent, sure, but you have to work on the character thing, too, and the fundamentals.

 

"It's a nurturing and I think youth league coaches should get some credit for bringing these kids along."

 

There is plenty of evidence the pipeline will continue to produce. A Virginia Beach Pop Warner football team of 10-11-12-year-olds went to Disney World in Orlando recently and defeated teams from San Antonio and Baltimore to win a national championship.

 

Bruce Pearl, who has been coaching youth football for 21 years, has his own ideas about the success of Tidewater football players.

 

"There are some areas that are inner city, like downtown Portsmouth, and I think some of those kids don't have the money for Nintendo and other computer games," Pearl says. "So they are out there playing football, and they are getting tough."

 

Pearl, however, wonders where all the college recruiters have been. He routinely sees Virginia Tech and Virginia, and he's seen Penn State pluck talent out of the area, but he says some recruiters have missed out.

 

"I wonder where all the ACC schools are besides Virginia," Pearl says. "There is all kinds of talent here so I don't know why some of the ACC schools haven't worked this area harder."

 

Virginia Tech's Beamer, among others, would like to keep the secret a little longer with his fence.

 

Tidewater talent

 

Some of the players the Tidewater area of Virginia has produced:

 

* Robert Banks, Houston Oilers

* Larry Bethea, Dallas Cowboys

* Dre Bly, St. Louis Rams

* Aaron Brooks, New Orleans Saints

* Plaxico Burress, Pittsburgh Steelers

* James Boyd, Jacksonville Jaguars

* Ronald Curry, North Carolina

* D.J. Dozier, Minnesota Vikings

* Kenny Easley, Seattle Seahawks

* Earl Faison, San Diego Chargers

* Shaun Gayle, Chicago Bears

* Mel Gray, St. Louis Cardinals

* Chris Hanburger, Washington Redskins

* Dwight Hollier, Miami Dolphins

* Mike Husted, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

* Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers

* Henry Jordan, Green Bay Packers

* Leroy Keyes, Philadelphia Eagles

* Terry Kirby, Miami Dolphins/San Francisco 49ers/Oakland Raiders

* Amos Lawrence, North Carolina/49ers

* David Macklin, Indianapolis Colts

* Chris Slade, New England Patriots/Carolina Panthers

* Bruce Smith, Buffalo Bills/Washington Redskins

* Norm Snead, Philadelphia Eagles

* Ron Springs, Dallas Cowboys

* Dwight Stephenson, Miami Dolphins

* Al Toon, New York Jets

* Marcus Vick, committed to Virginia Tech

* Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons

* Antwoine Womack, Virginia

 

Source: USA TODAY research

[WeirFootball 10]

I was never talking about VA not having talented players taht go on to major D1 programs. We're talking top high school TEAMS in the nation. PA and OH have a lot of teams that are strong year in and year out and that is why I would put them above VA. I never said VA didn't have talented athletes.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

This is a direct quote from one of your previous post...

 

[ QUOTE ]

VA has strong football programs, but aren't one of the most states w/an insane amount of talent like the other ones I've named.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

And here is the quote from your last post...

 

[ QUOTE ]

I was never talking about VA not having talented players taht go on to major D1 programs.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

It would appear to me that your first quote was proven wrong and now you've tried turning around what your originally stated. Regardless, Virginia is home to a number of historically strong football programs including Hampton, which has been ranked in the national polls seemingly every year. You, yourself have stated that you don't follow Virginia high school football so how exactly do you know what the state has and doesn't have in-terms of traditionally strong national programs?

[WeirFootball 10]

I think you have problem w/ trying to make me look bad any chance you can get. This is what I meant and what I'm saying now. When I said talent, I was referring to TEAMS in VA. Traditionally, PA and OH have some of the strongest football programs as anyone in the nation. I was never talking about players getting recruited anywhere or PA and OH having more D1 prospects than VA so please read my post and don't try to overanalyze everything I say.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

[ QUOTE ]

I think you have problem w/ trying to make me look bad any chance you can get.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

I don't try to make you look bad; I think you do a good enough job on your own sometimes. I simply point out the flaws in a number of your arguments.

 

[ QUOTE ]

This is what I meant and what I'm saying now.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

If you would do a better job of saying what you really mean the first time it would solve a lot of problems. No one here is a mind reader, thus we can only determine what you're trying to say by what you type. If you type something that sounds one way, but meant another then people will misconstrue your point.

 

 

 

[ QUOTE ]

Traditionally, PA and OH have some of the strongest football programs as anyone in the nation.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

I agree and I never argued that point. I simply stated that Virginia has a number of programs as strong as anyone in the nation as well. The teams of Eastern Virginia and the Tidewater area have an unreal amount of talent and athletes each year. I'd put Virginia teams such as Hampton and Phoebus up against any Ohio or Penn team any day of the week.

[WeirFootball 10]

You don't have to be a mind reader. I explained it well enough the first time and don't try to say that you are more knowledgable of the game than I am. I was exposed to the game of football since I could walk.

 

[ QUOTE ]

I'd put Virginia teams such as Hampton and Phoebus up against any Ohio or Penn team any day of the week.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

That is your opinion and I respect it, but Woodland Hills, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Cleveland St. Ignatius, CB West, Canton Mckinley, and Massilon are recognized as top programs in the nation on a consistant basis. The only thing they know how to do is win. I would take the OH and PA teams over a VA team b/c I see these teams play a lot. There is no point in arguing b/c neither one of us will see it the other's way.

[djr4hurleyfb 12]

Arguing which state has better teams/players is going to be a crapshoot, so I'm opting for another option.

 

These 7-on-7's competitions, are they typically a good indicator of a teams capabilities for the up-coming season? These teams that Weir beat, did they do well in one of these last year (when they won there respective State titles)? Is there any evidence that winning @ one of these shows how good a team will be in the coming season?

 

Just curious.

[tom 10]

Weir always has a chance as long as the MIGHTY Beavers are not on their schedule..

[Guest BB_TWEEDER]

Hurley Went to a Appalachia State football camp the year befor last and only lost to the defending 3A State Champs from SC by 2 scores and we went 4-6 that year. Those 7-7 games mean's nuttin. Put the pads on and then you see the real teams.

[Cola 10]

We , "Richlands" just returned from Wake Forrest and the boys had an excellent time, Its true, put the pads on and the outcome of these games would change. We did hear about playin too physical and received flags to prove it.