Kudos to those teams for scheduling us I think W&L and colonial beach will have league up on the rest of 1A from having played us
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Can Riverheads 6 Peat As State Champions ?
- Thread starter trutiger16
- Start date
The Riverheads defense under coach Norcross has been consistent for years. The unique offense just gets more publicity, but for good reason. It’s interesting to see the differences in the Casto double wing/wing T over the years. I would argue that it’s simpler now than ever. Coach Wassick and Armstrong in the booth know what to look for. When you make an adjustment, within one play the Riverheads offense has adjusted to exploit your (new) weakness. To beat them you need 11 guys who want to play big boy old school football. If you have a weakness, they are going to find it.
I have watched every game they have played since 1997 (usually on film). This years team is different then all of the others. This is a more athletic team than usual. Pass defense used to be the obvious weakness. That’s not as much the case this year. And the offensive backfield is ridiculously loaded. I don’t know that Smiley has the speed to be a college back, but he is certainly strong and athletic enough to find the field somewhere. Looks like an OLB to me. Perfect whip style player.
I have watched every game they have played since 1997 (usually on film). This years team is different then all of the others. This is a more athletic team than usual. Pass defense used to be the obvious weakness. That’s not as much the case this year. And the offensive backfield is ridiculously loaded. I don’t know that Smiley has the speed to be a college back, but he is certainly strong and athletic enough to find the field somewhere. Looks like an OLB to me. Perfect whip style player.
I'm sure there are teams down in southwest Virginia who, if they went back to playing smash mouth football, could give Riverheads a fight. But too many want to run the fun-gun style of offense. Chilhowie comes to mind, Burton used to do the same thing as did Honaker. Leave the fun gun style for the teams out east who have the speed and playmakers to run it.
I agree totally , we here always associated smash mouth ball with the teams our west. I remember Sussex playing Clintwood before they folded, it was the most physical game I ever witnessed, Clintwood were some grown ass men !
Clintwood joined up with Haysi to form Ridgeview High School. I remember seeing Clintwood though and they were men. I also saw Haysi in their last ever game, against Essex. Haysi ran the spread, but were no match for the overall team speed and athleticism of Essex.
The game that stands out to me was the Burton vs. William Campbell state title game. Burton forced quite a few turnovers, and Burton had a larger line, but there they were running jet sweeps on the majority of their plays. The Generals ate it up. I'm sure Burtons guys were fast when compared with SWVA but against William Campbell they were slower than molasses.
Defense is sometimes overlooked in high school ball because everyone wants to see the points scored, but the Gladiators' job on Buffalo Gap's Rivenburg last year was absolutely incredible. I don't remember the exact numbers but it was something like 14 carries for 20 yards. In other games, he rushed for 300 or more and had a season total of almost 3,000. So yes Coach Norcross knows his stuff.
Or a kid named Spurlin from Galax. Lol that kid was everywhere the 2015 state championship game. I would dare say they was sore a couple days after that game,. As it was physical game Galax was laying wood on defense and lining up and coming straight at them on Offense.
Hard fought game on both sides
spurlin was in beast mode, he was in on every tackle, rhs got there first first down in the third quarter, rhs held there own stopping a very good galax team to only 1 score, take away the beast spurlin and rhs would have 4 in a row, but rhs has 3, so take 1 game at a time, its a long season and anything can happen, so keep rolling like u have been doing, and we will see if we can get number 4 in a row come December, GO BIG RED
Galax also shot themselves in the foot several times on offense in that game after moving the ball down the field and getting a penalty or not executing but a lot of the not executing was due to the big red machine stepping on D when they had to....nail biter of a game
Galax definitely shut us down that day, going for 2 at the end was the right decision. We would’ve stole that game had we converted.
By chance does anyone have stats for that game? I searched and relived that day in the threads from back then but cant really find any stats posted. I would like to think if that game was played 10 times there would be a decent split but Galax was on a mission that day. Spurlin was a beast and very deserving of the DPOY honor. There was mention that Harris was dinged up a little (after the game that was an observation from some of the Maroon Tide faithful) if so it may have been worse had he been healthy. For my recollection, he only had 1 or 2 long runs and was pretty bottled up as well but they certainly made more plays overall.
