Graham vs Pulaski

[Gridiron60 2,555]

GMen had 150+ yards in penalties if I’m not mistaken, the longer the season goes, it’s going to be harder to overcome especially in the playoffs. I’m not sure if Pulaski is penalty prone like the GMen. Graham needs to show up & make sure their heads are in the game. 

[SWVAgridiron 1,469]

Graham wins but if they’re sloppy Pulaski will keep it within a score until the very end. If Graham plays how they should, they walk off the field with a 14+ point victory. Pulaski does not have a passing threat and I don’t see them beating Graham with the ground and pound. This is the only time I root against the G-Men, because Pulaski was home before my family moved to Giles. Go Cougars! 

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

The Gmen are running out of time in my opinion if.....again...If the GMen are aiming at the usual goal of competing for a state title. Here's what I mean.

3 Problems. Early on, suffered from breaking in a new line/QB/youth and major injuries including the loss of Hughes. Added to the youth and injuries, the sloppy undisciplined play/busted assignments/false starts/penalties/bad punt snaps/QB exchanges. Three problems above to fix. 

1. The youth and breaking in new players is about fixed as experience and games played helps this for the OL and the QB.

2. Injuries. Nearly fixed as best it can be. Clements close to 100% or nearing it. Hughes and the big lineman/ACL are out for the season.

3. The sloppy undisciplined penalty self destruction part. NOT fixed. All 3 of these problems need fixed to have a realistic shot at a region title and state title. Grahams got the first 2 of 3 reasonably fixed. But the undisciplined par is almost Never fixed after game 8. If a team hasn't fixed this by game 8, the habit is too far entrenched for that given season and it will not be overcome in the playoffs. If fixed by game 8, there's a chance. Graham has their biggest game of the season in my opinion against Pulaski.  Graham needs the perfect or complete game with all 3 issues addressed in this post fixed. Even if they beat PC in a close game or 2 TD win game where Graham still has the penalty/undisciplined issues, it's a bad sign for Graham in the playoffs. If they play the complete game, then other Class 2 teams need to be concerned. We will know a lot more about Grahams playoff success or lack of success (in my opinion) as the buzzer sounds and the Pulaski game is over.

 

[S10SQUAREBODY4LIFE 239]

Other than union and beavers,  any the only thing on the schedule that might test them.  Not long though,  this ain't a good Pulaski team.  If they don't have a good game and slip, depending on everyone else 2D 2-5 in PP, could be a lot of shifting the next few weeks. 

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

20 minutes ago, S10SQUAREBODY4LIFE said:

Other than union and beavers,  any the only thing on the schedule that might test them.  Not long though,  this ain't a good Pulaski team.  If they don't have a good game and slip, depending on everyone else 2D 2-5 in PP, could be a lot of shifting the next few weeks. 

Agree on Pulaski and not being better than Union as a test or Graham. My post was focused on Graham vs Graham Friday night, not so much Graham vs Pulaski and whether Pulaski can win or not win, etc.

My point is...Graham has a limited critical amount of time to fix the penalty problem and play the complete "good game." If they don't do that against Pulaski, it's likely to late in the season to fix it, and it will rear its head in the playoffs. 

 

[VT W1N 25]

3 hours ago, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

The Gmen are running out of time in my opinion if.....again...If the GMen are aiming at the usual goal of competing for a state title. Here's what I mean.

3 Problems. Early on, suffered from breaking in a new line/QB/youth and major injuries including the loss of Hughes. Added to the youth and injuries, the sloppy undisciplined play/busted assignments/false starts/penalties/bad punt snaps/QB exchanges. Three problems above to fix. 

1. The youth and breaking in new players is about fixed as experience and games played helps this for the OL and the QB.

2. Injuries. Nearly fixed as best it can be. Clements close to 100% or nearing it. Hughes and the big lineman/ACL are out for the season.

3. The sloppy undisciplined penalty self destruction part. NOT fixed. All 3 of these problems need fixed to have a realistic shot at a region title and state title. Grahams got the first 2 of 3 reasonably fixed. But the undisciplined par is almost Never fixed after game 8. If a team hasn't fixed this by game 8, the habit is too far entrenched for that given season and it will not be overcome in the playoffs. If fixed by game 8, there's a chance. Graham has their biggest game of the season in my opinion against Pulaski.  Graham needs the perfect or complete game with all 3 issues addressed in this post fixed. Even if they beat PC in a close game or 2 TD win game where Graham still has the penalty/undisciplined issues, it's a bad sign for Graham in the playoffs. If they play the complete game, then other Class 2 teams need to be concerned. We will know a lot more about Grahams playoff success or lack of success (in my opinion) as the buzzer sounds and the Pulaski game is over.

 

Graham was a penalty machine/undisciplined last year too so that is probably not going to get fixed. They were so talented last year they could overcome it. This year it remains to be seen whether they can or not, but so far they've not shown they are as talented as last year. We'll see over the coming weeks whether they can turn it up a notch, but the penalties will probably not be fixed.

