GC still kicking

[LegendatLegion 109]

I just wanted to say the Devils were ready tonight and the Blue Knights just happened to be the team in the way. I think before the season is finished GC will be at the top of the heap in the LPD (just an opinion) but i like what i saw tonight. The mistakes from last week were not there and Price threw well, which he can do when not on his back, or running away all night. Hackney had a monster game and Jake Spivey had a good night with a lot of tackles and picked off a screen and ran it in for a TD. GC let the clock run out with about 40 secs to go in the half up 41-7 and first down on Coeburns 12. GC played the starters 2 series in the third and made it 55-7 before pulling them. The second string QB (freshman) scored on about a 40yard run to end the scoring early in the fourth, and Coeburn tacked on a td against the third string D. GC will be fine!

[GMan 3,569]

Way to bounce back!!! You guys lost to a very good team last week...don't sweat it...

[LegendatLegion 109]

I definately know that i think a lot of other folks will before the season is over (not trying to down anyone else or pump up the tornado) GC is fairly weak on special teams so far this year and we even gave Coeburn great field position often. They were just overmatched and couldn't capitalize very much.

[GC_Quincy 582]

I said it last week, and I'll say it this week. Richlands will make teams look alot worse than they made us look last week before the season's over. We made major improvements tonight. No disrespect towards Coeburn, but they're not Richlands. Alot of kids, if not all of them, got playing time tonight. Tylee Anderson also gave us a glimse of what he's gonna bring us. On a side note, the freshman kicker for GC will be something by the time he's finished. I was shocked to see him kick 40 yard FG's in pre-game..lol

[Cola 10]

Congratulations on a solid win, I knew Richlands was lucky to play you guys early, good luck on another long season.

[GC_Quincy 582]

Good luck to you guys also. I heard we had a good week of practice, and the guys held their heads high all week. That's tough to do after getting your tails handed to you a week earlier...lol. Keep it goin Blues.

[redneck_nation 10]

gate city got back on track tonight in big fashion. gate city has a traditional power house & you ole' boys from gc will be fine the rest of the way. good luck to gc the rest of the season.

[Guest Chubz]

Great win, but Coeburn is not exactly a "caliber" team.

[Blues_56 23]

It's a win!

[FBDevotee 34]

Most pre-season prognosticators recognized that Gate City would have a strong but young team and I doubt that any fan who has seriously followed LPD football over the past five years expected them to be challenged by Coeburn this particular season. Let's be realistic, the Devils only have two, maybe three, teams on their schedule this fall that will grade out the kind of year it will be for the Big Blue. They failed the first test but will have a chance to make it up on the exam scheduled for Bullitt Park in October.

[Observer77 12]

And it seems as if Powell Valley got a zero on a pop quiz last night before even having a test themselves since everyone in Big Stone Gap thought they'd run all over Seymour, TN since they knew nothing about their football team. Gate City's & Powell Valley's schedules are identical except for Gate City facing Richlands and Virginia High & with Powell Valley facing Seymour, TN and Breathitt County, KY. I've heard Breathitt has fell on hard times with a 0-3 record giving up an average of more than 50 points per game so far.

 

It will be interesting to see what both teams records are when they finally meet.

 

[FBDevotee 34]

Observer77, I think the point of my previous post is applicable to both Gate City and Powell Valley this year. How much the Devils and Vikings run the scores up on the second tier teams in our area will not be the yardstick used by most serious fans to measure these squads. Ultimately, the success of their seasons depend upon how well they do against the stronger teams on their schedules. I've heard it said by a coach that it's not the games you win by 3 touchdowns but those you win by 3 points that tell you the most about the character of your team. I think PV's & GC's losses to Seymour and Richlands tell us a whole lot more about the 2005 Vikings and Blue Devils than did their respective blow out wins over Lee High and Coeburn. With all due respect, most who follow SWVA football know that, by Blue Devil standards, GC has a failing grade so far this year. Lucky for all of us who love LPD football, the season is still young and final marks are not posted until December.

[Observer77 12]

And you give Powell Valley a passing grade so far? Just wondering...

 

No, Lee High and Coeburn aren't measuring sticks for either team. I was even asked if we'd know what GC had this year after the Coeburn game & I said no. No offense meant towards Coeburn, mind you. But please don't try compare Seymour to Richlands either. I didn't compare Tazewell to Breathitt Co. the past two years myself, as there was a difference there as well. I guess I could have came online and made that same statement after PV lost to Breathitt, but I know better as the season is young. Gate City might not be the team they were last year, but I also don't believe Powell Valley is the team they were last year either.

 

Bottom line, a loss to Richlands and a win over Coeburn to me isn't any better or worse than Powell Valley's win over Lee High and loss to Seymour. Through 2 weeks of the season I can't say that I know any more than that. I didn't see the Seymour team granted, but did you see the Richlands team? I didn't think so.

