Surprising teams VHSL

[BlacksburgBeatdown 1]

Which teams do you think may have their best year in a while this year? Mine maybe Holston Hogo is gonna toss up between Holston PH and Chilhowie. Northwood still a year or two away. I think Thomas Walker maybe a wild card as well. Share your thoughts..

[Gridiron60 711]

I'm predicting if they stay healthy, Tazewell may have a better year than they have had in recent years. 

[BlacksburgBeatdown 1]

1 hour ago, Gridiron60 said:

I'm predicting if they stay healthy, Tazewell may have a better year than they have had in recent years. 

How does 2D look? Who do you think will win M7? Does central return same group?

[BigWinners 1,065]

43 minutes ago, BlacksburgBeatdown said:

How does 2D look? Who do you think will win M7? Does central return same group?

Central would be the presumptive favorite but RV and to a slightly lesser extent Union could make a run.

[BlacksburgBeatdown 1]

If anybody has insight to 1D or 1C chime In. Ain’t hearing much from anybody this year.. If I had to pick my final four for 1 A based off what I think I know it would be Riverheads Galax John I Burton and Essex 

[UVAObserver 4,142]

11 hours ago, BlacksburgBeatdown said:

How does 2D look? Who do you think will win M7? Does central return same group?

There are 6 teams in 2D that are truly “playoff caliber” this year.  Graham, Tazewell, Richlands from the SWD.  Central, Ridgeview, and Union from the M7.  Unfortunately, there’s only 4 playoff teams this year.  Though the Region has yet to vote on the playoff format, the option that has the most traction now is taking the Top 2 from each district and cross-bracketing them in the 1st round.  Under that proposal, 1 solid team from each district would be left home.

 

Central’s the presumptive favorite to come out of the Region.  IMO, the 3 next best teams are the SWD teams, in some unpredictable order.  Tazewell returns by far the most, though they’ve recently begun to taste success.  Graham lost by far the most, but still has athletes aplenty.  Richlands has been breaking in a new coaching staff, and deals with some losses and some internal chemistry of their own.  Then there’s Ridgeview and Union, in some order.  Ridgeview has the most talented player on the field, but Union probably is a little bit deeper.  That M7’s 2nd spot is much like the SWD’s ordering: you can make a good case for any of those teams.  
 

Also worth watching is Marion, but for macabre reasons.  They’re probably going to be “2001 John Battle” level bad, which is sad for a program that is capable of putting together some really strong years.  The cupboard is as bare as I’ve ever seen for a 2A team.  IMO, if they can crack double digits on the scoreboard this season, that should be considered a resounding success.

[sixcat 1,582]

3 hours ago, BlacksburgBeatdown said:

If anybody has insight to 1D or 1C chime In. Ain’t hearing much from anybody this year.. If I had to pick my final four for 1 A based off what I think I know it would be Riverheads Galax John I Burton and Essex 

I will reserve judgement on Galax until I see how the new coaching staff progresses.  Galax won 2 playoff games in 94 years before Mark Dixon.  Dixon lead them to 28 playoff wins in 10 seasons.  What Galax is moving forward, post Mark Dixon, could be either of those or anything in-between. 

[BlacksburgBeatdown 1]

23 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

Also worth watching is Marion, but for macabre reasons.  They’re probably going to be “2001 John Battle” level bad, which is sad for a program that is capable of putting together some really strong years.  The cupboard is as bare as I’ve ever seen for a 2A team.  IMO, if they can crack double digits on the scoreboard this season, that should be considered a resounding success.

Wow^  Hard to see a team go into a season with that feeling. Hopefully things turn around but 01 JB is not a good association to have. 

[BlacksburgBeatdown 1]

20 hours ago, sixcat said:

I will reserve judgement on Galax until I see how the new coaching staff progresses.  Galax won 2 playoff games in 94 years before Mark Dixon.  Dixon lead them to 28 playoff wins in 10 seasons.  What Galax is moving forward, post Mark Dixon, could be either of those or anything in-between. 

Same situation at PH. Mark Palmer brought that school from nothing to being a 1D powerhouse. Curious about staff changes with Seth Padgett coming in. I predict him being a longtime assistant to Palmer things can continue as they have. Dependent on how much he decides to change with the playbook and staff. 

[BlacksburgBeatdown 1]

On 1/14/2021 at 9:48 AM, UVAObserver said:

There are 6 teams in 2D that are truly “playoff caliber” this year.  Graham, Tazewell, Richlands from the SWD.  Central, Ridgeview, and Union from the M7.  Unfortunately, there’s only 4 playoff teams this year.  Though the Region has yet to vote on the playoff format, the option that has the most traction now is taking the Top 2 from each district and cross-bracketing them in the 1st round.  Under that proposal, 1 solid team from each district would be left home.

