George Wythe vs Riverheads

[Red Rabbit 14]

At the game on Saturday I was told we play Christiansburg next season . Anyone confirm that ?

[RedPrideNation 82]

Yes

[sixcat 2,918]

18 minutes ago, stu_bean said:

I think there are going to be some surprises on both sides next year.  People will realize RH is really that good and RH is going to see some tougher teams that they wouldn't normally play as well.

Riverheads is that good. Nobody is disputing that. But playing in a regional tournament with Central Woodstock, Strasburg, East Rock, Stuarts Draft, Clarke County, Luray, Buckingham and Madison County is a little different than having a bye and playing Buffalo Gap, Central Lunenburg, William Campbell, Sussex and Franklin. 

The road will be significantly more difficult. The numbers advantage they have in facing Class 1 competition will be negated against Class 2 competition. They can play Lord Botetourt sandwiched between games with Tazewell and Parry McCluer. How will they fare playing Glenvar and Appomattox after having played Central Woodstock and Stuarts Draft?

[Bulldogs52 482]

Is Triple C back and healthy for the Riverheads?

 

[1inStripes 932]

2 hours ago, sixcat said:

Other than the 2016 season when Galax was ridiculously young, I thought Galax matched them strength for strength but couldn't hold up for 4 quarters because of the seemingly unlimited supply of players Riverheads can put on the field. Galax didn't have the depth to stay as fresh as Riverheads and got worn down as the game progressed. I would say the exactl same thing about the 2018 Chilhowie team. They matched up well starter for starter but couldn't match the depth. 

I could have worded that better and included depth as part of that 185-235 class kids.  Its like they have 50 of them and they are all very similar in build and strength, where as most teams are lucky to have 5-10 kids built similarly in 1A with maybe 30 kids rostered.

[sixcat 2,918]

1 minute ago, 1inStripes said:

I could have worded that better and included depth as part of that 185-235 class kids.  Its like they have 50 of them and they are all very similar in build and strength, where as most teams are lucky to have 5-10 kids built similarly in 1A with maybe 30 kids rostered.

I agree completely. It's hard for any Class 1 program to field a half-dozen of those kids. RH can run two dozen out there and not see much, if any, drop-off. I think this is where Riverheads will lose a clear-cut advantage when playing Class 2 competition. Class 2 schools will come close to leveling that playing field, especially when talking about the top 8 to 10 Class 2 programs. And with that, programs like Appomattox and Graham will have a clear-cut advantage in athletic ability. 

[Dobb83 48]

9 minutes ago, sixcat said:

I agree completely. It's hard for any Class 1 program to field a half-dozen of those kids. RH can run two dozen out there and not see much, if any, drop-off. I think this is where Riverheads will lose a clear-cut advantage when playing Class 2 competition. Class 2 schools will come close to leveling that playing field, especially when talking about the top 8 to 10 Class 2 programs. And with that, programs like Appomattox and Graham will have a clear-cut advantage in athletic ability. 

RH never won before in 2A correct?

[TS Fan 2]

8 hours ago, Dobb83 said:

well its because they are a 2A school so they should dominate. next year RH will be brought back to reality

Riverhead mainly only plays 2 and 3a schools during the regular schedule. I think they played two "1a" schools this year.  They are losing a lot this year but to act like they can't complete in 2A is crazy. 

They are about the same size as Galax and George Wythe.

[sixcat 2,918]

16 minutes ago, Dobb83 said:

RH never won before in 2A correct?

Not to my knowledge, no. They were beaten early in the 2A playoffs in 2014 by King William and in 2012 by Wilson Memorial and thumped in the state semifinal by Giles in 2013. They came down to Class 1 in 2015, lost to Galax in the State Championship, and have won every state title since.

Even going back to RH's state championships in 2000, 2006 and 2010, they were playing under the old A-D1 format where the Region A and Region B schools in Group A-Division 1 were double the size of virtually every Region C and D school in D1.

[TS Fan 2]

1 hour ago, Bulldogs52 said:

Is Triple C back and healthy for the Riverheads?

