Maroons and Tide and Bears oh my!

[redtiger]

Best of luck to the remaining SWVA teams!!!

 

Win or lose you all represent SWVA and were proud of you.

 

Hopefully see you all in Salem in 2 weeks!

[Bigrhsfan]

I'll 2nd that redtiger !  Hope to see you all win !  I would love to be able to make a trip to Salem to watch a team from SWVA win another state championship !

[UniON_FoOtBaLL]

Thanks guys means a lot if the shoe was on the other foot I wld he saying the same thing. An I have a feeling that both of you guys teams in the near future will get there.

[gwmaroon]

Thanks for the support.  We love our friends from Richlands.  You guys had a good year.  Hopefully we can beat Riverheads and move on.

[swva_havok_fan]

I will be making my first trip to Salem for the title games.  Definitely hope Union gets there.  In 1A, I will be pulling for the winner of the Galax/Essex game because they've both been nothing but class acts towards the Big Red Army the last couple of years.

 

I almost hope Essex gets it, because they've been there now so many times and came away with the silver.  It's time for them to get the gold.

[Account Deleted]

Thanks for the support Redtiger.

 

On a side note, I am not a member of VAPreps but occasionally go over there to see what others are saying.  I noticed someone has posted something about the Essex-Galax game being moved to King William.  I haven't heard anything locally about the game being moved.  Wasn't Essex's late playoff games in question the past few years because of the lack of seating?  If memory serves, the Haysi semi-final game was played at Essex last year but there was some question leading up to the game.  Secondly, if this is a continual problem for them, why not add more seating?

[hhstigers7327]

Thanks for the support Redtiger.

 

On a side note, I am not a member of VAPreps but occasionally go over there to see what others are saying. I noticed someone has posted something about the Essex-Galax game being moved to King William. I haven't heard anything locally about the game being moved. Wasn't Essex's late playoff games in question the past few years because of the lack of seating? If memory serves, the Haysi semi-final game was played at Essex last year but there was some question leading up to the game. Secondly, if this is a continual problem for them, why not add more seating?

Last year's game between Essex and Haysi was moved to King William. The Galax vs Essex game will be played at King George is what I read.

 

Essex had always herd a lot of griping from visitors in the semis due to not enough seating and bathrooms. Nothing was ever done by the vhsl until Fort Chiswell made the trip in 2013. They complained a lot from what I can gather therefore the change last year.

 

I think it's complete crap that they don't get to host a game that they earned on the field.

[Account Deleted]

Last year's game between Essex and Haysi was moved to King William. The Galax vs Essex game will be played at King George is what I read.

 

Essex had always herd a lot of griping from visitors in the semis due to not enough seating and bathrooms. Nothing was ever done by the vhsl until Fort Chiswell made the trip in 2013. They complained a lot from what I can gather therefore the change last year.

 

I think it's complete crap that they don't get to host a game that they earned on the field.

Thanks for the information.  I understand your point about earning home playoff games but if this is a continual problem, why not fix it?  Obviously, VHSL has standards that should be met in terms of seating and restroom facilities while hosting playoff games.  

[hhstigers7327]

I agree also about not fixing the problem. I guess the way they look at it is why spend all that money that they may and probably don't have to upgrade when they might not need the upgrades every year?? Hosting state semis every year is not guaranteed. I guess they find it easier to move to a different sight now.

[hhstigers7327]

I will be pulling for all three teams also!!! Show that SWVA PRIDE!!

[Account Deleted]

I just read on the other site that additional seating and portable bathrooms were brought in for the 2013 Fort Chiswell game.  If that is an option for them, I don't understand VHSL forcing the game to be played elsewhere.  Many stadiums in SWVA don't have enough bathroom facilities to support fan attendance, Galax being one of those.

[redtiger]

The Haysi/Essex game was moved to KWHS. Great facility but the stands are far from the field, much like Ridgeviews setup. From what I understand there is a heated rivalry between EHS and KWHS, I know the field was painted up in KW colors and had a KW on the 50 for the HHS/EHS game. Haysi did not request that the game be moved, that was the VHSL responding to complaints from 2013 for the FC game. Personally I think Essex should have been allowed to host at their field, they earned that right. That being said Haysi had around 1,500 fans at that game and the Essex visitor section wouldn't have held half that. As much as I feel they should have been able to host if I would have had to stood by the fence I would have been pretty upset.

 

If they are gonna have this type of success then they need to upgrade their facilities but its my understanding that $ is tight and they don't have fan/community support like we do here in SWVA.

 

Not having enough bathroom facilities and not having bathroom facilities are very different things. Idk that they have bathrooms at their home site, just port-a-johns  Most of the games over that way are played before crowds of 300-400, not 2000+. Essex had 80 fans(many showed up after halftime, Haysi had 1,000 90 minutes before the game started). They simply aren't used to that type of turnout. Hard to justify upgrades for 1 game a year that isint guaranteed. Easier and more cost efficient to just play at a neighboring school.

 

If Galax doesn't bring any more fans than they did to Norton Saturday then Essexs home field will probably be sufficient.

[swva_havok_fan]

The Haysi/Essex game was moved to KWHS. Great facility but the stands are far from the field, much like Ridgeviews setup. From what I understand there is a heated rivalry between EHS and KWHS, I know the field was painted up in KW colors and had a KW on the 50 for the HHS/EHS game. Haysi did not request that the game be moved, that was the VHSL acting on the precedent set in 2013 for the FC game. Personally I think Essex should have been allowed to host at their field, they earned that right. That being said Haysi had around 1,500 fans at that game and the Essex visitor section wouldn't have held half that. As much as I feel they should have been able to host if I would have had to stood by the fence I would have been pretty upset.