I for one have been much happier with the outcome of the last three games in Salem.
I for one have been much happier with the outcome of the last three games in Salem.
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Here you go sir. It has stats, game leaders, plus you change tab and see play by play.
https://stats.digitalscout.com/football/boys/game/6395778
I remember sitting with our coaches watching the game. And after Galax ran off tackle to the left twice in a row Coach McPherson said watch this he will run it until they stop it.
Harris ran off tackle left the same play at least ten times. I remember castro switching out multiple D line on that side trying to get those guys a break and stop it. It was amazing to see them score running the same play so many times in a row.
It also amazed me that coach said Riverheads had maybe punted a hand full of times all season long that year. Thats impressive when your O is that good
Truly one the best best atmospheres at any state game I have been to.
Harris ran off tackle left the same play at least ten times. I remember castro switching out multiple D line on that side trying to get those guys a break and stop it. It was amazing to see them score running the same play so many times in a row.
It also amazed me that coach said Riverheads had maybe punted a hand full of times all season long that year. Thats impressive when your O is that good
Truly one the best best atmospheres at any state game I have been to.
I am MEGA IMPRESSED with the depth and detail of these stats for a high school game. Hats off to who compiled and reported them as well as to you for sharing them.
What I remember most about that game was that Galax, especially Spurlin, seemed to anticipate just about every play we ran. You only have to look at the rushing stats to see that. If you wonder about Colt Miller's rushing average of 14 yards, the explanation is that about 40 of that came on one play. For Galax to dominate Schaefer the way they did, considering how explosive he went on to be the next year, was just amazing.
When Galax had the ball, the Big Red certainly did an admirable job. After the first quarter TD, I kept expecting the Tide to score again and really put RHS in the hole, but the Gladiators came up with the big stop time and time again to give themselves the chance to pull it out, which they almost did.
Definitely one of those "you had to be there" games, and it was every bit as memorable in its own way as the 2010 shootout with Eastern Montgomery.
What I remember most about that game was that Galax, especially Spurlin, seemed to anticipate just about every play we ran. You only have to look at the rushing stats to see that. If you wonder about Colt Miller's rushing average of 14 yards, the explanation is that about 40 of that came on one play. For Galax to dominate Schaefer the way they did, considering how explosive he went on to be the next year, was just amazing.
When Galax had the ball, the Big Red certainly did an admirable job. After the first quarter TD, I kept expecting the Tide to score again and really put RHS in the hole, but the Gladiators came up with the big stop time and time again to give themselves the chance to pull it out, which they almost did.
Definitely one of those "you had to be there" games, and it was every bit as memorable in its own way as the 2010 shootout with Eastern Montgomery.
From what I understand all the stats come from the Stat keeper from the schools themselves. They upload them to the site as the game progresses. I wished all schools did it. Galax does a great job with it.
That one long run came on the last drive of the game did it not? I seem to recall Riverheads having a few fourth down situations on that drive and making spectacular plays to keep the drive alive.
Thanks @Optimal62. Even with Harris running well, Galax ended with more yards rushing than I had thought. And I certainly recall that off tackle play and thinking how long a day it was going to be if we couldn't limit that one. Great game and the overall stats are closer to being even than I remembered but the one that mattered was the 7-6 final. I know its been mentioned a few times but if that extra point catch would have been made for the 2 pt conversion , that would have been a stolen game.
It was an absolute classic. And wouldn't you know it I was there rooting on the Gladiators.
Hey, maybe that is the key. If I root for them to beat my Cougars the last game in regular season maybe SD can win haha.
Hey, maybe that is the key. If I root for them to beat my Cougars the last game in regular season maybe SD can win haha.
GW for 1 we always have monster's on the O-line and ridiculous speed in the backfield. But we play run and gun don't run between the tackles much it's usually always jet sweeps.
How ya been dude? I know you're loving the sweet 2-0 start by San Fran. I'll take it.
And yes, GW is definitely another team that comes to mind when I think of those big ol boys from down in SWVA. You guys have been one of the very few exceptions when it comes to winning a state title while being a spread team from that side of the state. Perhaps the only exception.