 

Central’s the presumptive favorite to come out of the Region.  IMO, the 3 next best teams are the SWD teams, in some unpredictable order.  Tazewell returns by far the most, though they’ve recently begun to taste success.  Graham lost by far the most, but still has athletes aplenty.  Richlands has been breaking in a new coaching staff, and deals with some losses and some internal chemistry of their own.  Then there’s Ridgeview and Union, in some order.  Ridgeview has the most talented player on the field, but Union probably is a little bit deeper.  That M7’s 2nd spot is much like the SWD’s ordering: you can make a good case for any of those teams.  
 

Also worth watching is Marion, but for macabre reasons.  They’re probably going to be “2001 John Battle” level bad, which is sad for a program that is capable of putting together some really strong years.  The cupboard is as bare as I’ve ever seen for a 2A team.  IMO, if they can crack double digits on the scoreboard this season, that should be considered a resounding success.

Kinda hearing much of nothing from GC and Lee. Safe to assume nothing big coming for a few years from these teams? 

[sixcat 1,582]

6 minutes ago, BlacksburgBeatdown said:

Same situation at PH. Mark Palmer brought that school from nothing to being a 1D powerhouse. Curious about staff changes with Seth Padgett coming in. I predict him being a longtime assistant to Palmer things can continue as they have. Dependent on how much he decides to change with the playbook and staff. 

My concern with Galax is community support.  Dixon took a sharply divided community and unified them toward a common goal.  What Galax has done over the past decade doesn't happen without community support.  Nobody questioned Dixon's ability, leadership and authority.  I'm not sure Allen has that same personality or mentality.

[UVAObserver 4,142]

2 hours ago, BlacksburgBeatdown said:

Kinda hearing much of nothing from GC and Lee. Safe to assume nothing big coming for a few years from these teams? 

Gate City lost quite a bit from last year’s team, and they still went 4-6 (even with stealing a game against Richlands).  There’s some young talent there, but I think they’re 2-3 years away from being a challenge in the M7.  They’re on a better track than they were under Akers, which is progress.

 

Lee was 0-10 last year and doesn’t project much better, if any at all, this year.

[BlacksburgBeatdown 1]

5 hours ago, sixcat said:

My concern with Galax is community support.  Dixon took a sharply divided community and unified them toward a common goal.  What Galax has done over the past decade doesn't happen without community support.  Nobody questioned Dixon's ability, leadership and authority.  I'm not sure Allen has that same personality or mentality.

That’s a great point. It’s quiet in Washington county so it means PH is either really good or really bad. I’ve heard abingdon will be a decent bunch this year nothing special but not bad. I don’t see too many people on here from the Washington county schools JB, Abingdon PH 

[BlacksburgBeatdown 1]

5 hours ago, sixcat said:

My concern with Galax is community support.  Dixon took a sharply divided community and unified them toward a common goal.  What Galax has done over the past decade doesn't happen without community support.  Nobody questioned Dixon's ability, leadership and authority.  I'm not sure Allen has that same personality or mentality.

That’s a great point. It’s quiet in Washington county so it means PH is either really good or really bad. I’ve heard abingdon will be a decent bunch this year nothing special but not bad. I don’t see too many people on here from the Washington county schools JB, Abingdon, PH, Holston 

[Real Sasquatch 399]

Starting Monday, Tazewell County will be broadcasting their games with NFHS

[Weatherman 85]

23 hours ago, BlacksburgBeatdown said:

Same situation at PH. Mark Palmer brought that school from nothing to being a 1D powerhouse. Curious about staff changes with Seth Padgett coming in. I predict him being a longtime assistant to Palmer things can continue as they have. Dependent on how much he decides to change with the playbook and staff. 

Palmer is a good coach no doubt.  Patrick Henry's talent base, like a lot of 1A schools, runs in cycles, but they tend to go from boom to bust quicker than most.

[BlacksburgBeatdown 1]

6 hours ago, Weatherman said:

Palmer is a good coach no doubt.  Patrick Henry's talent base, like a lot of 1A schools, runs in cycles, but they tend to go from boom to bust quicker than most.

What do you think about this years team? Seems like they lost all skill players. Not sure the status of the one kid that got hurt last year in post season. Hopefully he has healed and gets to play. 

[swva_havok_fan 1,042]

15 hours ago, Weatherman said:

Palmer is a good coach no doubt.  Patrick Henry's talent base, like a lot of 1A schools, runs in cycles, but they tend to go from boom to bust quicker than most.

Palmer is not there anymore.

[Weatherman 85]

7 hours ago, swva_havok_fan said:

Palmer is not there anymore.

Yeah, he retired in Virginia and took a job in Kentucky.  The guy was talking about what Palmer had done while he was there, and I was trying not to discredit him.