STORM WARNING!!!!State Finals!!!!!!!

[Cola 10]

Well I'm very proud of our Blues and the fans from SWVA. Next week we head out out for Lynchburg. Will post by Tuesday evening what time the Storm Train will depart. Congradulations again.

[dinkman 14]

good job blues i hope u can win it all

[Cola 10]

Will Probably start out at the Walmart @ Claypool Hill around 7:a.m or so. We want the flags flying and the colors shining all the way to the "Burg"

[bluenecknation 17]

i think we going to try & leave around 7:00 also, some of the bluenecks are going up friday night the rest of us are ready for another road trip!

[Cola 10]

Cool, I was going up Friday, But Bran wont be in till Friday evening

[Sambo 10]

Honest question: I watched (in person) the Lynchburg game last year between TA and Richlands ... what does a team need to do to maximize their advantage there? Hey, for two quarters you are most certainly at a DISADVANTAGE against the wind in that place.

 

Louisa and the Blues will be over in the home stands. Amherst and Rockbridge will fill out the visitor side.

 

I hate that stadium. Damn wind is horrible.

[BigD4VT 11]

Hopefully it will be a calm day and the wind won't be a factor. Also, the new field house that was under construction last year is now complete so that should help shield the wind.

 

The new field turf will help Richlands more than anything because they won't have to go to Wise and practice. Hopefully they will leave for Lynchburg Saturday morning rather than staying in a hotel. I think the fact they broke their normal routine is the reason they were so out of sync in that game.

 

I'm very happy to be on the home side with the sun to our backs. From a photography standpoint it would be very hard to shoot from the visitor side on a clear day like yesterday. I do wish we were playing the late game though so I could get a sunset shot around halftime and then shoot without flash under those college lights. I hope the powers that be stay and get a good look at those lights. Those are what we want at Richlands.

 

I think the fans are at a disadvantage with the stands being flat and far back. Really need to make an extra effort to be heard. Anyone know how many Rockbridge might bring? I would expect them to have a large crowd.

[hoard 18]

Note the part about Rockbridge bringing blitzes from multiple looks...something Hidden Valley didn't do. They stayed back in coverage almost all game.

 

Rockbridge continues improbable turnaround

By B y Aaron McFarling

981-3124

 

FREDERICKSBURG -- The question was pretty ambitious, the answer pretty direct.

 

"So Coach," Rockbridge County assistant Curtis White asked about seven weeks ago. "You think he can light us on fire and take us all the way?"

 

"Shut your mouth," head coach Jason White replied.

 

All the way? Was he serious? With the team sitting at 2-4? No doubt the return of electric quarterback Marcus Mayo from injury would help, but it would take a lot more than one player to make a run like that.

 

Both were right.

 

The Wildcats continued their outstanding roll Saturday, shutting out host James Monroe 27-0 in the VHSL Group AA, Division 3 semifinals to win their seventh straight and earn the program's first berth in the state title game.

 

As usual, Mayo had plenty to do with the win, throwing for 142 yards and a touchdown while also playing linebacker. But this was about everybody.

 

This was about a defense allowing just 132 yards (nine in the second half) to a team that had been scoring like mad. This was about sophomore Stephen Strowbridge running for 122 yards and two touchdowns. This was about Ian Ginger grabbing a key interception, Patrick Bannon filling gaps, Brady Saunders and Dylan Walsh delivering bone-rattling hits to cause fumbles.

 

This was about guys doing things they'd never done, such as defensive end Byron Jones returning a fumble 34 yards to bump the lead to 14-0 just before the half.

 

"Greatest feeling ever," Jones called it. "The last two seasons, I've been telling everybody, 'Wait until I get that score. I'm going to catch one of these interceptions, pick up a fumble and I'm gone. You're not going to see me down the sideline.' "

 

He was right about everything but that last part. His teammates saw him. Why else would they be leaping in the air and sprinting with him down the sidelines?

 

"The ball just popped in my hand," Jones said. "I wasn't expecting it to be a fumble. I thought it was just an incompletion, but nobody blew a whistle, so I just picked up the ball and saw green grass -- or brown grass, whatever this grass is."

 

Yellow Jackets QB Devontae Atkins knows all too well what color the grass was. He was lying in it much too often for his taste.

 

"We went over their defense in practice, but I didn't think their defense was going to be like that," said Atkins, a gifted sophomore who was hassled into a 3-for-14 passing performance. "They were switching up their defenses to stuff we didn't know. They were blitzing people from the outside, coming inside ... I didn't have time to sit in the pocket and throw."

 

That was the Wildcats' plan, honed in practice with assistant Stuart Brown -- a former speedster at the University of Mississippi -- playing the part of Atkins.

 

The defense responded, but the offense played its part, too. Thanks in part to Rockbridge's 8 minute, 54 second drive to open the second half, the Yellow Jackets (8-5) had the ball for only one play in the third quarter -- and that was Ginger's interception.

