Ridgeview @ Union

[Fairlawncat]

If the son is as good as the father was, or only half as good, I would be tempted to go down and see him Saturday. Stanley (the deceased father) was the GOAT of Bluegrass, or at least in the top 5. I still own a Stanley Bros CD and Clinch Mountain Boys CD. Dude was an absolute genius with the Banjo. The Eddie Van Halen or Jimmy Hendrix equivalent on the Banjo.

[jeffro]

I’m wondering if it’s the grandson. He plays a lot of events in the Tri state area. Pretty good actually and I’m not a bluegrass fan.  Seen some of his musicians playing in Pigeon Forge. 

[Union_Fan]

45 minutes ago, Fairlawncat said:

If the son is as good as the father was, or only half as good, I would be tempted to go down and see him Saturday. Stanley (the deceased father) was the GOAT of Bluegrass, or at least in the top 5. I still own a Stanley Bros CD and Clinch Mountain Boys CD. Dude was an absolute genius with the Banjo. The Eddie Van Halen or Jimmy Hendrix equivalent on the Banjo.

 

21 minutes ago, jeffro said:

I’m wondering if it’s the grandson. He plays a lot of events in the Tri state area. Pretty good actually and I’m not a bluegrass fan.  Seen some of his musicians playing in Pigeon Forge. 

Here's the lineup.

https://bluehighwayfest.com/artists/daily-lineup/

[CriticalNoise]

47 minutes ago, Fairlawncat said:

If the son is as good as the father was, or only half as good, I would be tempted to go down and see him Saturday. Stanley (the deceased father) was the GOAT of Bluegrass, or at least in the top 5. I still own a Stanley Bros CD and Clinch Mountain Boys CD. Dude was an absolute genius with the Banjo. The Eddie Van Halen or Jimmy Hendrix equivalent on the Banjo.

He’s playing tonight 

[jeffro]

16 minutes ago, Union_Fan said:

 

Here's the lineup.

https://bluehighwayfest.com/artists/daily-lineup/

Yep  the grandson, again very talented bunch 

[SwvaOG]

On 10/7/2025 at 6:56 PM, Unchained said:

The funny thing was some on here said that Union lacked explosive quality. The truth was they didn't need to show any of that until last Friday night. Bostic was what 4-4 for 216 yds? Thats some serious chunks of yardage:). The Pack hasn't had to play 4 quarters yet. Union is a deep, battle tested team that got a big workout vs GC. This is going to pay dividends Thursday night.

Who said Union lacked explosive quality? Didn’t see that. Explosive plays are measured by plays that net more than 20 yards, right? I’m sure they have plenty of those. 

[Fairlawncat]

Explosive Quality has two requirements for it to be explosive quality. The first are the athletes and good football players. The second is the explosive quality play calling. Union has Always, since the school opened, had part one of the above. Union has Not always had part 2. So, in one sense, Union surely does have explosive quality. In the other sense, historically, if using the play calling part of the equation, No, they haven't had explosive quality.

Example of the above? Watch Essex. They have explosive quality athletes, but they dont have explosive quality offensive play design, scheme, route design. They are still elite. Defending state champs.

[SwvaOG]

13 minutes ago, Fairlawncat said:

Explosive Quality has two requirements for it to be explosive quality. The first are the athletes and good football players. The second is the explosive quality play calling. Union has Always, since the school opened, had part one of the above. Union has Not always had part 2. So, in one sense, Union surely does have explosive quality. In the other sense, historically, if using the play calling part of the equation, No, they haven't had explosive quality.

Example of the above? Watch Essex. They have explosive quality athletes, but they dont have explosive quality offensive play design, scheme, route design. They are still elite. Defending state champs.

Well, Union fans are notoriously bipolar in terms of appreciating what they have.  I’m betting they have their fair share of explosive plays that happen to be runs….Chandler rambles or Bostic keepers.  They get their passing ones as well. At the end of the day, if Chandler gets 22 yards on a counter versus an elaborately designed, and well executed, tunnel screen to an explosive WR that goes for 45….both are explosive plays. 

