Union @ Elizabethton thoughts

[UnionGuy2017 183]

Just getting back from the scrimmage and thought I’d share what happened and some of my armchair opinions. 
 

Varsity ones v ones was a 7-7 draw. Elizabethton scored on a very long pass where Union was in good coverage but the WR was extremely fast and outran everyone. Fair play to him! Union scored after a long pass to huff and then a few good plays inside the 10. 
 

Pros for the Bears is the defense once again looks to be in a good spot to start the season. The front 7 contained the run game very well against a much bigger Betsy front 5. Anderson ran the ball well and made a couple quick, decisive decisions through the air. He’s primed for a great year I think. Bears fans will be happy to hear that they only ran one play out of the T, with the rest being a spread out/pistol game. 
 

 

looking forward to a fun year! 
 

 

 

[Duke2015 451]

Defense impressed me but the O-Line needs a ton of work.  Also gotta work on the snap, almost every one was at the QBs ankle.

[UnionGuy2017 183]

3 minutes ago, Duke2015 said:

Defense impressed me but the O-Line needs a ton of work.  Also gotta work on the snap, almost every one was at the QBs ankle.

No doubt. I will say though, the DE from Betsy was a monster and absolutely wrecked us. When he didn’t play during the last series for the 1s, things were much different. 

[Duke2015 451]

1 hour ago, UnionGuy2017 said:

No doubt. I will say though, the DE from Betsy was a monster and absolutely wrecked us. When he didn’t play during the last series for the 1s, things were much different. 

Yeah they had some big ole boys for sure 

[FBDevotee 34]

Union will suit up about sixty kids this fall, good depth, but the Bears are still a young team overall; several key position players are sophomores.

They have one of the best groups of wide receivers they've had since consolidation and Anderson returns as QB, so I expect more first down pass plays than we usually witness.

Defense appears solid based on scrimmage performance against Cyclones.

The schedule is difficult with road games against Graham, Central, Lee, and Abingdon plus hosting Science Hill in week three but I see a record very similar to last season. I predict several exciting games with a playoff appearance and 8-4 final tally.

   

  

[Duke2015 451]

35 minutes ago, FBDevotee said:

Union will suit up about sixty kids this fall, good depth, but the Bears are still a young team overall; several key position players are sophomores.

They have one of the best groups of wide receivers they've had since consolidation and Anderson returns as QB, so I expect more first down pass plays than we usually witness.

Defense appears solid based on scrimmage performance against Cyclones.

The schedule is difficult with road games against Graham, Central, Lee, and Abingdon plus hosting Science Hill in week three but I see a record very similar to last season. I predict several exciting games with a playoff appearance and 8-4 final tally.

   

  

Alot of sophomores playing for sure I think I counted 5 starting but didn’t know who a couple players are so don’t know grade they’re in like #1 and #3

[FBDevotee 34]

In reply to Duke2015:

There are a number of positives going into fall 2023 for the Bears.

Three of those sophomores, #2, #4, & #28, had outstanding freshman seasons and were on the all-district football squad last fall. 

All the Anderson brothers, #10, #11, & #17, have been looking extremely good in practice.

Union won the regional track and field championship in spring 2023 and the #1 & #3 you referenced were both part of that team.

The Bears do return several 2022 all-region football players led by their middle linebacker #50.

 

[BKFootball 28]

Must have watched two different scrimmages because the game I watched union scored against the betsy #3 defense.   Union offensive line was having major issues and the Wallon kid "J-train" as they call him absolutely ran all over them right up the middle.  I got to go with gate city being the sleeper school in mt7 Unions got a lot of work to do.

[Duke2015 451]

11 hours ago, BKFootball said:

Must have watched two different scrimmages because the game I watched union scored against the betsy #3 defense.   Union offensive line was having major issues and the Wallon kid "J-train" as they call him absolutely ran all over them right up the middle.  I got to go with gate city being the sleeper school in mt7 Unions got a lot of work to do.

