BoKnowsSports said:

Again look at what King George was and what they’ve become since he took over that program 6 years ago.


His first year in 2018: 1-9

2019 6-5 lost in the first round to a stacked Louisa team.

2020 8-1; 4B Champs; lost to LT in state semis.

2021: 10-0 regular season; lost to 2021 state champions Varina in second round.

2022: 12-1; lost to Dinwiddie in region championship game.

2023: 13-1; won 4B championship; lost to Phoebus in state semis.

2024: Lost 22 seniors from previous team including 4 D1 guys; currently 9-2 starting a crap ton of JV guys from last year.

No ring yet, but like I said, he’s one of the best head coaches in the state of VA and he and his staff will get one soon. There’s no subsidized housing in King George County, no apartment complexes and it’s one of the highest counties for rent (most people who migrate there are military and get military housing vouchers so the locals drive the prices up).. In other words, ain’t many transferring into King George. You get what you get out there. 4B has consistently been the best region in the state, Vern and his staff have been it every single year.

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I was genuinely asking a question because before last year i had never even heard of King George. That’s impressive start to his tenure but he’s gotta win something before he enters 🐐 talks.

m-squared said:

King George had a few down years before Lunsford took over but back on the 2010s which wasn't too long ago, they had several years with winning records including a couple of 9-3 seasons. They have had good runs and bad runs over the years which is pretty typical I think. Back when they had the Parker brothers they played in at least one state championship and may have won one. They also had an offensive lineman (Jermain Bushrod) who played at Towson and then in the NFL - was a starting OL for a super bowl winning team. So they have had some good teams and great players over the years. I agree there has been a lot of coaching turnover at some schools in the Battlefield. Hall at Courtland is the exception. He's been there for a long time. I'm thinking the days are gone (at least in our area) where coaches stay at a school for a long time like Serbay, Tim Coleman, and the original Chancellor coach (can't remember his name) did.

One think about King George in general, over 10000 people work in King George county due to the navy base and governmant contractors that support it. There was a time when 70% maybe more of them commuted more than 35 miles to King George (I was one of them for 38 years). King George is really growing and about 10 years ago or so, folks who work in King George started moving to King George to eliminate the commute. I think the number who commute may be less than 50% now. As a result the school populations are growing which means the talent pool is most likely also growing. That will continue as there are new residential developments being built on both RT 3 and RT 301. I have friends who have moved to both to eliminate their commute.

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Good write up brother. Like most small communities that’s starting to see growth, most in that population are catching up with the times of change. KG is one of those communities. With that growth, how many buy in and/are receptive of the change in that community? I think that’s what a community like King George is suffering from.

Though Coach Jeff Smith and Coach Lunsford had some successful teams, football is still way down the list of importance there. They have very good community support and their principal was a high school football head coach and is the president of the county youth football league.

To make my first and second paragraphs correlate, you have many fans in that county who talks very negatively about the team and staff. They lost over 22 seniors and many parents have called for this staff’s heads. You’d think KG would be very good in most sports due to the military base, growing community, proximity to Fredericksburg and Southern Maryland.. Just not the case with football in King George.

southbottomU said:

Salem gave up 351 yards rushing.
Game plan shouldn't be that complicated for GW.

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How would you say the GW running attack compares to Akanbi with Handley? Akanbi has great speed and I gotta think he’s getting at least some D1 looks. Would you say the GW running backs have just as much or more speed?

NK, 2 one point losses to CH this season. Now that rough!

King George had a few down years before Lunsford took over but back in the 2010s which wasn't too long ago, they had several years with winning records including a couple of 9-3 seasons. They have had good runs and bad runs over the years which is pretty typical I think. Back when they had the Parker brothers they played in at least one state championship and may have won one. They also had an offensive lineman (Jermain Bushrod) who played at Towson and then in the NFL - was a starting OL for a super bowl winning team. So they have had some good teams and great players over the years. I agree there has been a lot of coaching turnover at some schools in the Battlefield. Hall at Courtland is the exception. He's been there for a long time. I'm thinking the days are gone (at least in our area) where coaches stay at a school for a long time like Serbay, Tim Coleman, and the original Chancellor coach (can't remember his name) did.

