Rank the opponents on your team's schedule...

[Pdot 10]

I want Poca & Bluefield to resume there regular season play like in years past. Please...Coach Simon? Coach Lemley? Make this happen for all football fans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

That's unlikely with Poca having joined the Cardinal(?)Conference. The regular season series ended after the 2001 meeting b/c of that. Maybe during the next contract cycle something can be worked out though...

[SW_VA_boy 495]

Of course I'll go chime in with my take on Narrows' schedule.

 

1) Giles - Returning a lot and a frontrunner for TRD this coming year. Plus a rivalry game with always high emotions.

 

2) James Monroe - Pretty much the same as Giles but I do see Giles as having a slightly better team this year.

 

3 & 4) Fort Chiswell & Grayson Co. - Grayson always has the numbers (still think they should have been in AA div 4 in the Highlands a long time ago) and Fort gave us the best game of the year in district. I see losing Grubb as a good thing for Fort because of him being so irratic.

 

5) Galax - Nelson and Porter should be able to carry this team a little bit. If the o-line gets good at opening holes for Nelson they could compete with a lot of people. Thier lack of defense is what's going to get them in the end.

 

6) Auburn - They've seemed to reach a steadiness in the program now and just need to take the next step. But, I'm going on gut feeling here since I don't follow TRD football and don't know what these guys have coming back.

 

7) Craig Co. - Hancock at TB is the only reason I got them this high. If he transfers to Salem as rumored then they go do to the bottom with Bland and Pocy.

 

8) East Mont. - New coach and no Josh Smith. Definately a rebuilding year for these guys. But I think McPherson taught those kids how to win some big games (Narrows and Floyd for examples) and every game this year is going to be big just because of their district.

 

9) Bland Co. - Philip Henson will be the fire power for them at RB. Until their coach learns to control his teams temperment they won't win anything.

 

10) Pocahontas - Simply no numbers to draw from. The guys there have heart though as shown by the guys that keep coming out regardless of everything. Plus losing their coach to Tazewell don't help matters much either.

 

For Narrows, the have some people they can move around. If Wes Underwood can get comfortable at QB and the line overachieves then the offense should be able to move the ball. On defense, I don't think they'll as solid as the last couple years but with the young talent they have coming through they'll be back to normal after a year of learning to play as a unit. Going with 5-5/6-4 year with Giles, JM, Grayson and Fort being the tough ones and Craig, East Mont, Bland and Pocy as should wins. The games at Auburn and Galax at home should determine if we can grab a playoff spot.

[footballfreak 10]

what conference is bluefield in?

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

Bluefield isn't in a conference. No extreme southern AA school is, but there is the mythical Coalfield Conference...

[builder 10]

The mythical Coalfield Conference? Explain. I cant beleive the rankings of some of these posters. It is good to be talking about football but some of these people are going to be very suprised. ex. - 10-0 could be a reality for Westside.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

The Coalfield Conference exist and then it doesn't exist. There is no official Coalfield Conference in-terms of a league or conference championship. None of the teams are required to play one another like in an official conference. However, coaches of teams in the coalfield area get together and vote on All Coalfield Conference teams for various different sports, which we rarely hear about b/c the media doesn't give them ink since the conference isn't official.

[RenegadeMuscle 10]

Why am I the only one builder thinks will be surprised? Look at our schedule. Look at what we have back. A mediocre team can be 5-5 with our schedule. Who is going to beat us? Independence? Only two teams with a shot to beat us is Scott and Gilbert. Not really sure what Scott has coming back, but they had a great team last year.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

From what I’ve heard Scott lost a lot and while they do return their QB, he'll have a lot of inexperience around him at the skill positions. Westside's schedule is tremendously easy as evident by the fact Iaeger will be their toughest opponent and at worst second toughest opponent. Not a knock on Iaeger, but after a couple of very solid years for them they’ve fallen back to a, at best, average team. I think they had a number of key losses to graduation themselves, so they could struggle even more this season than last.