[Duke2015 451]

2 hours ago, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

Agree on Pulaski and not being better than Union as a test or Graham. My post was focused on Graham vs Graham Friday night, not so much Graham vs Pulaski and whether Pulaski can win or not win, etc.

My point is...Graham has a limited critical amount of time to fix the penalty problem and play the complete "good game." If they don't do that against Pulaski, it's likely to late in the season to fix it, and it will rear its head in the playoffs. 

 

Union or Graham have both had this problem for years now with penalties and neither seem very concerned about fixing it 

[Real Sasquatch 1,868]

I think this game will tell us a lot about Graham.  If they squeak by or lose and continue to make the mistakes they have been making all year, Im not sure  at this point in the season they can overcome all of that.  They have to play more disciplined football.  I wasn't overly impressed with the play of Riverheads when I watched them, but, I was extremely impressed with their attention to detail in the way they came on and off the field, the uniforms, few penalties, etc...they looked the part.  I will take a disciplined team over an undisciplined team in the playoffs any time.  Graham got its act together somewhat last season late in the year in terms of the mistakes, but had the talent to overcome some of that.  Not sure if they can overcome the mistakes this season, some very talented teams out there.  Clements looked around 80% last week and Graham seems to be more confident with him in there.  Jennings looks to be nearly 100% and is starting to cause havoc on defense and Lilly has really made strides in the place of Hughes on defense.  The O-Line has done better in the blocking aspect of the game, not letting their opponents get under their pads and push them around so much.  I think a lot of the issues can be attributed to youth.  Still gotta work on the holding penalties.  Graham surely is not out of the conversation at all.

 

 

[Real Sasquatch 1,868]

Rain in the forecast on Friday, that could play in PCs favor 

[Gridiron60 2,555]

1 hour ago, Real Sasquatch said:

Graham surely is not out of the conversation at all.

 

 

I don’t think we can count Graham out especially if Clements is near 100%. I think the offense plays better with him in the game.  I'm hoping a lot of the penalties against Lebanon were due to coming off bye week and just lacking attention & focus. I hope that gets fixed. False starts, encroachment, etc. The holding, I'm not sure what to do about that.

Younger guys are getting better. I do think Coach Hayes has made progress with the O-Line. I also think Lilly is getting better too. He’s a good athlete. The Union game was only his 3rd time playing replacing Hughes. I think some of the miscues he had that game, he won't have if they meet again. 

Does Graham have some work to do & issues to deal with, certainly. Are they out of making a deep run, not necessarily. I know a lot of people are giving Radford Region C & I’m not ready to say they win their region either. They have a good chance but I don’t believe it’s a 100% sure thing. 

[Real Sasquatch 1,868]

2 hours ago, Gridiron60 said:

I don’t think we can count Graham out especially if Clements is near 100%. I think the offense plays better with him in the game.  I'm hoping a lot of the penalties against Lebanon were due to coming off bye week and just lacking attention & focus. I hope that gets fixed. False starts, encroachment, etc. The holding, I'm not sure what to do about that.

Younger guys are getting better. I do think Coach Hayes has made progress with the O-Line. I also think Lilly is getting better too. He’s a good athlete. The Union game was only his 3rd time playing replacing Hughes. I think some of the miscues he had that game, he won't have if they meet again. 

Does Graham have some work to do & issues to deal with, certainly. Are they out of making a deep run, not necessarily. I know a lot of people are giving Radford Region C & I’m not ready to say they win their region either. They have a good chance but I don’t believe it’s a 100% sure thing. 

Yes, a lot of football left to be played, there are some teams hitting their stride now.  Some are improving, it will surely be interesting to see how everything plays out.

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

The Graham RB was first team All State last year.  He has Div 1 offers.  He's been hurt basically for the entire season other than the first 2 quarters of the Bluefield game.  I think some people (including myself) underestimate how a player like this can change a game quickly.  He's not borderline All State or All Region, he's first team All State and Div 1.  Historically, that is usually a big deal, a huge deal in effecting the entire character/results/level of play of the entire team.  Remember King William and that freak they had in Claiborne and how one kid can just not just take a game over, but take a season over.  Look at the Radford QB.  Same for Riverheads and "The Freak of Augusta County".  It's especially noticeable when the player is a QB or RB, and plays in Class 1 or 2. Look at Milton from Giles or Eaves from Giles back in the day.  I think Graham may have a wildcard in their pocket we've forgotten about with just how dangerous a healthy Clements is and how dangerous it makes Graham.  A 10 point margin-score difference for Graham game could quickly become a 21 pt margin.  For example, if Graham loses a game 28-7, with Clements, that could easily be 17-7 loss, or vice versa, a 28-7 win for Graham could quickly be a 39 or 40-7 win.  I'm not saying this is how it will play out, but it is usually/historically how it plays out at the Class 1 and 2 levels with a Div 1 RB or QB, First team All State type player.  They just elevate the team 10-14 pts.  I've seen this picture over and over for many years (because I'm freaking old) and it usually holds true.