One thing about King George in general, over 10000 people work in King George county due to the navy base (which is more civilian employees than military since it's an R&D facility) and governmant contractors that support it. There was a time when 70% maybe more of them commuted more than 35 miles to King George (I was one of them for 38 years). King George is really growing and about 10 years ago or so, folks who work in King George started moving to King George to eliminate the commute. I think the number who commute may be less than 50% now. As a result the school populations are growing which means the talent pool is most likely also growing. That will continue as there are new residential developments being built on both RT 3 and RT 301. I have friends who have moved to both to eliminate their commute.

Salem gave up 351 yards rushing.
Game plan shouldn't be that complicated for GW.

Phoebus Fan said:

I met the KG’s coach last year after the Phoebus game. Really humble dude. With that said somebody clue me in on what makes him a 🐐?

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Again look at what King George was and what they’ve become since he took over that program 6 years ago.


His first year in 2018: 1-9

2019 6-5 lost in the first round to a stacked Louisa team.

2020 8-1; 4B Champs; lost to LT in state semis.

2021: 10-0 regular season; lost to 2021 state champions Varina in second round.

2022: 12-1; lost to Dinwiddie in region championship game.

2023: 13-1; won 4B championship; lost to Phoebus in state semis.

2024: Lost 22 seniors from previous team including 4 D1 guys; currently 9-2 starting a crap ton of JV guys from last year.

No ring yet, but like I said, he’s one of the best head coaches in the state of VA and he and his staff will get one soon. There’s no subsidized housing in King George County, no apartment complexes and it’s one of the highest counties for rent (most people who migrate there are military and get military housing vouchers so the locals drive the prices up).. In other words, ain’t many transferring into King George. You get what you get out there. 4B has consistently been the best region in the state, Vern and his staff have been it every single year.

I can second for DP , and Navy. Class acts . Don’t know the other two , but if they hang out with those two they must be good guys also.

The stats discrepancy are huge…according to the paper, 380 yards to 43!

Mountaineers 21, Eagles 0. ;MC;CC​

First downs; MC 17; CC 6

Rushes-yards;MC 36-245; CC 31-38

Passing yards;MC 135; CC 5

Com-Att-Int; MC 12-14-0; CC 3-10-2

Penalties-yards;MC 5-60;CC 6-35

Fumbles-lost;MC 2-0; CC 1-0

Punts-avg.;MC 1-31.0; CC 3-31.3

Final was Armstrong 35 James Monroe 18. Outside of two big plays for Armstrong in the second half: a pick six and a long TD run, this was an even game. The last play of the first half JM had a pass that was catchable in the end zone not caught that would have put them ahead at half time. JM was a little better than some thought, and I think maybe the Battlefield was too. Congratulations to Armstrong. Have a good one!

I’m also curious if the GW vs Salem game will be played on Friday or Saturday of next week. Maxpreps has it for November 23rd, 2024. Typically I didn’t think Region Semis were played on the weekend but maybe it’s different this year.

It’ll be a shoot out for sure. Salem will have to hope they outscore them. I think Cabell will cause a lot of problems for the defense with a good running back and wide receivers as well. The Spartans will need to out score them to win as it’ll probably be a high scoring game as well. Tough place to play. Gonna have to execute for all four quarters to win.

From reading an article I saw yesterday (I cannot recall where because there were several, and assuming I did not misinterpret what I read) it appears the judge made his ruling based on a technicality and not the true merits of the case. It did not help that the judge was said to be much better prepared than either of the lawyers representing both sides. The issue was that the recommendation to remove Hayfield from the playoffs was from VHSL's Hahn, not a VHSL committee of some type in accordance with the VHSL by laws. Very unfortunate, but that is the way our legal system works.

Phoebus Fan said:

Good news John Marshall it’s now basketball season.

