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VHSL denies Giles bid to move down a classification.


Real Sasquatch
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1 hour ago, 1inStripes said:

Still possibly in 2003.  It would have been one Jim Dandy of a game between those GC and Graham.

People forget that Graham had Gretna reeling pretty hard in the 2nd half of that state semifinal.  Graham overcame a 27-0 deficit and had the ball with a chance to take the lead late in the 4th.  Gretna would have blown the doors off GC.  Take from that what you will.

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11 minutes ago, UVAObserver said:

People forget that Graham had Gretna reeling pretty hard in the 2nd half of that state semifinal.  Graham overcame a 27-0 deficit and had the ball with a chance to take the lead late in the 4th.  Gretna would have blown the doors off GC.  Take from that what you will.

It’s too bad Thurman didn’t stay in Bristol. How fun would it be to watch VA walk all over TN High every year? 
 

*Was CT even there in 03? 😂🤷🏽‍♂️

Edited by Grapeape
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2 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

People forget that Graham had Gretna reeling pretty hard in the 2nd half of that state semifinal.  Graham overcame a 27-0 deficit and had the ball with a chance to take the lead late in the 4th.  Gretna would have blown the doors off GC.  Take from that what you will.

Agree.  That Gretna team was stout. Bradshaw did damage receiving the ball in that one.  The battle between Vic Hall and Bradshaw in that game was epic.

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2 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

People forget that Graham had Gretna reeling pretty hard in the 2nd half of that state semifinal.  Graham overcame a 27-0 deficit and had the ball with a chance to take the lead late in the 4th.  Gretna would have blown the doors off GC.  Take from that what you will.

I believe I worked 1 or 2 of the regular season games for Graham that year and/or possibly a playoff game.  They werent fancy but didnt have to be.  That unbalanced line with Bradshaw taking it weakside out of the bone was too much for most to handle.

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3 hours ago, Real Sasquatch said:

Agree.  That Gretna team was stout. Bradshaw did damage receiving the ball in that one.  The battle between Vic Hall and Bradshaw in that game was epic.

If Al Groh were competent, there could have been the possibility of Hall and Bradshaw being in the same backfield at UVA between 2005 and 2008.  What could have been...

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10 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

If Al Groh were competent, there could have been the possibility of Hall and Bradshaw being in the same backfield at UVA between 2005 and 2008.  What could have been...

I never understood the though that those two were DBs. I mean, yes they could both excel in the defensive backfield but both were explosive play makers. Both in the backfield at UVA would have been scary.

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On 9/9/2020 at 9:16 AM, RichlandsAlum said:

A lot of flux within the AA ranks in Southwest Virginia from about 1995 onward, and there was a lot of shifting to keep Region IV somewhat intact as a functioning entity.  

Since the Highlands had dwindled to three members with AA enrollment numbers at the time, the SWD was essentially Lee's only option back in 2007.  But travel times to/from Ben Hur were essentially prohibitive.  The shortest trip (Abingdon) was about an hour and a half.  The longest at the time (Carroll County) was about a three hour trip.  So the argument for a geographic hardship made a lot of sense.  Abingdon and Marion both came back into the SWD at that time (again, out of necessity), but Lee successfully opted out.

About ten years prior to that, the New River District folded when Radford finally dropped to Single A (the Bobcats had been "playing up" in a manner similar to Graham for many years by that point) and left only three teams remaining.  That's how Carroll County came into the SWD -- which was probably never a great fit either way.  There was talk of bringing Blacksburg and Christiansburg in as well (which apparently had strong support on the SWD side), but those schools opted to align with similar sized traveling partners toward the direction of Roanoke.

All of that maneuvering was the inevitable result of declining enrollment across Southwest Virginia.  The New River District was the bellwether during the 1980's for what eventually happened further west.  The VHSL's new four classification alignment could conceivably settle things in the region for a long time to come.

1986, not 1995...1986 was the beginning of flux in SWVA when the SWD broke up over Grundy.

 

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1 hour ago, GMan said:

1986, not 1995...1986 was the beginning of flux in SWVA when the SWD broke up over Grundy.

 

I actually blame Lebanon.  The Pioneers created the imbalance when they were assigned to Class AA in 1980.  The days of the SWD in its 1970 realignment configuration were pretty much numbered from that point on.

On the other hand, Grundy was a charter member of the SWD when it was formed circa 1956.  The "I-81" schools who eventually went on to form the Highlands District complained constantly about traveling to Grundy.  But in terms of distance Gate City was just as much of a geographic outlier (if not more so) for the "Highway 460" group.

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1 hour ago, GMan said:

1986, not 1995...1986 was the beginning of flux in SWVA when the SWD broke up over Grundy.

 

Oddly enough, the wave of enrollment reductions really hit the New River Valley (and its eponymous district) well before it had major impact farther west.  If anything, the SWD split in 1986 was an overly optimistic move by the schools who created the Highlands District.  And it proved to be a short-sighted move based on enrollment trends and projections at the time.

I picked 1995 as a benchmark because that's when the New River District finally went kaput.  The fact that the SWD continues to exist in a pretty recognizable form is pretty significant IMO.

