state semis - Spring '21

[Mountain Football 1,532]

After watching Appo today I'm afraid we are all playing for second place for the next couple years.....

[trublue 939]

Tim Hayes Retweeted

SBHS Athletics

@SBHS_Athletics

That's a final from rainy Roanoke!

@StoneBridgeFB  46   William Fleming 13. #SBOE

 

great state

[Fairlawncat 252]

Calpreps favored Draft and Appo winning by about 32-34 points.  Both margins of victory were by 31 points.  Calpreps can be alarmingly accurate and it's kind of scar to think a computer can do this, but it really is much, much closer to being correct far more times than it is to being incorrect.  They absolutely nailed both state semi final games and I thought for sure, they would be way off.

[Fairlawncat 252]

In 1A, Calpreps projected Riverheads by 45 over West Point.  It was off........by 1 point.  Riverheads won by 44.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

2 minutes ago, Mountain Football said:

After watching Appo today I'm afraid we are all playing for second place for the next couple years.....

I’m not sure that this would be my takeaway from this game.  To me, this is what happens when the 4th best team in a given Region rides a miraculous wave to the Region title, then faces a dynastic team that is their superior in all facets of the game.  There have been better Appomattox teams (2016, 2017, 2019), but this game was never destined to be truly competitive.  This reminds me of 2004 Tazewell in that regard.
 

Appomattox loses a healthy chunk from this year’s team, more than both Union and Graham.  I don’t think it’s as simple as chalking up the next 2 years to Appomattox. Next year should be fiercely competitive.

[jarhead24219 440]

Good Luck Appomattox 

[Fairlawncat 252]

Next year, Graham will be a major problem.  Draft has a senior laden team.  Buckingham and King William who didn't compete in the playoffs both had senior teams. (BC didn't play at all.)  Poquoson had 2 senior starters and returns nearly the entire team as well as Nottoway.  Radford will be slightly better than this year.  Don't know about Dan River.  Union, with it's bigs up front will be better.  Appomatox is very deep on their lines.  It's not just the athletes.  When you take a QB sneak and the kid runs 70 yds, that's lineplay, and Appo is so deep.  They can constantly rotate 8 kids up front and get the same results.   Appo didn't do anything fancy against Radford, Glenvar or Union.  They just ran the ball down all three opponents throats.  They are fast for sure, but their lineplay over the years has been grossly underestimated.

[Hokiebird7 1,416]

12 minutes ago, UVAObserver said:

I’m not sure that this would be my takeaway from this game.  To me, this is what happens when the 4th best team in a given Region rides a miraculous wave to the Region title, then faces a dynastic team that is their superior in all facets of the game.  There have been better Appomattox teams (2016, 2017, 2019), but this game was never destined to be truly competitive.  This reminds me of 2004 Tazewell in that regard.
 

Appomattox loses a healthy chunk from this year’s team, more than both Union and Graham.  I don’t think it’s as simple as chalking up the next 2 years to Appomattox. Next year should be fiercely competitive.

Appomattox would have done this to the 1,2,3 or 4 seed in this region

[Mountain Football 1,532]

13 minutes ago, UVAObserver said:

I’m not sure that this would be my takeaway from this game.  To me, this is what happens when the 4th best team in a given Region rides a miraculous wave to the Region title, then faces a dynastic team that is their superior in all facets of the game.  There have been better Appomattox teams (2016, 2017, 2019), but this game was never destined to be truly competitive.  This reminds me of 2004 Tazewell in that regard.
 

Appomattox loses a healthy chunk from this year’s team, more than both Union and Graham.  I don’t think it’s as simple as chalking up the next 2 years to Appomattox. Next year should be fiercely competitive.

I hope you are right lol. That sophomore  running back looked awfully good not to mention the QB is just a JR right?

[Fairlawncat 252]

6 minutes ago, Mountain Football said:

I hope you are right lol. That sophomore  running back looked awfully good not to mention the QB is just a JR right?

