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ThevinStealberg said:

Excellent analysis! I know nothing about either team; my knowledge is what I see posted on here. I'm guessing Varina is bit more battle tested based on schedule as well as many of the current players having this "big game" experience before (success from the past 2-3 seasons).

How are the special teams for both squads? That's a huge x-factor that could come into play.

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I appreciate you boss!

Last year the deciding factor was special teams. Varina won 21-20. I’m thinking the same will happen this year. Varina normally has a really good kicker and this year they have a young lady kicking and she’s pretty good. I’ve seen Huguenot attempt a few PATs and they’ve struggled a little more.

Im going Mike Robinson over David Terrell 27-24.

BoKnowsSports said:

I really don’t know who pulls this thing out on Friday. The state’s best offense vs the state’s best front 7. I think Huguenot’s defense is very underrated and Varina’s offense is vastly improved. So many storylines to this game.

1. Linwood Johnson vs his former team. Linwood (statistically) has the best stats of any player in the Richmond Metro and IMO has earned the Region B Offensive Player of the Year award. 24 passing TDs, 1 interception and 11 rushing TDs. Over 2500 yards of offense for the year while splitting time with the highly touted freshman QB, CJ Scott. Linwood took a lot of criticism last year but came back and proved a lot of people wrong.

2. Athletes will be aplenty. Varina has DaMari “D1” Carter, Bull Richardson, Braylon Hood, Kaleb Wyche, TeeJay Cheatham, Myles Anderson, Jayden Walker, Devin Henderson.. Huguenot with Iveon Lewis, Mike Dabney, Markell Dabney, John John Washington, Ty Moore, Daron Thompson, Ziggy Miller, Sam Cohen… that’s over 175 D1 and D2 college offers on 1 field.

3. Huguenot’s offensive line and defensive. I seen some people say Huguenot’s offensive line isn’t physical. Terrible observation .. The stats and analytics say otherwise.. Huguenot’s scoring defense was the best of any team in 4B, only giving up 12ppg for the season. Their offense is by far top 3 in the state, putting up 49.6 ppg. You don’t be soft putting up numbers like that.

4. Varina was a poor 3rd down play call from being the 1 seed. Their offense is vastly improved and I emphasize vastly. Their running game, passing game, play calling, line play, and scheme has impressed me since that loss to Indian River. Kaleb Wyche is to Varina what Harry Dalton is to Dinwiddie. I believe Varina is the most rounded team in this region (special teams, defense, athletes on offense, and they’ve been there before). Varina’s offensive line will have to hold up. Big boys, but commit a lot of penalties. Can’t leave any points on the board this Friday.

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Excellent analysis! I know nothing about either team; my knowledge is what I see posted on here. I'm guessing Varina is bit more battle tested based on schedule as well as many of the current players having this "big game" experience before (success from the past 2-3 seasons).

How are the special teams for both squads? That's a huge x-factor that could come into play.

Honestly I don’t know really much at all about either team. I took Huguenot but from looking at both teams records it looks like it’ll be a barn burner

CrushBlock said:

I

I played on one not good, two bad, and one great team by this standard. But I know all four of those teams beat up and pounded opposing teams and were formidable to play. Yeah you’re developing rhetorically sound and defensible categories to analyze Salem football specifically but still, doesn’t feel great to see that is how fans see it. Not just you, seems to be a common occurrence on this board to understand the question: “What does it mean to be a good Salem football team?” Is it over 10 wins? Is it a region championship?

It takes so much to win even 1 football game and Salem puts it together season after season. Hope we as previous players and long time fans don’t forget that.

I didn’t play on this team but 2002 was a good team that fell on some bad luck. And I know they still were the team to beat and smacked people in the mouth.

Sometimes I feel like we lose sight of what it takes to have any winning season, even if that is just 6-4.

No matter what happens this Friday, hope the kids are proud to have Salem on their chest and proud of their season and don’t see too much of this discourse.

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@CrushBlock, you made some great points; however, its both a curse or a luxury to have a consistent winner.

Dinwiddie hasn't won the multiple State Championships that Salem has, but just like the Spartan faithful the expectation of a 10-0 or 9-1 season is the norm for our/your spoiled fan base.

