2a Raiders throw down 3a Pioneers
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I love seeing 2A thumping good 3A teams like Heritage. Same thing happened with Glenvar over Cave Spring 28-6 and Giles came back to beat Cburg and Blacksburg.
Anytime Appomattox thumps Heritage coached by Brad Bradley i believe and a 3A school..I am going to sit up and take notice. Could be the best team in 2A this year and helps to make the west the monster that it is this year.
Cave Spring is not what I'd consider "good" this year after seeing them scrimmage. They might not win a game.
Hoosfan...You're right. They will win 3-6 games so would classify them ok to decent. They aren't terrible or bad. They aren't playing up to par but neither is Heritage so its difficult to say which win was more impressive, Appomattox or Glenvar. I said good because they are traditionally good to very good. Not sure why they are down this year.
Appomattox appears to have a good passing game this year. Often times, that's the difference between a good team and a great team. Teams that "live" by the run, often "die" by the run.
The only team I know of that has won at an elite level without passing the ball is Giles. Salem had good teams in the early to mid 90's but they were run teams. Anyone remember the Richland cleat cheat and water down the field into a total muddy mess scandal? IThat team had Marcus Parker and a great fullback and was good as any of the state chapionship teams that came later. That was the best running game Salem has ever had and Willis White ran the ball almost every play to the chagrin of the fans. He didn't care what anyone else thought about the play calling. BUT they didn't start winning championships until they started passing the ball with RJ Beckwith in 1996...and then they won quite a few. Both run and pass are important.
Every now and then a team can win without passing ball, but not often. Giles is a different breed with their Single Wing.
Back in 2005, our Louisa team scrimmaged Giles at Pulaski. I believe we dominated them 3 or 4 touchdowns to 0 in 2 quarters of play. We both ran the single wing and ours looked much stronger. Giles went on to win a state championship that year. They would have HAD to pass in a real game against us to have any success moving the ball. My point is that it's very possible to win a championship in 1A and 2A without passing much, but in the higher classes, teams really need to be more balanced.
There's an "s" on Richlands, ya know.
Haven't heard the whole cleat thing in a while. I had almost forgotten about it by this point.
Yeah that eighth of an inch on those cleats won the game for the tornadoes...mmmm..
(5A) L.C. Bird has won it all and rarely passes, (8A) Apopka High in Fl runs single wing and rarely passes out of it, they have won it all too.
@catchtds Bird's offense is what I consider balanced. Sure they run the ball a lot, and don't have to pass much during the regular seasons. In every state championship win, they have passed enough to keep teams honest. In last year's game against Tuscarora, they attempted 10 passes for 92 yards, completing big pass plays on crucial downs. The year before that against Briar Woods, they passed 30 times for 266 yards. I wouldn't consider that "rarely" passing. Teams like Riverheads and Giles might pass 5 times a game at most during most years. I know nothing about Apopka, but if you have to look that far to support your argument, then I rest my case.
I somewhat agree and not trying to argue but passing the ball 10 teams wouldn't strike me as being balanced. Phoebus when they were in their juggernaut passed it enough, I consider passing it enough and being balanced as two completely separate things. Riverheads passes it just enough but you wouldn't consider them balanced. We agree to disagree, that is the great thing about these boards both of our opinions are right because that is what we believe.
Most of the time you have to pass it to keep defense honest. A balanced team is hard to defend. Usually if a team gets to championship game, their defense can stop the run.
Rod...Those schools are on the other side of the state. I have never watched them so I'm out of gas on explaining them. I will say that being good in both the pass and the run will beat a very good pass team or a very good run team...if both defenses are about equal. Balance adds a whole new dimension. I have seen teams play a goal line like defense against teams they know won't pass and be successful.
I was there so here are the facts gs...Let me remind you that Richlands watered down the field to the point of a mud bog lol. The worst field conditions I have ever seen by far and I have been to many decades of football. That mud bog they created equalized the teams. Salem had a couple of race horses. Richlands had a couple of good work horses. Salem's Parker was averaging around 250 yards a games. Richlands prepared their game plan accordingly to a mud bog. Salem was competely caught off guard mentally and game plan wise and equipment wise (ie thermal underwear). It was also around 30 degrees above ground level (above freezing at ground level) so there were icy/windy conditions and hypothermia conditions as well once the players got into that wet cold mud. Salem players were not prepared for that as it was totally unexpected. There were big tire ruts all over the field. All these conditions were sprung on Salem with no warning. The mental aspects of the game were ALL in Richlands favor. I remember it being a quarter of an inch difference but on the cleats which makes a huge difference GS. Richlands football will forever have a scare. It would be interesting to see them play Glenvar at Salem Stadium. I am sure they will be treated very very well by the Salem faithful. We have forgiven but never forgotten. To this day Willis White will tell you he made a big mistake by playing on that field. He says he should have demanded the game to be played somewhere else the next day but he didn't want to "incovenience" Richlands or have to go back to Salem only to come back the next day to somewhere like Tazewell. Other coaches shlould take warning!