 

Westside could very well go undefeated and very well be an underdog in the first round of the playoffs as a high seed. A team with a tough schedule could fall into one of the lower playoff seeds, face Westside in the first round, and beat them easily. It's the nature of the beast when teams have different scheduling methods...

[builder 10]

Is scheduling opponents for the schools the only characteristic that makes you an official conference? The Coalfield Conference does a good job promoting their school's athletes. They do a good job in scheduling conference events. As far as I know, the conference does everything a conference should do. The majority of the coaches did not want the conference sceduling games for them. They took a vote. A vote; that sounds like something "official" conference members would do. They do have conference champions in each sport for each class. With the AAA members leaving it will only help to build the strength of the conference. It was hard to do conference competions at the AAA level with only 4 schools being in it. The conference schools should be very strong in many sports this coming 04/05 school year. Look at last years football rankings. Five out of the top 16 AA in the state were from the conference. That doesn't include Shady who narrowly missed the playoffs. Look at the schools who are members:

AA - Iager, Independence, James Monroe, Liberty, Mount View, Oak Hill, Pikeview, Shady Spring, Sherman, Summers Co.,Webster Co.,Westside, and Wyoming East.

A - Big Creek, Fayetteville, Gauley Bridge, Greenbrier West, Meadow Bridge, Midland Trail, Montcalm, Mount Hope, Pocahontas Co., and Richwood.

 

Looks like their are alot of "extreme southern" schools in the conference. With the subtraction of the 4 AAA schools it has a total of 23 high schools. Sounds like an "official" conference to me.

[RenegadeMuscle 10]

With that news about Scott I truly feel like we will be 10-0. not bragging, just honesty. We need to beef up the schedule to strengthen our team before the playoffs every year. I'd like to see us play Bluefield every year. They know we had them beat. Beating the crap out of Summers, Independence, Liberty, and Wyoming East gets us nowhere.

[shadyfan 10]

renegademuscle you will get a good idea of how good you are when you scrimmage shady because unless you scrimmage someone outstanding shady will be better than any team you play during the normal season. i hope you are really good that way it will give us a gauge also.

[RenegadeMuscle 10]

Yes Shady is going to be pretty darn good. We will be your teams strongest opponent as well. Shady had a better year than what they showed iun the scrimmage against us last year. Be a decent measuring stick for us.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

[ QUOTE ]

We will be your teams strongest opponent as well.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

Better look at Shady's schedule before you make sure an outlandish claim. Shady faces Bluefield, Mount View, and James Monroe all of which will be better than Westside and quite a bit better most likely.

[shadyfan 10]

I agree that westside will be a good scrimmage, but i disagree with the fact they will be the strongest team shady will see because if you check they're games Bluefield, Mt. view and James Monroe have awesome teams returning and will be better than Westside but no disrespect i hope they have a great year. And like i stated before Bluefield, Mt. View, Shady, James Monroe will make the playoffs maybe not in that order but they all will get in.

[footballfreak 10]

Hey BR, remember tynes' cousin that i told u bout? he is transfering to woodrow.

[PioneerPA 11]

Wayne's opponents ranked:

 

1. at Lawrence County, KY- This is not exactly a shot in the dark, but they rarely ever play WV schools, so I don't exactly know how they matchup with teams on this side of the river. They would be AAA in WV. In 2001, the Bulldogs beat Cabell Midland 56-34...after losing 56-28 in 2000 to the Knights. They beat Man 43-6 last year. Normally strong, so it's really hard telling. They went 6-5 last year, and I have no clue who graduated or who is back, but it's a far cry from their normal 8-2/10-0 record. They have a scholarship LB at Tennessee who went there, as well as the starting QB from Western Kentucky's I-AA national championship team. Also have a kid on scholarship to Miami of Ohio.