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GC was tough in 2003, but I like Graham. Both played Tazewell and Richlands, and Graham came out barely ahead on scoring margin. By the state semis, I would take a senior Bradshaw over GC due to schedule. The only good teams (that we're good on 2003) that GC played in the regular season was P. Valley and Richlands. Graham played Bluefield, Blacksburg, GW. Dsnville, Richlands, Salem, and a pretty good Grundy team that went to the Div 3 state semis the year before. I think that schedule would have prepared Graham well against GC or Essex.

But again, if anything, Graham and GC should have had flipped rolls. GC had more students. 

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On 9/8/2020 at 10:34 PM, Real Sasquatch said:

It's much easier to ride a bus up 77-81.  Besides, it takes 2 AD's to reach out to get a game together, not one.

That's true, but from what people say, it didn't matter, Graham had no interest. I think if a team was truly interested purely in being the best and playing the absolute best teams, you'd find a way to make it down the road a few hours and play a couple teams that were as good as any teams under 1,000 students or so. But when considering all the factors, it makes sense. Travel time, the roads, etc.. I can understand it from that POV. But I don't understand if the intention was purely 100% finding the best football teams.to play out of conference. 

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On 9/10/2020 at 4:24 PM, vtdavis4321 said:

GC was tough in 2003, but I like Graham. Both played Tazewell and Richlands, and Graham came out barely ahead on scoring margin. By the state semis, I would take a senior Bradshaw over GC due to schedule. The only good teams (that we're good on 2003) that GC played in the regular season was P. Valley and Richlands. Graham played Bluefield, Blacksburg, GW. Dsnville, Richlands, Salem, and a pretty good Grundy team that went to the Div 3 state semis the year before. I think that schedule would have prepared Graham well against GC or Essex.

But again, if anything, Graham and GC should have had flipped rolls. GC had more students. 

In 2003, Gate City beat Richlands 24-14 at Richlands and Tazwell 42-7 at home for a scoring differential of +45

Graham beat Richlands 28-21 at Richlands and Tazwell 42-2 at Tazwell (42-2 is a wild score lol, not one you see very often) for a differential of +47

Almost mirror images of each other score wise. That's crazy. 

And Burton was not bad in 2003, they made the D1 semi finals and GC absolutely demolished them. They were a good team.

Graham played Grundy in the second round of the playoffs, not the regular season. 

 

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Remember it well.  Was at the first one, working in Richlands at the time and made the quick drive down to Nelson and set with Cary and JK Perkins and Roby Minton (J.K. I played against, all three in town for the weekend, and Roby a former Graham/Falls Mills kid I went to grade school with before he moved/later played for Grundy). Had to work during the playoff game.

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Not a mention of the 1997 Graham team? That's the biggest what if.....Jeremy Gibson never gets hurt. That team easily could've won Div 3 that year. That injury changed Graham and cleared the path for Gate City's 1997 team.  Would have loved to saw that team against PV or Appy.

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8 minutes ago, CPF said:

Not a mention of the 1997 Graham team? That's the biggest what if.....Jeremy Gibson never gets hurt. That team easily could've won Div 3 that year. That injury changed Graham and cleared the path for Gate City's 1997 team.  Would have loved to saw that team against PV or Appy.

Agree CPF the 97 Graham team would have been a threat and was a great team, but I don't think a slam dunk likely or probable winner or favorite. When I mentioned 1978, 1981, 1990, 1993, 2001, and 2003, I'm giving the opinion that Graham very likely, the favorites, to win a state title if they were playing at their should be classification of play. With PV and GC and even Appy in 97, certainly far from a "likely" title. PV (D2), GC-D3, and Appy (D1) were ridiculously good and I don't see Graham being set apart from those 3 beasts of 97 mentioned above. GC did beat Graham (after Gibson's injury) and PV and Appy beat GC. All 3 state champs that year. But for the other years I mentioned, yes, I think Graham playing Single A or A in 78 and 81, and playing Div 2, AA, in 90, 93, 01, and 03 would have led to rings on the overwhelming majority of those years 

In the conversation or having a chance...74, 84, 97, 95. 1995, state champs, but I write in the conversation because if Graham were Div 2 that year, P. Valley would have been favored for sure. 

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  • 1 month later...
 
  • 4 weeks later...

When will the new classifications be out for Virginia?  Will they keep what they have or are we really going to four classes?  If so what will the classes look like in their makeup?  What will 1A and 2A look like for schools in this region?   Just looking for answers and seeing if anyone has them. 

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1 hour ago, BlueDevil4Life2008 said:

When will the new classifications be out for Virginia?  Will they keep what they have or are we really going to four classes?  If so what will the classes look like in their makeup?  What will 1A and 2A look like for schools in this region?   Just looking for answers and seeing if anyone has them. 

Eastern and Northern Virginia wants 4 classes, so that’s likely what will happen.  COVID-19 may delay that issue, however.

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2 hours ago, Hokiebird7 said:

Glad they do cause that's what it should be IMO....4 classes

Explain. Wouldn't you have better competitive balance with six classes? It matches up schools closer in enrollment than four classes would. 

The smallest 1A or 2A schools having to play the biggest in their classes would be hundreds of students difference in enrollment.

 

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