Our tough ood schedule and several difficult district opponents often leads to a few losses and Navy Nation tends to come unglued. I would much rather prefer to have folks gripe about an 7-3 or 8-2 season than suffer through a losing one. Just a dang good problem to have.

I guess next year one of our fans bases will be looking for answers early. 😂

BleedingNavy said:

@MrSalem1000, you have been given excellent advice by @GoBlue2109. The parking is very organized; however, if you wait until 30 minutes before game time you will get stuck in traffic. I expect a very large crowd, so arriving an hour before game time is recommended. Stop by press box and introduce yourself. Just ask for me or @DinwiddieProud.

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Thanks man! If Salem plays Friday and not Saturday I probably will be at this game. If Salem plays Saturday though I’ll go to the Salem game as that’s where I went to school. If I am at this game I will stop by the press box and introduce myself.

I really don’t know who pulls this thing out on Friday. The state’s best offense vs the state’s best front 7. I think Huguenot’s defense is very underrated and Varina’s offense is vastly improved. So many storylines to this game.

1. Linwood Johnson vs his former team. Linwood (statistically) has the best stats of any player in the Richmond Metro and IMO has earned the Region B Offensive Player of the Year award. 24 passing TDs, 1 interception and 11 rushing TDs. Over 2500 yards of offense for the year while splitting time with the highly touted freshman QB, CJ Scott. Linwood took a lot of criticism last year but came back and proved a lot of people wrong.

2. Athletes will be aplenty. Varina has DaMari “D1” Carter, Bull Richardson, Braylon Hood, Kaleb Wyche, TeeJay Cheatham, Myles Anderson, Jayden Walker, Devin Henderson.. Huguenot with Iveon Lewis, Mike Dabney, Markell Dabney, John John Washington, Ty Moore, Daron Thompson, Ziggy Miller, Sam Cohen… that’s over 175 D1 and D2 college offers on 1 field.

3. Huguenot’s offensive line and defensive. I seen some people say Huguenot’s offensive line isn’t physical. Terrible observation .. The stats and analytics say otherwise.. Huguenot’s scoring defense was the best of any team in 4B, only giving up 12ppg for the season. Their offense is by far top 3 in the state, putting up 49.6 ppg. You don’t be soft putting up numbers like that.

4. Varina was a poor 3rd down play call from being the 1 seed. Their offense is vastly improved and I emphasize vastly. Their running game, passing game, play calling, line play, and scheme has impressed me since that loss to Indian River. Kaleb Wyche is to Varina what Harry Dalton is to Dinwiddie. I believe Varina is the most rounded team in this region (special teams, defense, athletes on offense, and they’ve been there before). Varina’s offensive line will have to hold up. Can’t shoot themselves in the foot with penalties on Friday.

Lastly.. Special teams may be the difference. Don’t see Huguenot being able to consistently go for 2 and get the conversion if it’s a shootout.

Gimme Varina 35 Huguenot 34.

I think Ridgeview & Virginia High voted on rings too 😂. We’ll see if Union and Graham can put the skids on that vote! It’s going to be a rough road coming out of Region D. Whoever wins, will be battle tested 🤞!

@MrSalem1000, you have been given excellent advice by @GoBlue2109. The parking is very organized; however, if you wait until 30 minutes before game time you will get stuck in traffic. I expect a very large crowd, so arriving an hour before game time is recommended. Stop by press box and introduce yourself. Just ask for me or @DinwiddieProud.

I think it’s Friday but Maxpreps says Saturday so I’m not sure. Is there anyone that knows and can confirm?

Fairlawncat said:

Region C
4-Narrows vs 1-Bath- I think we see a repeat of the regular season matchup from a few weeks ago. Bath won it by about 5 touchdowns at Narrows and this time, they play at home. I don't think it's close.
3-Grayson vs 2-G.W.-Wytheville- Grayson won by a TD at GW in the regular season and after losing it's first 2 games very close, Grayson won 6 of the last 7 with the only loss to Bluefield High, WV. I think it's another close game, but GW winning a close one. The winner of this game will travel to Bath County for the 1C Title Game barring a major upset of Narrows over Bath.