If Appo is going to lose this year or next year, it will be Stuarts Draft this year or Graham next year.  Stuarts Draft is athletic in the secondary and very good up front.  Don't be surprised if that game is a tossup going into the 4th qtr.  In our region, no team will beat Appo next year and that includes Radford.  Graham will be a problem for them next year and possibly Poquoson, who was/is younger than Graham and Union.  They started 7 sophomore, 3 juniors and 1 senior on offense and defense according to an assistant on staff at Nottoway that I'm kin to.  Nottoway was young with only 4 seniors lost that started.  The question is, even with guys coming back that are experienced (Nottoway and Poquoson) is it enough to make up for the talent difference at Appo?  I don't know, but I do believe an experienced bunch of juniors and seniors at Graham can certainly close that talent gap with Appo.  

[goose111874 967]

1 hour ago, UVAObserver said:

That’s even more ugly than I thought it would be.  It’s almost as if Union got generationally lucky to get to this point...

How's baseball season been

[goose111874 967]

19 minutes ago, Fairlawncat said:

If Appo is going to lose this year or next year, it will be Stuarts Draft this year or Graham next year.  Stuarts Draft is athletic in the secondary and very good up front.  Don't be surprised if that game is a tossup going into the 4th qtr.  In our region, no team will beat Appo next year and that includes Radford.  Graham will be a problem for them next year and possibly Poquoson, who was/is younger than Graham and Union.  They started 7 sophomore, 3 juniors and 1 senior on offense and defense according to an assistant on staff at Nottoway that I'm kin to.  Nottoway was young with only 4 seniors lost that started.  The question is, even with guys coming back that are experienced (Nottoway and Poquoson) is it enough to make up for the talent difference at Appo?  I don't know, but I do believe an experienced bunch of juniors and seniors at Graham can certainly close that talent gap with Appo.  

Graham ain't beating this team in the fall.  They re way ahead of this region in talent and coaching.  

[Vol Hater 276]

Man time to start complaining like Central and Graham folks did not all of them did. So if Union didn't have 3 turnovers and Appomattox wasn't so dang good we could have won. Just poking fun but dang Appomattox was the real deal and just think what they would have done to Central or Graham.

[Real Sasquatch 1,865]

4 minutes ago, goose111874 said:

Graham ain't beating this team in the fall.  They re way ahead of this region in talent and coaching.  

Graham will be strong again, they will however have to replace a very good RB and a solid QB in Fritz and Blevins, which are 2 tough positions to replace.  They did have a couple of good looking RB's and have a very athletic young man who will be eligible to play in the fall who moved to Bluefield after playing in WV in the fall.  They need to find a QB who can get the ball to what looks to be a good bunch of receivers.  Replacing Jackson on the line will be tough, but they have a very strong group of young men coming up and a couple of freshmen who may see a little playing time.  Way too early to make that kind of a statement.  Graham will definitely be dangerous and I do think it will come down to Graham and Union in region D if everybody can stay healthy and stay in the game.  These are kids, Graham and Union are well coached.  Appomattox has had a run of athletes that you don't see often at this level.  I think region D closes the gap this fall.

[SW_VA_boy 492]

1 hour ago, JDHoss said:

Liberty Christian? I was always under the impression that the VHSL didn't allow privates to compete with public, at least in the playoffs. I haven't lived in VA in over 30 years though, so I guess I missed that. 

 

1 hour ago, Liam McPoyle said:

Liberty Christian Academy successfully won an antitrust lawsuit against the VHSL

https://wset.com/archive/lca-vhsl-settle-lawsuit-bulldogs-to-join-virginia-high-school-league

And I don't know about you guys on the board, but I think it's total BS that a private school that can legally recruit can play in the same league as public schools that can't.  Granted, do they recruit like college programs do?  Generally no, but it's still a legal advantage their public peers around them don't have.  They need to be in the private school league with Roanoke Catholic and North Cross.  Just like in WV when you see Wheeling Central Catholic competing for state titles in single A in football and basketball all the time. 

