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Tazewell to open the season with Riverheads


Real Sasquatch
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16 minutes ago, Real Sasquatch said:

Bulldogs will open their season on February 27th at 4 time defending champion Riverheads.  The remainder of their schedule will be against District Opponents.

I’m pumped for it.  That’s a “count down the days” type of game.  Riverheads is the 1A juggernaut, and Tazewell projects to have its strongest team in a generation.  Could very well be a “game of the season” type right off the bat.

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2 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

I’m pumped for it.  That’s a “count down the days” type of game.  Riverheads is the 1A juggernaut, and Tazewell projects to have its strongest team in a generation.  Could very well be a “game of the season” type right off the bat.

I think I'll have to make a road trip.

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2 hours ago, stu_bean said:

All for scheduling a tough opponent but why in the world schedule someone that far away?

Ive got no inside info but id say that theyre were no other options for a tough opponent. The M7 schools all have full schedules, as do the River Ridge and Piedmont teams. Grayson and Fort Chiswell will have openings but play weaker schedules comparatively (1A opponents) and 

playing a not strong 1A team (BDD, Cumberland, Hogo) could mean playing on the road in every playoff game or maybe not even making the playoffs.

What better opponent in 1A than Riverheads who plays three 2As and two 3As in their district? Its a great move in terms of strength of schedule during a shortened season.

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7 hours ago, redtiger said:

Ive got no inside info but id say that theyre were no other options for a tough opponent. The M7 schools all have full schedules, as do the River Ridge and Piedmont teams. Grayson and Fort Chiswell will have openings but play weaker schedules comparatively (1A opponents) and 

playing a not strong 1A team (BDD, Cumberland, Hogo) could mean playing on the road in every playoff game or maybe not even making the playoffs.

What better opponent in 1A than Riverheads who plays three 2As and two 3As in their district? Its a great move in terms of strength of schedule during a shortened season.

I agree with that.  If they use the same formula, power points plenty there.

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12 hours ago, stu_bean said:

All for scheduling a tough opponent but why in the world schedule someone that far away?

Because, as I stated in another thread, you must go East to find the best competition...

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16 hours ago, THS6805 said:

Feb. 27 1PM Away Riverhead

Mar. 5 7PM Home Marion

Mar. 12 7PM Away Richlands

Mar. 19 7PM Away Lebanon

Mar. 26 7PM Home Graham

Apr. 1 7PM Home Va. High

I was kinda hoping the Richlands/Tazewell game would be on a Saturday afternoon

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25 minutes ago, cityofRaven said:

I was kinda hoping the Richlands/Tazewell game would be on a Saturday afternoon

Potential for some cold nights there.  Sounds like most of the teams across the mountains in Smyth area have sat games from what a ref official told me earlier.  Wonder why they chose Fri nights?

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17 hours ago, Real Sasquatch said:

Bulldogs will open their season on February 27th at 4 time defending champion Riverheads.  The remainder of their schedule will be against District Opponents.

Prodigious!  A willingness to take on tough opponents actually seems to be part of the historical DNA for the Tazewell football program.  Examples from the 1960s include series against the Roanoke schools.  And from my own childhood I remember them scheduling Narrows when the Green Wave were a powerhouse in the New River District.  Good on the Doggies. I'll definitely be pulling for them in that season opener.

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2 hours ago, redtiger said:

There are actually Plus 1 games for nonplayoff teams, kinda like a bowl game. 

Youre not counting the Dawgs out of the playoffs already are you? j/k 

Yes.  All teams not qualifying for playoffs get a plus 1 game.  Hoping the Dogs qualify for the playoffs.  Graham, Richlands and Tazewell will battle it out for a spot, I would think.  Graham and Richlands play twice, that could guarantee one of them not making it.  Going 4-2 won't cut it.

Would have been cool if Tazewell and Richlands could play twice this season also.

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Tazewell is going to get a big test early for sure. I think with the athletes they have coming back (if they stay healthy) they have a chance to make a run at it. I have said it on here before though they have to win up front that has been their down fall in recent year I have no idea what they have coming back as far as big boys but if they returned a lot it should be an interesting game to say the least. 

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1 hour ago, Real Sasquatch said:

Yes.  All teams not qualifying for playoffs get a plus 1 game.  Hoping the Dogs qualify for the playoffs.  Graham, Richlands and Tazewell will battle it out for a spot, I would think.  Graham and Richlands play twice, that could guarantee one of them not making it.  Going 4-2 won't cut it.

Imo each district in the Region D2A will have 2 representatives, I dont see a 2 loss team making it unless things get really strange in the other district (a top team suffering a huge upset).