Pretty sure Union scored on first team early but didn’t do much else.  You could tell early on though the O-Line is gonna be a major problem.  QB had to run for his life a couple times 

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,718]

15 minutes ago, Duke2015 said:

Pretty sure Union scored on first team early but didn’t do much else.  You could tell early on though the O-Line is gonna be a major problem.  QB had to run for his life a couple times 

Union fans, how good is Betsy?  I see you guys addressing some concerns about the Bears up front, but what are you measuring against?  Meaning.....how good is Elizabethton?  Is Elizabethton likely a lot better than most SWVA teams up front on defense, or not?  From what I vaguely know about Elizabethton, they ain't chump change.  From what I recall, they are a pretty bad outfit for a long time dating back to Jason Whitten and are usually tough year in and year out.  OR....are you guys comparing this Union OL to previous years Bears lineplay, etc?  

[SwvaOG 602]

On 8/9/2023 at 12:37 PM, FBDevotee said:

Union will suit up about sixty kids this fall, good depth, but the Bears are still a young team overall; several key position players are sophomores.

They have one of the best groups of wide receivers they've had since consolidation and Anderson returns as QB, so I expect more first down pass plays than we usually witness.

Defense appears solid based on scrimmage performance against Cyclones.

The schedule is difficult with road games against Graham, Central, Lee, and Abingdon plus hosting Science Hill in week three but I see a record very similar to last season. I predict several exciting games with a playoff appearance and 8-4 final tally.

   

  

Hopefully you won't fall into RV-itis and run the ball on 1st down 87% of the time and %65 of the time up the middle.  And that was with a good passing attack!!!  🤷‍♂️

Those are legit stats from last year, BTW.  Lol.

If your coaches are worth their salt they would incorporate a mean set of play action fakes because everyone expects you to run.  I'd rather see that than the spread.....I just think if you are going to go spread it has to be a wholesale commitment and no a package.

[UnionGuy2017 183]

1 hour ago, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

Union fans, how good is Betsy?  I see you guys addressing some concerns about the Bears up front, but what are you measuring against?  Meaning.....how good is Elizabethton?  Is Elizabethton likely a lot better than most SWVA teams up front on defense, or not?  From what I vaguely know about Elizabethton, they ain't chump change.  From what I recall, they are a pretty bad outfit for a long time dating back to Jason Whitten and are usually tough year in and year out.  OR....are you guys comparing this Union OL to previous years Bears lineplay, etc?  

I live in Tennessee now and a lot of the people  I talk to and the TN forums I read say Betsy is the favorite (or top 2) to win the TSSAA 4A State championship. Take that for what it’s worth. 

[Union_Fan 2,155]

2 hours ago, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

Union fans, how good is Betsy?  I see you guys addressing some concerns about the Bears up front, but what are you measuring against?  Meaning.....how good is Elizabethton?  Is Elizabethton likely a lot better than most SWVA teams up front on defense, or not?  From what I vaguely know about Elizabethton, they ain't chump change.  From what I recall, they are a pretty bad outfit for a long time dating back to Jason Whitten and are usually tough year in and year out.  OR....are you guys comparing this Union OL to previous years Bears lineplay, etc?  

Agree with UnionGuy.

Betsy is really good. Great staff and athletes.

If they were 2A in Virginia they would get to no less than a semifinal game year in and out.

They went to 3 straight 4A championship games and won the first 2, and should have won the 3rd had it not been for a few bad breaks.

They're a great 1st scrimmage for the Bears.

[BigWinners 1,643]

So did Bears score during 1s v 1s or against backups?

[UnionGuy2017 183]

6 minutes ago, BigWinners said:

So did Bears score during 1s v 1s or against backups?

Union 1s scored on the very last play of the event on who I thought were mostly Betsy 1’s. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. 

[Duke2015 451]

29 minutes ago, BigWinners said:

So did Bears score during 1s v 1s or against backups?