Region D
1-Rye Cove vs 5-Grundy- The Cove is undefeated. No losses and as expected preseason, they are very good with the ability to both throw it and pass it. Grundy, 4 losses total, and starting the season at 0-3, has lost only 1 football game to a Class 1 school this year in an early season loss to Patrick Henry in a very close game, and has won 7 of it's last 8. I think Rye Cove, undefeated at 11-0, has its season end on its home field to Grundy who is a heavy run team, and the cold weather favors Grundy. Rye Cove can run and throw and can throw it if their run game is slowed, but in the cold, I think they find it tougher to throw the ball and Grundy wins a close one.
7-Patrick Henry vs 3-Eastside- Patrick Henry is much like King William in Class 2, Region A. A seven seed, but has no business being a 7 seed. King William played the toughest Class 2 schedule in Virginia and lost very close games. Patrick Henry was riddled with injuries early on, but is now healthy. Their win over 2 Seed Holston by 4 touchdowns was not an upset. This is a team that lost to Virginia High in overtime in the first game of the season when PH was healthy, then the injuries took hold. PH was supposed to be very good, but their record was greatly affected by injuries. I think PH wins a close game at Eastside and in the Region D finals, I think it's the 7 Seed Patrick Henry playing at the 5 Seed Grundy for the Region Title Game.

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SWVA has really become a hot bed for the Air Raid offense in recent years. Nothing wrong with that offense, as I'm a huge fan of it's concepts. But I'm also old school and still believe a strong run game, and physical in the trenches on both sides of the ball are key to winning it all. Ironically, it's the smash mouth teams that are still standing in 1D, and Ridgeview is the only one left in 2D from all the air raid offenses. In my opinion, it just goes to show, that no matter how advanced the game gets, it still comes down to the basics of running the ball and playing good defense

Average at best. Get there early or you might have to walk across the street from the high school. The field is behind Dinwiddie middle school.

Can Huguenot OL handle Varina DL? That’s where the game will be won. Athletes all over the field at skill positions, the trenches will decide the game…

Friday for sure??? Or Saturday?

A helpful guide for describing Salem performance:

Terrible - 5 wins and misses the playoffs

Bad - 7 wins and loses in the first round of the playoffs

Not good - 8 wins and loses in the regional championship

Good - 11 wins and Region Champion

Great - State Champions

BleedingNavy said:

I can't disagree with anything that has been said, but after 35 years of working in the judicial system I have to respect the judges order. Right or wrong he/she ruled on the facts. It does set a strange precedent and membership schools should be concerned about the poor effort displayed by the VHSL representation. I for one believe it's time to send the VHSL brass packing. They no longer have credibility, sound leadership, nor can they be trusted to mandate fair play.

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Something tells me that the VHSL has never really had competent legal representation who has reviewed their by-laws.

South County
Fairfax

Varina
Sherando
Dinwiddie
Loudoun County
Smithfield
Salem
John Champe

Matoaca
Green Run
Louisa County
Briar Woods
King's Fork
Stone Bridge

William Byrd
Alleghany County
Armstrong
Liberty Christian
Lord Botetourt
Thomas Jefferson (Richmond)
IC Norcom

Colonial Forge
Highland Springs
Washington-Liberty
Oscar Smith
Battlefield
James Madison

King William
Radford
Poquoson
Buckingham
Strasburg
Ridgeview
Graham

Brunswick
George Wythe
Rye Cove
Eastside
Essex
Narrows
Altavista
Rappahannock

I tried to let you guys have it, Mike took a win away from me last week and he told me it would look bad for Salem guy to win. So I just picked what he told me to be eliminated

DitkaXX said:

Believe JF only had one ejected, and it was after three Orange players ganged up on him. Orange is the one that looks way bad in it. Check out the 4th quarter on NFHS.

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I know Orange has done this before.

Phoebus Fan said:

Shocked there isn’t a thread for the game of the week and possibly the game of the playoffs in D4!

Who yall got? Let’s get some good breakdowns too

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First glance I don't know that the Huguenot has faced a defense like Varina's and vice versa... has Varina seen an offense like Huguenot this season?

Sneaky good subplot too is QB Linwood Johnson versus the team he played for last season.

Also... Varina won by one point last season at the very end no less.

RedPrideNation_RollPride said:

IMO they are quick but not fast overall if that makes sense

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It does and they seem to be in the right place most of the time,good coaching does that.