Too often people associate those explosive plays with only the passing game. What’s the old saying “If all eleven do their jobs correctly, every play should score.”

[Unchained]

16 minutes ago, SwvaOG said:

Who said Union lacked explosive quality? Didn’t see that. Explosive plays are measured by plays that net more than 20 yards, right? I’m sure they have plenty of those. 

Actually, a Union poster or 2 said it. I just don't have time right now to scroll back. Busy week at the office.

[Fairlawncat]

1 hour ago, SwvaOG said:

Well, Union fans are notoriously bipolar in terms of appreciating what they have.  I’m betting they have their fair share of explosive plays that happen to be runs….Chandler rambles or Bostic keepers.  They get their passing ones as well. At the end of the day, if Chandler gets 22 yards on a counter versus an elaborately designed, and well executed, tunnel screen to an explosive WR that goes for 45….both are explosive plays. 

Too often people associate those explosive plays with only the passing game. What’s the old saying “If all eleven do their jobs correctly, every play should score.”

Truth. 11 guys doing their job and big explosive plays can come from the run. Riverheads a great historic example as well as Giles. Blockers, good athletes, 50 yard pop is less risky than the elaborate passing play which usually entails more risk.

[BigWinners]

3 hours ago, Unchained said:

Actually, a Union poster or 2 said it. I just don't have time right now to scroll back. Busy week at the office.

I have.  It’s much harder to score every time on 10-play drives as opposed to getting a few quick scores.  It’s not been an issue the last few weeks, Union has managed several big plays.   I don’t care pass v. run, but getting your best athletes the ball in space isn’t a bad thing. 

[Fairlawncat]

Union way to physical for Ridgeview. Game is no contest. I will repeat. Union will be 13 and 0 when Glenvar comes to town, and they will beat Glenvar also 

[Stelley]

No way shape or form is ridgeviews qb comparable to O’Quinn. When there was pressure he made the wrong decision every time. Maybe had 5 or 6 completions and 2 picks. Big kid and would be a pretty good TE, not a QB

[Wolf1207]

22 minutes ago, Stelley said:

No way shape or form is ridgeviews qb comparable to O’Quinn. When there was pressure he made the wrong decision every time. Maybe had 5 or 6 completions and 2 picks. Big kid and would be a pretty good TE, not a QB

That’s true but as Bill Parcells said, “A can’t dial 1-800-quarterback” and one magically show up. 

[Stelley]

2 minutes ago, Wolf1207 said:

That’s true but as Bill Parcells said, “A can’t dial 1-800-quarterback” and one magically show up. 

If they were going to use him in the run game that would be one thing but he really isn’t doing a whole lot when he’s just handing the ball to Deel or Hill. You could teach anyone’s grandma to do that and you would figure he’d be better utilized since you can’t teach size

[BigWinners]

RV/GC will be a war. GC is better on the LOS but RV has more speed and better ST. 

[UnionFan101]

Maybe one day Ridgeview will schedule a tougher out of confrence schedule than Council, Castlewood, and Grundy lol. If we’re real lucky they might show a little class too!

[BigWinners]

I won’t beat up RVs schedule, thats a very good team that doesn’t have many options for scheduling. But it was clear they weren’t as quite as good shape as Union, they simply hadn’t had to go four full quarters and that’s impossible to practice. 
 

But their run game is very good, Deel is wicked quick, 25 the coaches son is very good, they were good at the LOS and the kicker is incredible.  They just couldn’t run enough to keep Union off the field. The Bear offense scored 42 out of the last 49 points and could have had more if holding calls hadn’t killed two drives. The Bear defense made adjustments and limited RV to seven points after the first five minutes but the Pack D had no answer for Chandler. 