Would you like some cheese with that whine? That was 20+ years ago. It is what it is. Get over it and move on. Jesus Herbert Christ. You act like that game is the bane of your whole existence.
First I would say this, apologies for this fellow getting in the middle of your thread and doing this. And apologies for me feeling like I must respond. I was at that Salem game some 23 years ago and I am trying to figure out what that has to do with Richlands or Glenvar today. Classless man really classless. The cleats were wrong and that x-coach paid the price but they didn't decide that game. That field had some bad drainage problems but it had not been watered down. I've seen far worse fields than that one, if you haven't I guess that comes from living in a place where your not suppose to lose to a SWVA team. Tire tracks? Come on. Salem had chances. Remember several crossing pattens dropped. There was a time that football that late in the season was all about cold weather and field conditions, I guess you were above that or is that just another excuse. Here's hoping we get to meet your team in the playoffs and I hope we find a way to bring them to Richlands.
Thank you.
I realize that we had bad cleats. That is a fact. And the coach is long gone and paid the price. But the other factors weren't real.
Our field was long known to be TERRIBLE drainage wise. And one reason of that was because a water pipe went under the field and had a leak.
Field is no longer an issue. Field turf is wonderful. Lol.
Looking forward to the playoffs and seeing how this all shakes out this year.
I got to watch some equipment operators try to fix it a few years after that. The drains on the sides did not have right elevation on their lines. It would puddle on sides and could not run off fast enough. They dug ditches up both sides, don't remember seeing any water lines, drain lines yes. Watched the drains go down on the turf also, very nice job.
King William won states in 2000 over a Heath Miller led team that was very balanced. KW on the other hand ran the double wing and only attempted one pass the whole game which went for a 30 yard completion. On the season they probably only passed 40 times in 14 games. Also had a great defense that year as well. I like all types of offenses but you have to play to the strength of your personnel also. See so many teams nowadays that think because the spread is what everyone is running that they have to run it as well. Also seen teams with average to below average lines try to line up in an I formation as well and that doesn't work either. Guess maybe because I grew up on it and ran it in high school and have used it as a coach that I'm partial to the double and single wing as I've seen teams with average talent win games that they wouldn't win running a traditional offense. Again it comes down to personnel. One of the greatest games I've seen in the old single A was the Giles-Manassas Park state title game from 05 or 06. Two totally different styles of play but made for one entertaining game. Goochland and Giles both have won state titles in the last 3 years on the strength of a physical run game even when teams knew they were going to run. They both also run the same offense from youth all the way up through high school so by the time the kids get to high school its all second nature to them. Just my two cents. I don't think either opinion is wrong and it's what makes for good discussion on these boards. Good luck to all the teams tonight and safe travels to all the fans.
Not as boring a 2 teams who run ball every play. I would love to see a game where both teams throw ball 50 times a game.
Almost no one runs true spread anymore.
Or do you just think that anything with four- and five-receivers is "spread"
I enjoy watching two teams battling in the trenches on run plays, watching the technique and physicality, watching bruising running backs break tackles on the way to a 50-yard touchdown run. I'll always find that more exciting than a 50-yard pass play centered around receivers/defensive backs who usually think they're the toughest players on the field.
Watching 2 running teams is down-right boring football. Like I heard a guy say watching a game in Roanoke a few years back. he said: " I did not realize football could be this boring".
(this guy was a Gretna fan in the year that Gretna averaged over 50 points a game)
(this guy was a Gretna fan in the year that Gretna averaged over 50 points a game)
A lot of teams spread it out to improve their run game to get defenders out of the box. There are also a lot of spread teams that have no business in the spread as they don't know what to do with it or think they can throw and can't. That is a ugly loooong ball game when a spread team tries to pass it 40 times and can't. Do whatever you want on offense but just execute and do it well!
I feel like Richlands still runs a true spread. We spread you out to pass, and keep you honest with a run thrown in from time to time.
Many people will say the spread is more of a run offense than a passing offense. I tend to agree with them. If you spread the defense out, it's easier to run ball, than if you put all 11 players in tight, and try to run up middle.
I understand that many teams like to spread defenses out and run the ball, and I have no issue with that, but HR6 wants to see 50 passes a game, no matter what. That's what I don't like. Even known passing teams like Western Albemarle and Brookville mix in the run a lot now, and it has made them more successful. Sure, if I had a great passing QB with supporting receivers I'd probably pass a little more than I'd run it, but I'd still run it a lot to stay at least close to balanced and keep defenses honest. More bad things can happen on a pass play than a run play.
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