 

2. Herbert Hoover- I suspect the Huskies will be pretty good again this year. They return their skill position players, but they lost their mammoth line. They picked it up at the end of last season, I suspect they will do the same this year. LAST YEAR: Wayne 35, Herbert Hoover 28...Wayne led 35-7 after 3 quarters and held off a late Hoover rally. Huskies won at Wayne in 2002, 35-7.

 

3. Poca- 3x defending state champions have lost 3 out of last 4 meetings with the Pioneers. They lose Santmyer, Sotelo, White, and Browning, so only their QB returns to the skill positions. LAST SEASON: Wayne 30, Poca 20. Dots won at Wayne in 2002, 7-0.

 

4. Chesapeake, OH- The Panthers are a fixture in the Ohio Division V playoffs. Would be Class A in WV (but would be about the largest Class A team). Good program, lost their best athletes from last year. Only gained about 50 yards last year against Wayne...scored TD's thanks to poor punt snaps. LAST YEAR: Wayne 22, Chesapeake 12. In 2002, the Pioneers beat the Panthers, an Elite 8 team in their division that season, 40-0.

 

5. at Tolsia- Rebels rejoin AA and shouldn't be too bad. Have their TE, RB's (except for Stumbo, who will suit up at LB for Wayne this fall), and QB back from last year. It's a rivalry game...there is a lot of hatred on the field. LAST YEAR: Tolsia 21, Wayne 20...Rebels scored 21 points in final 8 minutes of game to win. In 2002, the Pioneers beat the Rebels 7-6.

 

6. Point Pleasant- It's hard telling exactly what the Black Knights will bring in, but I've seen them on Charter against Ohio teams in the past and wasn't overly impressed. They are saying they will be weaker than normal, so I put them this low. I've never seen their varsity, but Wayne's JV beat them 40-0 a couple of years ago...for whatever that's worth.

 

7. at Winfield- Generals weren't very good last year, but they return almost everyone...I don't know if that is good or bad though. T.L. Asbury is a good sized QB...6'4, 225. If they would leave him alone at QB instead of trying to play Wayne Pritt as well, and found an identity on offense, they could be tough. LAST SEASON: Wayne 20, Winfield 6. In 2002, the Pioneers beat the Generals, 50-8.

 

8. at Sissonville- The 2-8, punchless, hapless Indians beat Wayne last year. Go figure. They have a new coach, but lost some great athletes off a poor team. Last season: Sissonville 25, Wayne 18. In 2002, the Pioneers beat the Indians 12-6 in overtime.

 

9. at Chapmanville- The Tigers just aren't very good...simple as that.

 

10. Logan- They are better than this...just don't have the attitude down there toward football anymore. Always going to have good athletes. Last year: Wayne 47, Logan 14. In 2002, the Pioneers beat the Wildcats, 36-30.

[footballfreak 10]

what does wayne have returning besides that marcum kid?

[PioneerPA 11]

Wayne lost 2 starters on offense (WR and center) and 4 starters on defense (two DL, one LB, and safety). Marcum (6'4, 225) was listed as a "Junior to Watch" by Street and Smith's College Football Preview. The kid is a freak of nature...runs around a 4.8-4.9, and is getting faster. Made 100 tackles last year, 20 for loss.

 

QB Nick Newell (6'4, 200?...he's gained significant weight since last year) returns for his junior season after throwing for 1,006 yards last year in the regular season. All of the RB's return, led by Josh Powers, who ran for 900 yards last season. Garry Roland ran for 800, and the 2 fullbacks, Jason Sanders and Daniel Runyon, combined for about 500 yards. Wayne pretty much has everyone back...only had 7 seniors last year, and only 5 of them contributed in any way. Lot of speed for Wayne...more than in years past. The line worked hard in the offseason, and despite being undersized, they held their own last year, so I look for them to be improved somewhat.

 

Wayne's biggest problem last year was turnovers. If they remedy that, they'll be in good shape.

[footballfreak 10]

sounds like they are gonna have a good season. best of luck to them.