[FBDevotee 34]

Although I do give Powell Valley a better grade so far this season, based on the quality of their play against Seymour and comparisons drawn from watching both GC & PV during the August jamboree, my post is intended to question the logic of the thread title "GC still kicking". (If someone had posted last week that "the Vikings are back!" after the Lee High game, I could have challenged that assertion on the same basis.) I don't think we'll know if "GC's still kicking" until they play another quality opponent. To me, it was clear that the poster's forlorn hope was to find some redemption for the Devils in the Coeburn win. I think Gate City fans can reconcile the season after a loss to Richlands - but it can't be recovered by victories over Coeburn, or Pound for that matter.

[LegendatLegion 109]

Dude!

You've got like 13 posts, maybe when you have been online a bit you may see that i post some things a little bit tongue-in-cheek. I wasn't proclaiming GC was off to win another state title or anything, i was actually more on the tangent that Richlands is quite a bit better than folks thought (witness the three straight shutouts). GC is down from the previous 4 years or so, but they ain't dead yet either. They will be fine by the time the year is done in the LPD.

The other thing that cracks me up is PV is always "better" because of their competition, Breathitt last year was sooo awesome, Seymour is great, etc... Richlands is the best team i've seen thus far this year, but i haven't seen everyone either.

I wasn't trying to reconcile anything! Why do so many folks think that GC has to apologize for losing to a better team?? I don't get it! The only thing i can't get reconciled is the fact that last year in the Regional championship game GC scored 3 times at the end of the half and didn't get awarded a TD allowing PV to "win" and advance.

[marcus_twain 14]

GC still have alot of questions to answer. The offensive line is still not blocking well and the interior defensive line continues to be porous. For three straight games, a mobile quarterback has hurt us. The DBs, even when they have good postion, still don't turn around and look for the football. Coverage on punt and kickoff returns have been anemic. Freshman placekicker has been terribly inconsistent and doesn't get the ball deep. Tonight, Pound was inside the 10 yard line three times and didn't score. I realize we're playing more than thirty players, mainly underclassmen, but sooner or later some of the young ones are gonna have to step up, learn the system, and play more consistently, or its gonna be a shorter season than alot of fans were counting on.

[FBDevotee 34]

I think Gate City's players, coaches, and - especially - fans, set very high standards & have high expectations for the Blue Devils every year. Nothing wrong with that because GC has a winning tradition. I continue to maintain that grading this year's team against that standard can only be accomplished based on the results of games played against the highest quality opponents. I agree that Richlands was one of those teams.

[gc1 34]

I'm not for sure if you could use Seymour as a very good measuring stick. While they are 2-1 their only other win was against a winless Cocke Co. team who they defeated 22-0. Cocke Co's other losses were to Cherokee 24-6 and Knox Carter 65-0. So is Breathitt or Seymour teams to measure by this year?

[FBDevotee 34]

I think both Gate City and Powell Valley have good young teams that will match up very well later in the year. I expect a close game at Bullitt Park. As I posted prior to week 1 in other threads, I'm picking PV to win that game because I think they will improve more as the season progresses. I do think that improvement will be in part to the early season experience gained by playing Seymour and Breathitt.

 

Now, getting back to the original posting in this thread. Gate City's one sided defeat of Coeburn provided me no insights into the kind of team the Blue Devils have this year nor does it alter the insights provided by the results of week 1. Richlands has a good team this year but, just like GC, brought little returning experience into that first game. I can't recall the last time a GC team lost by five touchdowns. It is a significant event that must carry weight in rating this year's Blue Devils squad. "Still kicking?" - not yet by GC standards. They'll need a a few more jolts before I'll declare them revived. But when they do revive, I'll acknowledge.

[redneck_nation 10]

congrats to gate city on win #2, the gc team will get stronger as the season goes on. the showdown with powell valley is alwats for the district title. time will tell!

[FBDevotee 34]

I agree that the 2005 LPD football title will likely be decided when Gate City plays Powell Valley. Although, this year, J. I. Burton may have a shot at the championship and the district will be more competitive than last season. The Raiders do have a level of team speed that the Devils and Vikings don't match. I just can't see JIB's speed being enough to make up for the advantages that PV and GC will have in size, numbers, and football savy.

 

Just a note of interest regarding the general theme of this thread. I've been making a case for giving the Blue Devils a failing mark so far this season because of their loss to Richlands. To be fair to the Gate City fans on this forum, I do need to post an updated grade for the Devils after their win over the Wildcats. I now give them a passing grade - a firm D+ - and see a slight twitch returning.

[hardtrail 10]

Nice game, and you all played great. Though Coeburn is no test in my book for GC, still there is the element that GC is no team to squable with unless you have the power and speed to challenge. I look foward to Bullit Park and your date with the Vikings in the future. I think the Blue Devils can take them by muscle, if not by heart this year. Still, you must take this challenge game by game. I'm pulling for you guys to take down the Vike's or who ever gets in your way getting there. signed: Old Dawg

[FBDevotee 34]

My early season grading system regarding the 2005 Gate City Blue Devils was calibrated & validated tonight at Bullitt Park. I projected that the young Vikings would have improved a bit more than the Devils by this time in the season and I maintain that the tough games against Seymour and Breathitt County factored into the Powell Valley win over Gate City. Both squads are very young and both teams can look forward to better things to come. As I also predicted, J.I.Burton has a shot this season at the LPD title - but it had better be this year.