Playing and beating Riverheads helps Tazewell if say all 4 playoff teams have 1 loss. The M7 teams will be relying on playing Abingdon a 3A to boost them, well Tazewell just negated that where Graham and Richlands just broke even by playing each other twice. 

That all being said I havent looked at the numbers but thats the way it seems to me. 

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4 hours ago, stu_bean said:

Potential for some cold nights there.  Sounds like most of the teams across the mountains in Smyth area have sat games from what a ref official told me earlier.  Wonder why they chose Fri nights?

It could be a great year to be an official from a $$ perspective.  Also to be a new person trying to break in. A lot of older officials may not return due to COVID concerns thinning and already super thin group.  Fri/Sat options may allow for better access to 5 man crews for games where I have been concerned everyone may see a lot of 4 man crews due to numbers.  Got to have fans to pay for them though.  Thats going to be a sticky part of the equation. 

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7 hours ago, redtiger said:

There are actually Plus 1 games for nonplayoff teams, kinda like a bowl game. 

Youre not counting the Dawgs out of the playoffs already are you? j/k 

I’m not counting them out, this is the year we’ve been waiting on for the past 4 years. 3 years ago we were playing with an all freshman team. I’m excited for these boys, they’ve got this extra time to get all these injuries healed up and ready to go!!!! 

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4 hours ago, redtiger said:

Imo each district in the Region D2A will have 2 representatives, I dont see a 2 loss team making it unless things get really strange in the other district (a top team suffering a huge upset).

Playing and beating Riverheads helps Tazewell if say all 4 playoff teams have 1 loss. The M7 teams will be relying on playing Abingdon a 3A to boost them, well Tazewell just negated that where Graham and Richlands just broke even by playing each other twice. 

That all being said I havent looked at the numbers but thats the way it seems to me. 

My question on Graham and Richlands playing twice, couldn’t they find a 6th team? No one wanna play them? Also could they possibly end up playing a total of 3 times in one season?

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7 hours ago, redtiger said:

There are actually Plus 1 games for nonplayoff teams, kinda like a bowl game. 

Youre not counting the Dawgs out of the playoffs already are you? j/k 

And to be honest I really didn’t know if there was any playoffs other than the 1 extra game! 🤷‍♂️

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4 hours ago, Jags52 said:

Tazewell is going to get a big test early for sure. I think with the athletes they have coming back (if they stay healthy) they have a chance to make a run at it. I have said it on here before though they have to win up front that has been their down fall in recent year I have no idea what they have coming back as far as big boys but if they returned a lot it should be an interesting game to say the least. 

Everyone is returning minus a handful that started last year! They will need someone to step up big time at the linebacker with losing Myers and Cam The Hammer Taylor graduation. 

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7 hours ago, RichlandsAlum said:

Prodigious!  A willingness to take on tough opponents actually seems to be part of the historical DNA for the Tazewell football program.  Examples from the 1960s include series against the Roanoke schools.  And from my own childhood I remember them scheduling Narrows when the Green Wave were a powerhouse in the New River District.  Good on the Doggies. I'll definitely be pulling for them in that season opener.

From 1956 thru 1969 the Southwest District Schools were in Division I which was the highest class in VA. In order to qualify for the points championship you had to play X amount of games vs other Division I schools. This made in necessary to schedule out of area Division I schools. If you look at Grundy's, Graham's and Richlands' schedules they are dotted with out of area Division I schools. This was done to satisfy the minimum number of games. It was also more convenient for the Roanoke area schools as they no longer had to go to Richmond, NOVA and the Tidewater area to fulfill their Division I scheduling requirement. With advent of full playoffs in 1970 the Southwest moved down to AA and those matchups pretty much stopped.

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28 minutes ago, Bluefield researcher said:

From 1956 thru 1969 the Southwest District Schools were in Division I which was the highest class in VA. In order to qualify for the points championship you had to play X amount of games vs other Division I schools. This made in necessary to schedule out of area Division I schools. If you look at Grundy's, Graham's and Richlands' schedules they are dotted with out of area Division I schools. This was done to satisfy the minimum number of games. It was also more convenient for the Roanoke area schools as they no longer had to go to Richmond, NOVA and the Tidewater area to fulfill their Division I scheduling requirement. With advent of full playoffs in 1970 the Southwest moved down to AA and those matchups pretty much stopped.

Indeed.  But there appears to have been some discretion in those arrangements.  Tazewell played a rotation of pretty much all Roanoke area schools (including some very strong Andrew Lewis teams) regularly in the mid 1960s.  By comparison my alma mater pretty much stuck with playing William Fleming and Patrick Henry to meet the requirement.  I think there is an argument to be made for giving credit where credit is due, but reasonable minds may differ.

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