It’s really hard to tell because starters were in a few possessions then reserves then starters.  Never seen them mix it up that much.  And there was ten minutes of Elizabethon special teams kicking FGs all by themselves not sure what that was all about 

[S10SQUAREBODY4LIFE 239]

Sustained drives look like they're gonna be hard to produce.  On the other hand, big play ability might have increased but with that being said the defense better be ready to go on short notice.  M7 will be interesting to say the least.  Rv, Un, gc, wc, lee, ab, jsb

Not much distance between the top 5 and with ab losing a bit,  providing 3a points, out of conference schedules will be huge factor in November pairings. Add an improved Lebanon to 2d as well.

[BKFootball 28]

You all can watch it on the Tom Taylor show on Facebook he recorded the whole game. 

[Union_Fan 2,155]

Watched the Tom Taylor broadcast. Gives a different perspective to the scrimmage. I'm paraphrasing, but 2 interesting quotes.

Union looks like a more athletic Daniel Boone and will help us prepare for that game.

We won't see a better athlete next week (Science Hill) than Unions #4.

Assuming the announcers know what they're talking about, it would seem that Betsy is expected to compete for a state championship appearance. They also repeatedly talked about how they crushed West Ridge last week in their 1st scrimmage. Maybe after some adjustments, the Bears' performance wasn't half bad.

[Duke2015 451]

1 hour ago, Union_Fan said:

Watched the Tom Taylor broadcast. Gives a different perspective to the scrimmage. I'm paraphrasing, but 2 interesting quotes.

Union looks like a more athletic Daniel Boone and will help us prepare for that game.

We won't see a better athlete next week (Science Hill) than Unions #4.

Assuming the announcers know what they're talking about, it would seem that Betsy is expected to compete for a state championship appearance. They also repeatedly talked about how they crushed West Ridge last week in their 1st scrimmage. Maybe after some adjustments, the Bears' performance wasn't half bad.

I graduated with Huff and he was a helluva athlete but his kid may be better 

[UnionGuy2017 183]

2 hours ago, Union_Fan said:

Watched the Tom Taylor broadcast. Gives a different perspective to the scrimmage. I'm paraphrasing, but 2 interesting quotes.

Union looks like a more athletic Daniel Boone and will help us prepare for that game.

We won't see a better athlete next week (Science Hill) than Unions #4.

Assuming the announcers know what they're talking about, it would seem that Betsy is expected to compete for a state championship appearance. They also repeatedly talked about how they crushed West Ridge last week in their 1st scrimmage. Maybe after some adjustments, the Bears' performance wasn't half bad.

If you have followed Daniel Boone football the last handful of years, that’s a heck of a compliment. 
 

Suggesting Huff would be the best athlete on the field Vs Science Hill is a HECK of a compliment. 

[Union_Fan 2,155]

27 minutes ago, UnionGuy2017 said:

If you have followed Daniel Boone football the last handful of years, that’s a heck of a compliment. 
 

Suggesting Huff would be the best athlete on the field Vs Science Hill is a HECK of a compliment. 

Agree completely! I was surprised by and appreciated both comments.

[FBDevotee 34]

Little doubt that Betsy, at this early point in the season, was the stronger football team overall; but when first teams vs first teams were on the artificial turf during the scrimmage, I believe the Cyclones scored one touchdown and the Bears scored one touchdown.  

I suspect that Elizabethton might very well be the toughest opponent Union faces this fall - but getting to scrimmage them is really helpful for the Bears. I suggest that there were several bright spots for Bears. I really like the two sophomore defensive ends for Union and I believe the crop of wide receivers is special. Of course if Anderson has to scramble every pass play, the talent of the receivers may not get much of an opportunity to shine.

[S10SQUAREBODY4LIFE 239]

Anderson would be best used at TB or a possession type receiver.  If he were under center in a Pro-I, play action and get him moving to be more effective I believe but you still have to throw enough to keep people honest.  Mt7 will be interesting to say the least. 

[stan.the.man 29]

On 8/10/2023 at 3:12 PM, BigWinners said:

So did Bears score during 1s v 1s or against backups?

against the 1's,