 

The strategy -- keep grinding, embrace the process as one of small doses -- was the same one Rockbridge used to start its winning streak.

 

"Boom, boom, boom, one at a time," Jason White said. "Don't look too far in advance. They've just done a great job. We're real tickled."

 

Up next is unbeaten Richlands next Saturday at Liberty University, with a state title on the line.

 

"It's jaw-dropping," Bannon said. "I never thought when we were 2-4 a couple weeks ago that we'd be here now, going to the state championship."

 

 

Rockbridge County 6 8 6 7--27

 

James Monroe 0 0 0 0-- 0

 

RC -- Ginger 20 pass from Mayo (run failed)

 

RC -- Jones 34 fumble return (Early pass from Mayo)

 

RC -- Strowbridge 5 run (kick failed)

 

RC -- Strowbridge 24 run (Higgins kick)

 

Roc Jam

 

First downs 17 8

 

Yards rushing 172 56

 

Passes C-A-I 13-25-2 3-14-1

 

Yards passing 142 76

 

Penalties-yards 13-109 6-55

 

Fumbles-lost 5-2 4-3

 

Punts-average 2-39 4-26

 

Individual statistics

 

RUSHING -- Rockbridge County, Strowbridge 20-122, Fitz 5-26, Mayo 21-25, Adams 2-(minus-1). James Monroe, Atkins 19-44, Lindsay 1-17, Meadows 1-0, Bates 5-(minus-1), Spinner 1-(minus-4).

 

PASSING -- Rockbridge County, Mayo 12-23-2-142, Harlow 1-1-0-0, Middleton 0-1-0-0. James Monroe, Atkins 3-14-1-76.

 

RECEIVING -- Rockbridge County, Early 4-56, Ginger 4-47, Mohler 1-31, Middleton 1-22, Harlow 1-0, Fitz 1-(minus-6), Strowbridge 1-(minus-8). James Monroe, Washington 2-59, Lindsay 1-17.

[BigD4VT 11]

They're a Cinderella story. We have to make sure they don't get the Cinderella ending!

[Sambo 10]

[ QUOTE ]

Note the part about Rockbridge bringing blitzes from multiple looks...something Hidden Valley didn't do. They stayed back in coverage almost all game.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

From listening to it on the radio - HV had one hell of a linebacker (among other excellent defenders). I can't recall the name, but he sounded like he was in the Richlands backfield his fair share of the time. They certainly blitzed Richlands (at times) according to the Blue announcers.

 

Now, multiple looks ... Mance will break it down for McCracken. I think we'll be okay.

[BigD4VT 11]

[ QUOTE ]

"They were switching up their defenses to stuff we didn't know. They were blitzing people from the outside, coming inside ... I didn't have time to sit in the pocket and throw."

 

[/ QUOTE ]

Richlands will have the benefit of watching that film so, unless they have more looks nobody has seen, The Blues will be prepared.

[BigBlue02 11]

I Plan on leaving Saturday morning from Lowe's parking lot about 7ish,going up for the game with cowbell in hand.

[Sources 10]

Good luck to Richlands.

[dinkman 14]

storm warning will be out for one more week bring it home blues

[Blues_56 23]

[ QUOTE ]

Will Probably start out at the Walmart @ Claypool Hill around 7:a.m or so. We want the flags flying and the colors shining all the way to the "Burg"

 

[/ QUOTE ]

Might follow u jr...u got any extra Richlands car detail for the road??...ive never neaded it cause i played but now i do lol.

[BigD4VT 11]

I have a flag I'm not going to use if you want it. I don't want to roll in looking too fanatical when I'm trying to get media access. Just send me a pm about where to bring it and it's yours.

[bluenecknation 17]

reno pm me around wednesday we may have some seats available in the cars going up - if you need a ride.

[RichlandsAlum 678]

Guess I'll be leaving around noon if it's a 12:30 kickoff. Mainly because I can.

[Blues_56 23]

[ QUOTE ]

reno pm me around wednesday we may have some seats available in the cars going up - if you need a ride.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

Coooool...girlfriend and her dad and etc. always go together and usually keep me a seat with her but if it dnt work out i will take that for sure...ill holler at u wednesday,thankx. GIT_R_DUN boys.

[Blues_56 23]

[ QUOTE ]

I have a flag I'm not going to use if you want it. I don't want to roll in looking too fanatical when I'm trying to get media access. Just send me a pm about where to bring it and it's yours.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

I was actually diggin around and wat did i find??...dads 92' Richlands flags good and dusty in the closet, if i drive ill be flying the white and blue and all kinds of magnets if i can get sum.

[BlueFalcons 10]

[dinkman 14]

that is cool

[bandsucks 10]

Richlands better watch out for Mayo...he might run all over em'

[Cola 10]

Mayo has skill and the Blues know it, The coaches and players are working hard this week to brew a special Storm for the "Burg"

[bluefieldRocks 14]

good luck in the finals guys! bring it home this year!!!