 

He is back but I don't think he is 100% though.

[sixcat 2,918]

6 minutes ago, Grundy101 said:

They are about the same size as Galax and George Wythe.

Galax is roughly 100 students smaller than George Wythe and about 50 students smaller than Grundy per the 2020 and 2022 ADM figures. Riverheads has well over 100 more students than Galax. 

My daughter is a senior at Galax right now. Her graduating class is 84, assuming they all graduate. 

[RedPrideNation 82]

We were just a smidge under 500 students in the 2A run.
 

2011- lost to eventual state champion Gretna (614 students for them)

2012- lost to Wilson (708 for them)

2013- lost to Giles in semis (540, closest enrollment we faced)

2014- lost to King William (620 for them)

 

Giles was humbling but one of my favorite games because our boys didn’t quit. You call it a thumping, I call it a lesson learned. I wont complain next year when we face teams with 250-300 more kids. And I get part of what someone mentioned about having 50 rostered and a dozen the same size. It’s a product of winning as much as anything. The only question I have is will there be venom for the half dozen other teams that move to the top of the student adm and be one the teams to beat? 
 

For reference, we had 34 players on the 7-8 yr old team. 38 on the 9-10’s and 35 on the 11-12’s. So the youth program has numbers as well but the class size is right around 100 per grade. 
 

We may not win this week and may not ever see a state final again but it’s been magical for more than a decade and no amount of trash talk from fans saying there’s an asterisk will change any if it. Not the titles and not tying the consecutive win streak. I am honestly not here to argue so I will go back to just reading about all the 4.4 guys on all the rosters in SWVA. 

[Red Rabbit 14]

You can't play in SWVA unless you run a 4.4 

[Optimal62 178]

I will say this for those saying they can’t compete against two teams , you better believe they can. They do it week in and week out now. Are those the cream of the 2 A crop? No but Buffalo gap is certainly no slouch.  They won against the tazwells and Glenvars each time they played them. Will they dominate like they have in 1A  that remains to be seen but it won’t be as easy as a road. My opinion they will make final four for many years to come. 
 

as far as people complaining about the numbers and claiming they will have an asterisk beside their name. To be honest a majority of the state feels that way and feel very strongly about it. Right wrong or indifferent, although the RH admin did nothing but fan those  flames. The request to play down in 1A just solidified those beliefs. Again right or wrong that is the case. 

Either way they was fun and maddening to watch at the same time. Lol
 

[redtiger 1,740]

12 hours ago, Optimal62 said:

The request to play down in 1A just solidified those beliefs. Again right or wrong that is the case. 

Absolutely. Any request to play down is gonna be widely ridiculed 

 

Im a big fan of the Riverheads program, especially their offense. Its impressive any time a team comes out with 70+ kids, and as a fan of really good run offenses I gotta love Riverheads but their request to play down is cowardly(not a reflection of the kids at all) and its suspicious how they almost always manage to stay just under the cutoff 

[sixcat 2,918]

12 hours ago, Optimal62 said:

I will say this for those saying they can’t compete against two teams , you better believe they can. 

Suggesting the road becomes much more difficult in Class 2 doesn't magically suggest they can't compete. Nobody is suggesting they can't compete. With no bye in the playoffs in Class 2 and quality opponents throughout the playoffs unlike Class 1, it's reasonable to suggest the road gets much more difficult. As great as Appomattox has been over the past decade, they haven't played for eight consecutive state championships. Neither will Riverheads in Class 2. That's not to suggest they won't play for one here or there, but not a chance in hell they play for eight consecutive. 

 

12 hours ago, Optimal62 said:

The request to play down in 1A just solidified those beliefs. 

This, I agree with completely. It was an extremely bad look for Riverheads and one I find to be petty. It only adds fuel to the "Riverheads cheats and fudges numbers" fire. 