[Unchained 587]

A stark reminder today that our region just doesn't have the speed that Appo has. It's all about the Jimmies and Joes and boy do they have them. At the end of the day though I'm fiercely proud of this Union squad. To be Region D champs and a state semifinalist in a rebuilding year,to be 3-2 and make a run like this. It sure bodes well for the future. If you would have told me how far this bunch would make it entering the season I would have taken it in a heartbeat.

[Mountain Football 1,532]

23 minutes ago, UNION'S HAMMER said:

Man time to start complaining like Central and Graham folks did not all of them did. So if Union didn't have 3 turnovers and Appomattox wasn't so dang good we could have won. Just poking fun but dang Appomattox was the real deal and just think what they would have done to Central or Graham.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say they would have handed them the same good old fashioned ass whoopin Union received today😂

Hats off to Union on a great season. They improved as the season went on. Great coaching! Come on to the living room with the rest of us and watch the show next week. We have the 🍿 ready🤣

[jarhead24219 440]

Union—what is there to say, GREAT season, who else can say that they Won a State championship in basketball then won the region in football with so many underclassman. To the Seniors you provided us with memories that will last forever—-Thank You, and to the jerk on here, yes you know who you are.....you waited 3 weeks to say you were right, enjoy it but Union is still Region D Champs , and State Champs and that sir you can’t change....see you in the fall

[Hokiebird7 1,416]

27 minutes ago, SW_VA_boy said:

 

And I don't know about you guys on the board, but I think it's total BS that a private school that can legally recruit can play in the same league as public schools that can't.  Granted, do they recruit like college programs do?  Generally no, but it's still a legal advantage their public peers around them don't have.  They need to be in the private school league with Roanoke Catholic and North Cross.  Just like in WV when you see Wheeling Central Catholic competing for state titles in single A in football and basketball all the time. 

Agree total bullshit

[BigWinners 1,642]

2 hours ago, UVAObserver said:

That’s even more ugly than I thought it would be.  It’s almost as if Union got generationally lucky to get to this point...

You would think that, despite being the only person who believes it's some sort of miraculous upset that got them there.

 

Can't just be Union was better than Graham when they met, not possible, no way no how.

[Unchained 587]

1 minute ago, jarhead24219 said:

Union—what is there to say, GREAT season, who else can say that they Won a State championship in basketball then won the region in football with so many underclassman. To the Seniors you provided us with memories that will last forever—-Thank You, and to the jerk on here, yes you know who you are.....you waited 3 weeks to say you were right, enjoy it but Union is still Region D Champs , and State Champs and that sir you can’t change....see you in the fall

Yeah I lost a ton of respect for him after that whining after the Graham game..

[jarhead24219 440]

I will also say this, great people from the Appomattox community, the young men who spoke to me represented your school very well . I spoke to several members of the school administration boosters etc. a real tribute to everyone there

[Unchained 587]

1 minute ago, jarhead24219 said:

I will also say this, great people from the Appomattox community, the young men who spoke to me represented your school very well . I spoke to several members of the school administration boosters etc. a real tribute to everyone there

They have been nothing but class each time we've seen them. Great program,great fans.

[trublue 939]

VHSL Athletics

 

 

VHSL Football Championship matchups are all set.

 

Class 6 – Oscar Smith vs. South County

Class 5 – Highland Springs vs. Stone Bridge

Class 4 – Lake Taylor vs. Salem (Salem)

Class 3 – Lafayette vs. Lord Botetourt

Class 2– Stuarts Draft vs. Appomattox County

Class 1 – Riverheads vs. Galax

great state

[Gridiron60 2,554]

1 hour ago, UNION'S HAMMER said:

Man time to start complaining like Central and Graham folks did not all of them did. So if Union didn't have 3 turnovers and Appomattox wasn't so dang good we could have won. Just poking fun but dang Appomattox was the real deal and just think what they would have done to Central or Graham.

I personally don’t recall a lot of Graham people complaining or making excuses when Graham lost to Union. I actually congratulated Union on a well played game. I believe you’re over generalizing fan bases. Congratulations on a good ride!