BeaverHokie 35 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Bluefield-Graham game thoughts, just back from the game. 1. Bluefield uniforms. Really like them! Bigger, taller numbers, they look whiter than the old ones. Very clean look. Hat tip to Graham, similar numbers to the ones Graham rolled out last year. 2. Bluefield could be scary good. They did that well with quite a few mistakes. All kinds of penalties. But really, the penalties just delayed the punishment, Bluefield didnt punt until the third quarter, and only punted once. 3. My opinion, but Bluefield called off the dogs, and Graham kept a lot more starters in. That really resulted in a final score (60-38) that did not represent what total domination it really was. Bluefield could have scored 80. 4. Got in the car with less than 2 minutes left, and turned on the radio. OMG JIM NELSON!!! Seriously, he's the lead on the Bluefield broadcasts with Joe Jarvis. Maybe Joe will learn a few things. Been hearing Jim doing some kind of "This date in Bluefield" radio minute lately, should have figured he was back with a contract with the Bluefield stations. Tied to the ownership change, maybe? In the brief time I heard Jim, he sounded good. I know he may not be the taste of a lot of the younger folks (I'm in my 40s), but he is clear, concise, good tone, and describes it so well. Happy to have him back. 5. Bluefield's band is so small, about 25 playing members. But they are GOOD to be so small. I wish more kids were interested in the band. My daughter is a freshman in Georgia, she's in her band. They have about 100, but then again, their school is probably 4 times the size of Bluefield (about 2750 kids in grades 9-12). 6. Game atmosphere. I really think this is the best high school game out there, bar none. The atmosphere is electric, the crowd is HUGE. With the population loss, it sure is good to see there is still a good crowd. 7. Princeton was a scoring machine tonight. Not sure if it's apples to apples, but they sound pretty potent. Should be a great game next week. Hope to be there on the visitor's side for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveEurkel 11 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 I too think Bluefield could be a very scary team, now do I think they were that much better than Graham? Not at all...GrahM came out and got hit in the mouth from the get go, I love the new coach but they were down 2 tds and instead of trying to put points on the board and punt the ball back to Bluefield...honestly as a Graham fan I expected a loss DJ Edwards is the real deal but I will say this if the G-men dont get some balls about them and bring the contact then theyre in for a long season, congrats to Bluefield tonight regardless yall are a great team but im highly dissappointed in the G-men Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futbolking 766 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 I too think Bluefield could be a very scary team, now do I think they were that much better than Graham? Not at all...GrahM came out and got hit in the mouth from the get go, I love the new coach but they were down 2 tds and instead of trying to put points on the board and punt the ball back to Bluefield...honestly as a Graham fan I expected a loss DJ Edwards is the real deal but I will say this if the G-men dont get some balls about them and bring the contact then theyre in for a long season, congrats to Bluefield tonight regardless yall are a great team but im highly dissappointed in the G-men I was disappointed in the physicality of Graham as well.... Bluefield came out and smashed Graham in the mouth.....the talk was Graham would be more physical and Bluefield would have the speed....Bluefield had more speed AND was more physical. Graham has a tough schedule and it could be a long season if they don't get it together, soon....I still think they have potential, however and will win some games. On top of that, I believe that Bluefield was very prepared for Graham and had a great game plan, hats off to coach Simon....As a Graham fan, I am sure glad that we don't have to see DJ Edwards next season....Good luck to Bluefield the rest of the way, they have potential to make a deep playoff run. I agree with the others that Bluefield could be scary good.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverHokie 35 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 I was disappointed in the physicality of Graham as well.... Bluefield came out and smashed Graham in the mouth.....the talk was Graham would be more physical and Bluefield would have the speed....Bluefield had more speed AND was more physical. Graham has a tough schedule and it could be a long season if they don't get it together, soon....I still think they have potential, however and will win some games. On top of that, I believe that Bluefield was very prepared for Graham and had a great game plan, hats off to coach Simon....As a Graham fan, I am sure glad that we don't have to see DJ Edwards next season....Good luck to Bluefield the rest of the way, they have potential to make a deep