 

If they are gonna have this type of success then they need to upgrade their facilities but its my understanding that $ is tight and they don't have fan/community support like we do here in SWVA.

 

Not having enough bathroom facilities and not having bathroom facilities are very different things. Idk that they have bathrooms at their home site, just port-a-johns  Most of the games over that way are played before crowds of 300-400, not 2000+. Essex had 80 fans(many showed up after halftime, Haysi had 1,000 90 minutes before the game started). They simply aren't used to that type of turnout. Hard to justify upgrades for 1 game a year that isint guaranteed. Easier and more cost efficient to just play at a neighboring school.

 

If Galax doesn't bring any more fans than they did to Norton Saturday then Essexs home field will probably be sufficient.

 

A very nice girl from Essex who is a mother of one of their players started friending a lot of Haysi folks, including myself, on Facebook after the Haysi/Essex game last season.  I usually message back and forth with her after every game during the season, finding out how they did, giving her updates on who to watch out for from the West, etc.

 

She stated that Essex had a new AD this season and didn't want to play the Galax game at King William because of that rivalry.  The fans wanted the game at King William because KW is only 20 miles away.  King George is closer to 40 miles away.  She also stated that their away and home stands combined couldn't have held the Big Red Army last year, but like I said in one of the other threads, if they had played the game at Essex, that would have been ok.  It was their right.  I would have stood on the sideline and still had a blast.

 

The amount of their fans that showed up to that game vs Haysi last year was so sad to see. They only had 20 miles to travel, whereas we had 5+ hours and we outnumbered them almost 10 to 1 in fan support.

 

They are undefeated but have actually had a very tumultuous season.  One of their players was lost for the season and was lucky to be alive after being ran down by a car in the parking lot after a game by an enraged fan from the other team. 

[SWVAgridiron]

My opinion, I dont see what the big deal is with having Essex move the game to another stadium near them. The west team will still have to travel so therefore it is still like having homefield. No team that advances to the semis should have to play in a poor stadium. Its quite simple, upgrade your facility and you will get to host playoff games.

[sup_rbeast]

There is a lot more than seating and restrooms that the VHSL considers in deeming a facility fit to host a State Playoff game.  The facilities have to be adequate, the field has to be enclosed with a barrier of some type, the surface has to be ok'd, etc etc.  I always thought Riggs Stadium in Appalachia was fit for a playoff game, but the VHSL didn't..the asphalt in the left corner of the end zone might have had something to do with that tho.

[LegendatLegion]

.  I always thought Riggs Stadium in Appalachia was fit for a playoff game, but the VHSL didn't..the asphalt in the left corner of the end zone might have had something to do with that tho.

That and the fact it was a few yards shy of 100, i don't think i ever got an official count, but i would guess 3-4 easy. I was there for a playoff game mid 80's and an official was warming up (i guess) or something, i was on the visitors side down near the building. He made some comment to me about my GC hat. We got to talking, i said,"take your markers and measure from the 10 to the goal line!" He did and it was less than 9 yards.

[gwloyal]

Best of luck to the remaining SWVA teams!!!

 

Win or lose you all represent SWVA and were proud of you.

 

Hopefully see you all in Salem in 2 weeks!

 

A humble thanks to you and the rest of the board. Love visiting this site, even though I'm not much of a chatterbox haha! You're all nothing but class.

 

I'd also like to wish the best of luck along with you to Union and Galax...There'd be nothing sweeter than to see us all advancing! I'll be trying my best to keep up and rooting for you guys Saturday!

[SWVAgridiron]

A humble thanks to you and the rest of the board. Love visiting this site, even though I'm not much of a chatterbox haha! You're all nothing but class.

 

I'd also like to wish the best of luck along with you to Union and Galax...There'd be nothing sweeter than to see us all advancing! I'll be trying my best to keep up and rooting for you guys Saturday!

I'm a Spartan but I'll be in Wytheville Saturday cheering on the Maroons. I am a fan of Riverheads program but a bigger fan to SWVA football!!

[RCITYHOO]

Best of luck to GW hoping a victory comes your way Saturday and the following Saturday. Nothing aganist Galax I hope you also make it to Salem but after getting booted out by GW it would be nice to say the Champs put us out, and we could sit around all year and say if we could only tackle on a kickoff.LOL

[falconfan1]

I want to say that John Battle played at Essex a few years ago (2012?).  I know that they took a large crowd and I heard several complaints about the lack of seating etc.

[Account Deleted]

http://www.roanoke.com/sports/high_schools/caleb-spurlin-has-become-a-swiss-army-knife-for-galax/article_d845a6f4-14ca-58fa-8ee6-a7bb2288dda2.html

 

Nice Article about Caleb Spurlin.

[Soccer_Dad]

Last year's game between Essex and Haysi was moved to King William. The Galax vs Essex game will be played at King George is what I read.

 

Essex had always herd a lot of griping from visitors in the semis due to not enough seating and bathrooms. Nothing was ever done by the vhsl until Fort Chiswell made the trip in 2013. They complained a lot from what I can gather therefore the change last year.

 

I think it's complete crap that they don't get to host a game that they earned on the field.

Yeah when John Battle went to Essex in 2012 some had to break out their folding chairs. You would be lucky to fit 200 in the visitor's stands.