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Unless the JM basketball program is being looked at like the Hayfield football program… then it might not be such good news🤞🤞

bullrunmanic8771 said:

Who seen that ass whipping coming

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In the second half of the game last week, MC made some really good changes and outplayed CC (21-7 I think it was). I know the CC coach said in the paper that they “subbed” a lot in the second half but that wasn’t true. They had the starters in until their last possession. Over the last 6 quarters, MC outplayed CC and outcoached them. CC was frustrated and completely out of synch last night—-credit MC for that!

As somebody else said earlier, MC “got some weapons”. Great job by the staff and more especially the players who bought into some pretty significant changes!

Now do it again next Friday in another rematch with an undefeated team!

Lots to unpack but that was a very good Draft team that the Gladiators beat tonight. My hats off to both teams for a relatively clean game. One that you mentioned was the end of half play but without watching the game again on NFHS, live it appeared the QB was sliding and had given himself up only to being hit by the defender as well as going out of bounds, so that’s another aspect of that play that pissed off a large portion of the Riverheads faithful. IMO that would have been a late hit and even if the clock had hit zeros (and I didn’t think it had), it would have been an untimed down at around the 20 which likely would have been a 37ish field goal attempt with Brookes being pretty solid in the kicking game.

Lots of heart tonight by the entire team but the line play tonight was very very good. This group has taken some completely undeserved heat this season and despite that have kept plugging away and doing their job. As a fan I am proud of their effort, improvement and ability to block out the “noise” from those that have been detractors. This group is made up of sophomores with one junior so while this seasons ending is yet to be determined, look out for the next two years as they grow even more.

The last thing I want to touch on concerns the coaching. Lots of people have talked about the adjustments this group makes and they are very good at that. The thing that has impressed me this season is the ability to tune out those that have a specific agenda and focus on the players and the process. Hats off to those men and their commitment to the kids. It’s a thankless job when you win and a minefield if you lose. The kids do the work and execute so they should get the credit but the he right group of coaches are pretty damn important too. Hats off gentlemen, we thank you.

OCBoy said:

That’s interesting to see. Hampton AT Smithfield. When was the last time that happened if at all?

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No clue but i wonder if they’re going to close packing plant early and the whole town will be there.

I met the KG’s coach last year after the Phoebus game. Really humble dude. With that said somebody clue me in on what makes him a 🐐?

VHSL-helper said:

And let's not forget that Thursday the 28th is a no-school holiday.
How many hours are they allowed to practice that Friday?

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they’ll have a normal practice thanksgiving day and Black Friday. Phoebus does it every year. Even has a thanksgiving team dinner

PhoenixHS said:

...second round Tuesday 11/26 with finals likely happening on the 30th.

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And let's not forget that Thursday the 28th is a no-school holiday.
How many hours are they allowed to practice that Friday?

I am not a fan of Courtland's antiquated and slow developing offense, but I have enjoyed watching Dinwiddie play each of the aforementioned teams in the playoffs. EV and KG have given my Generals some memorable performances and one can only respect their programs.

Edit: I believe we played James Monroe in 2015-16 and Caroline 2013-2015 in the regular season. @cavaliers91, I believe you are right. Carousel of coaches have been through the Battlefield lately. Hatfield and Serbay are surely missed.

58-0 or 31-28 it still counts as a victory. Just win and advance. Despite some skepticism that's what the Spartans do.

I am looking forward to the GW vs. Salem game. Huge contrast in styles. I told everybody in week 0 that I thought the Eagles were good and was quickly reminded by @freeatlast2013 to be careful not to drink the Kool aid.

Well GW is 10-1 and although I do not think the Eagles can defeat the Spartans I believe they present some significant challenges to the Salem defense. GW has good size on the o line, elusive running backs, and an dual threat QB in Cabell. If the Eagles receivers have improved and Cabell throws are accurate they will score points.

Unfortunately, I just don't believe the GW defense will be able to withstand the power running game employed by the Spartans and things will go South in the 4th quarter. Spartans 35 GW 27.