playoff run. I agree with the others that Bluefield could be scary good.... I was surprised. I know how physical Graham was last year, and I saw on the football website the lifting numbers, and expected them to push Bluefield around some. To Bluefield's credit, they seem to have found some linemen that are fast like Simon wants, and also are big. No more 180 pound offensive tackles. It was to our side of the field a few times, but it was something to see Edwards on a jet sweep, encounter a Graham defender, him stiff-arm the guy and send him backwards. He seems to really be in his element as a RB instead of a QB. Bourne has stepped up pretty well. When I see a game like this, I never know what the real take-away is. Is Bluefield that good? Is Graham that bad? Is it somewhere in between? I guess we'll have a better idea next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 I was there. Unlike many others here, I didn't think Bluefield looked "scary" or other-worldly. Bluefield is a solid group without question, and will probably make a deep run in WV, but not one that really dazzled you. They, too, looked shaky early on, but Graham's defense portraying the French Army really helped them find their groove. I think the story here was Graham. Graham looked two steps too slow all evening, and just got plumb whipped at the lines of scrimmage. Some of that was Bluefield, to be sure, but definitely not all. Some of those holes Bluefield made, you could've driven earth-moving equipment through. Special teams was weak and lifeless. Play-callin was dubious: Graham made zero adjustment to stop that devastatin jet sweep, and offensively, too many slow-developing stretch plays and swing passes. Severe let-down from Graham. Hopefully, pride will take over for them, because if not, it will be a rough ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Sorry, my auto-correct got a little urban there toward the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigrhsfan 884 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Sounds like the Beavers were what we all have come to expect and RESPECT about that program ! Great athletes with speed and a great coaching staff that prepares them well ! Great first game for Bluefield and it sounds like they are off and running to another great year, and for Graham, it was your FIRST game of the season, and to a rival, and sometimes a rival game gets out of hand, but it was the first game and plenty of time to improve. Good luck to both ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhs7695 185 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Graham still looks undisiplined to me at times from a penalty standpoint going back to last season. Granted Bluefield had a ton of penalities last night as well, but Its just hard for me to watch a Graham football team have so many penalties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhs7695 185 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 With the success the last few years at GMS I would have thought GHS would have been better then this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonshine 13 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Monday, lift the weights, hit practice, learn from it and move on. If you would have told me we’d score 38 (points) and lose, I’d be shocked.†Holy crap we scored about 25 or so on their jv second string. He is delusional to pretend we did anything for the first 3 qtrs before the 2,3,4 strings came in. We had maybe and i say maybe 60 yrds of offense until a bunch of 15 yr olds hit the field. why would a coach make such a crazy comment. We looked awful until last years eighth grade squad came in and they still scored. hats off to coach Simon for allowing us to pad stats. we kept the first string in and may have some injuries due to the coaches pride. dumb, dumb, dumb prideful move to save face. they could have scored In the 80s or hit 100 if they wanted to and we would have had 12 and maybe broke 90 yrds. We are gonna struggle but we have 4 sure wins but need to work hard to get anymore. Change it up! Hell the announcer was even saying Graham scored again on the third string of the Bluefield Beavers. I think they didn't understand our coach kicking onside kicks and airing it out on toddler back ups. Embarrassed the hell out of many fans. Sorry you got embarrassed for us trying to score. Geez some people....Blue field was just better this year. Or maybe you just prefer Doug's teams getting smoked by 40 and laying down. I bet you weren't too embarrassed last year when he beat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeaverHokie 35 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 As referenced in the thread. I was surprised by the quote in the paper about Graham being surprised to score 38 and lose. About 24 of those points were scored on Bluefield's reserves. They count, sure, but I wouldn't make that comment about scoring 38. When it's Graham's starting offense versus a defense of largely second and third team players, humility should be the name of the game. I'm not convinced it was