[Gridiron60]

2 hours ago, Fairlawncat said:

Union way to physical for Ridgeview. Game is no contest. I will repeat. Union will be 13 and 0 when Glenvar comes to town, and they will beat Glenvar also 

Will Union out point Glenvar? Is it too soon to tell? I figure it will be close. 

[Gridiron60]

2 minutes ago, BigWinners said:

 Pack D had no answer for Chandler. 

Not many defenses do, Union will definitely miss his presence on the field next year. I don’t know who Union has coming up the ranks but he’ll be a hard one to replace. He’s an absolute workhorse pummeling through the defenders.  

[BigWinners]

2 minutes ago, Gridiron60 said:

Will Union out point Glenvar? Is it too soon to tell? I figure it will be close. 

They said earlier this year that a 10-0 Union would likely edge Glenvar in points but that was a while back. 
 

Union will face another undefeated, top 3 region team next week.  If they can make it through the next two weeks unbeaten, they’ll be the top seed in 2D and clinch the M7. Not many teams will face what could be  2-3-4-5-8 in the region. 

[BigWinners]

Just now, Gridiron60 said:

Not many defenses do, Union will definitely miss his presence on the field next year. I don’t know who Union has coming up the ranks but he’ll be a hard one to replace. He’s an absolute workhorse pummeling through the defenders.  

He’s not replaceable. They have some very good young backs but you don’t lose a kid like KC and not feel it, on offense and defense. Him slimming down has made him such an effective runner snd a monster OLB, he has the same ability to break tackles but has more burst and doesn’t gas as quickly. 

[Gridiron60]

2 minutes ago, BigWinners said:

They said earlier this year that a 10-0 Union would likely edge Glenvar in points but that was a while back. 
 

Union will face another undefeated, top 3 region team next week.  If they can make it through the next two weeks unbeaten, they’ll be the top seed in 2D and clinch the M7. Not many teams will face what could be  2-3-4-5-8 in the region. 

How is Union’s pass defense? Reece is probably best QB in SWVA. He can sling it and accurate as heck. Lebanon’s line is weak in comparison to Union though,  in my opinion. Chandler will have a field day. 

[BigWinners]

Just now, Gridiron60 said:

How is Union’s pass defense? Reece is probably best QB in SWVA. He can sling it and accurate as heck. Lebanon’s line is weak in comparison to Union though,  in my opinion. Chandler will have a field day. 

It’s good. They have very good athletes and play balls in the air very well, Bostic has elite instincts and Maddux/Hall are long and rangy DBs. Unions best friend will need to be the pass rush. Don’t let Reece get into rhythm and make him get off his spot bc if you don’t, he will eat even a good secondary alive. I suspect Union will try and grind Lebanon to death, long sustained drives keeping the high powered attack on sideline. 

[Union_Fan]

Ridgeview has a solid team. Not very big, but quick to the ball on defense. They couldn't really contain the head on running but were able to control the stretch plays, QB keepers and the short passes.

Offensively, they had the 2 long explosive runs, but never put together a sustained scoring drive. I don't know if that was due to poor play calling, penalties, Union adjustments or combination. I do know when #60 and #70 were in at the same time, runs went nowhere.

On offense, I thought the line over performed, given their size. Had several good runs. Passing game was not very crisp. The throwing motion was odd enough to telegraph the direction of the ball. The 1st pick was just a lob that didn't seem to have a destination. Lack of mobility hurt too.

Kicker is fantastic. Going to Arkansas last I heard, but wanted to brag on him a bit. First time I've been entertained by an opponent warming up. His punts were a thing of beauty.

Jumping out 14-0 was completely unexpected and caught Union off guard. I'm sure there were plenty of surprised faces on the sidelines, but no real panic. Bears took the punches, got back up and went to work.

As already mentioned, the GC/Ridgeview game is going to be an entertaining one. GC will win the LOS, but Ridgeview will take the speed/athletic category. Not sure which one wins. Could very well be a battle for the #2 seed if Union wins out.