[MT FAN 91 119]

14 hours ago, Optimal62 said:

I will say this for those saying they can’t compete against two teams , you better believe they can. They do it week in and week out now. Are those the cream of the 2 A crop? No but Buffalo gap is certainly no slouch.  They won against the tazwells and Glenvars each time they played them. Will they dominate like they have in 1A  that remains to be seen but it won’t be as easy as a road. My opinion they will make final four for many years to come. 
 

as far as people complaining about the numbers and claiming they will have an asterisk beside their name. To be honest a majority of the state feels that way and feel very strongly about it. Right wrong or indifferent, although the RH admin did nothing but fan those  flames. The request to play down in 1A just solidified those beliefs. Again right or wrong that is the case. 

Either way they was fun and maddening to watch at the same time. Lol
 

Is Grayson County going to be the same as what most consider Riverheads to be? They definitely have class two numbers next year and will be a damn good football team next year, so if Grayson makes a run next year and wins it all will they have an asterisk bedside their name as well?

[sixcat 2,918]

8 minutes ago, MT FAN 91 said:

Is Grayson County going to be the same as what most consider Riverheads to be? They definitely have class two numbers next year and will be a damn good football team next year, so if Grayson makes a run next year and wins it all will they have an asterisk bedside their name as well?

Anybody can have a talented crop of kids come through and make a run to Salem. See Chilhowie, Eastern Montgomery, Altavista, King William, Gretna, etc.

Riverheads has never failed to reach Salem since dropping down to Class 1 in 2015. That suggests something is wrong with the situation. 

[redtiger 1,740]

25 minutes ago, MT FAN 91 said:

Is Grayson County going to be the same as what most consider Riverheads to be? They definitely have class two numbers next year and will be a damn good football team next year, so if Grayson makes a run next year and wins it all will they have an asterisk bedside their name as well?

They have caught considerable hell on here since petitioning to play down.

Their limited success wont earn them the same scorn but whatever success they have next season will be tainted by playing down.

[redtiger 1,740]

Since enrollment figures are being thrown around, the March 2018 numbers are 

Graham 510, Grayson 489, Riverheads 447 

Three schools that are all basically the same size. The difference here is, like them or not, Graham isn't crying about their situation.

[tornado99 345]

It will be interesting to see if Graham and Riverheads get to play in the coming years. I admire the precision of their offense just as redtiger. I think they compete well in Class 2, although reasonably not at the level of success as in Class 1. 
Currently, Class 2 the G-men are one of the top programs and would have the talent advantage almost every year. My prediction is Riverheads continues their winning ways, but will fall short consistently to the current powers that consistently put more talent on the field.

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

10 minutes ago, redtiger said:

Since enrollment figures are being thrown around, the March 2018 numbers are 

Graham 510, Grayson 489, Riverheads 447 

Three schools that are all basically the same size. The difference here is, like them or not, Graham isn't crying about their situation.

The only complaints Graham has had about its enrollment the past 60 years is fighting to play UP. It would normally go the other way with schools and enrollment about trying to play down. Not Graham. If Graham were given a letter tomorrow by the VHSL that said, you are Class 3 next year and somehow this was enforced or mandatory, Graham would say, "ok." They don't care, or at least...historically they haven't cared.

[RedPrideNation 82]

Serious question, does anyone know how the cut off determined? I was under the impression that they looked to somewhat equally divide the 6 divisions with approximately the same number of schools in each classification. If that is correct then it isn’t a hard number and will float again which may change again when the next review of adm occurs. 

[MT FAN 91 119]

32 minutes ago, sixcat said:

Anybody can have a talented crop of kids come through and make a run to Salem. See Chilhowie, Eastern Montgomery, Altavista, King William, Gretna, etc.

Riverheads has never failed to reach Salem since dropping down to Class 1 in 2015. That suggests something is wrong with the situation. 

I understand that but regardless of how well Grayson does they still have class 2 numbers playing in class 1 next year

[tornado99 345]

I think Class 1 is hard capped, and the remaining are divided equally. Either way, it indicates frequent movements at the fringes.

Edited December 6, 2022 by tornado99
Correction