a bad thing for Graham's coach to keep the starters out there, shows a commitment to attempting to win, but I suspect Simon will continue to be gracious and not intentionally run up the score. Have seen quite a few games where Bluefield has scored 60+ in my time, usually when even the young kids are putting it in the endzone. On stopping the jet sweep, I was in the stands, and couldn't see the splits very well, but I got the impression that Graham may have made some changes, and then Bluefield started running FB dives with Coppolo. He seemed to have poor balance and went down too easy, Much of the time, it appeared to be an easy 5 yards when he'd take it up the middle. I'll take it...a win is a win. I'll also not draw any major conclusions from the game. I do stand by my point that Bluefield MAY wind up scary good, it appears they have plugged the gaps (literally and figuratively) that were a problem last year, mostly undersized linemen getting pushed around. That Bluefield could make that many mistakes (penalties), put in the reserves, and still score 60 on Graham is telling. I don't have the history in front of me, but that's got to be the highest score against Graham since perhaps the Gainer days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starcityfootballfan 517 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 I was there. Unlike many others here, I didn't think Bluefield looked "scary" or other-worldly. Bluefield is a solid group without question, and will probably make a deep run in WV, but not one that really dazzled you. They, too, looked shaky early on, but Graham's defense portraying the French Army really helped them find their groove. I think the story here was Graham. Graham looked two steps too slow all evening, and just got plumb whipped at the lines of scrimmage. Some of that was Bluefield, to be sure, but definitely not all. Some of those holes Bluefield made, you could've driven earth-moving equipment through. Special teams was weak and lifeless. Play-callin was dubious: Graham made zero adjustment to stop that devastatin jet sweep, and offensively, too many slow-developing stretch plays and swing passes. Severe let-down from Graham. Hopefully, pride will take over for them, because if not, it will be a rough ride. I could not agree with you more! I was disappointed but not surprised. Actually, this game panned out just as I anticipated. The big thing now is that Graham must regroup and fast. Tazewell is certainly a worthy opponent and if overlooked could spell disaster for the G-Men. I am a believer that the Virginia side team will get it together this week. Good luck G-Men! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starcityfootballfan 517 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 On another note ... tried to listen to the Graham broadcast during the game; however, the pregame was all I could take. I had to bite the bullet and switch to the Bluefield side and glad I did. What a contrast ... Jim Nelson was great and as always professional. I had a couple of Roanoke buddies attempt to listen to the Graham broadcast but it was too much for them to bare as well. Hats off to the Bluefield broadcasters and the Bluefield Beavers. I now hope that the Beavers win all their remaining games and go deep into the WV playoffs. No offense to my Richlands friends ... just a "Bluefield thing." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futbolking 766 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 It's a long season...we'll see where everybody winds up...good luck to both teams the rest of the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YOTD 12 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 It's a long season...we'll see where everybody winds up...good luck to both teams the rest of the way. Good news is scheduling. Graham has Taz, Bland, Narrows and a pitiful Giles team (they lost everything). Just realized we played Grundy! We r all but guaranteed 5 wins. A sure loss to Richlands is the only game we have no chance. Fort and Grayson may be counted in the "little chance of winning" category but we have a chance with those two. Galax has some speed but we should beAt them. My projection is 5-5 but we may find a sixth in there somewhere. Promising schedule maybe 7 wins again. Our schedule really is favorable but beating all the bad teams with the new realignment we may stand no chance of playoffs without one big win. Is it by points this year? How does it work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futbolking 766 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 D-2 is loaded and if Graham goes 5-5, it would be a stretch for them to make it in.... I'm hoping for 7-3 and another playoff appearance...but they have a lot of work to do to get there. Is it possible, yes.... Is it a given, no. One thing I can be sure of, these kids at Graham have a lot of character and I'm sure they will work hard and do their very best. Hope they end up with a playoff berth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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