Been well I hippie you are as well. And I love it lol hopefully we can keep it going tomorrow against the steelers.
Don't get me wrong I'm proud of the success we've had out of the spread. But our roots are in running in down throats and wearing teams down. And just look at RH and Galax they are as successful as any currently and they basically tell what's coming. But 90% of the time it can't be stopped. Good fundamentals will beat flashy any day in my book.
You guys talking awfully shitty about JIB, do you remember how the game ended 2006? No one had better athletes or whatever, it was the single most ridiculous officiating call I've ever seen in my 30+ years. The VHSL admitting the unsportsmanlike penalty was a mistake. Burton really was moving the ball and I believe would have converted their 2pt attempt but the official made such a ridiculous call that is decided the game.
The year before, it wasn't like WC blew out JIB, it was 18-0. Franklin blew them out a couple years before but that Franklin team was incredible. Altavista beat them a couple years later but it wasn't a blowout, 27-7.
Their enrollment has plummeted and their program is in disarray bc of off field stuff, but I don't get the shots taken.
The year before, it wasn't like WC blew out JIB, it was 18-0. Franklin blew them out a couple years before but that Franklin team was incredible. Altavista beat them a couple years later but it wasn't a blowout, 27-7.
Their enrollment has plummeted and their program is in disarray bc of off field stuff, but I don't get the shots taken.
Dont see where any Riverheads posters even mentioned JIB, but since you brought it up, if you remember we ran all over JIB, we lost 5 or 6 fumbles, JIB had no answer for our run game and even if you converted the 2 pt conversion there was still plenty of time for our offense to score again. Riverheads was definitely the better team and if it werent for all the turnovers JIB would have been run out of the stadium.
I thought Riverheads was the better team. But both of you fellas candy be right. I don't remember what it was, but I do remember something pretty big at the end
They probably would have beaten William Campbell had they ran an in-your-face smash mouth offense. But instead they ran some finesse stuff that the Generals ate right up. Burton had a tough defense each and every year during that period and the finesse style looked good vs. weak competition. And lets be honest with ourselves, you win Region D during that era and you were going to the state game because Region C was so weak. But that spread stuff didnt translate so well for them come state title time. Which is a shame as it has been mentioned already how many turnovers their defense was forcing.
I think Honaker could have knocked off Altavista in 2014 also. But instead of running with their monster Oline they preferred to attempt to air it out after getting down 6-0 and ended up with something like 6 INT's thrown in that game.
was that wise coach coach casto, run, run, run, if they stop the run u will beat us, if not more likely we will beat u, I heard a wise coach say defense wins championships buds, coach chic Crawford, GO BIG RED
Lol okay buddy. There was less than a minute left in the game. It was 21-20. Whatever helps you sleep better at night. You guys also had more than double JIBs enrollment but that's not here nor there.
VHSL Ref. has it a 60/40 game, hardly one sided. Burton had an Ortg of 60, Drtg of 54.
Riverheads was Ortg of 55, Dtrg of 56.
Burton had seven turnovers when they lost to Altavista in 2009, were they the better team?
And if I remember correctly, didn't William Campbell basically choke away the game in the region finals? If's and buts.
I'm not trashing Riverheads at all, I simply stated the officials took away any chance Burton had at winning that game with a ludicrous call. Never said Burton was better team.
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But that's not how Adams coached. I'm not sure he would have made it out of Region D trying to cram it down everyone's throats as teams like Clintwood and Appalachia were very physical and could handle that type of offense more so than Burton's jet sweep offense. Norton still ran the ball more than they passed, it was just mostly off their jet sweep action. Old school D1 teams from Region D have suffered badly from dwindling enrollment and consolidation, as Pound, Clintwood and Haysi are no more.
I'm not sure you'll ever see a team from the old LPD win a 1A title again. Burton is only team standing and they just don't have the athletes they had in the past.
That's incredibly disrespectful to Burton man. Fumbles are almost always forced errors. Maybe Norton saw something and worked on stripping the ball?
William Campbell definitely choked the game away. But there is no guarantee JIB would have gotten the 2 without the penalty, I mean except for the last drive JIB offense hadnt done much all day. Dont think we punted the whole game we moved the ball at will on your defense, it was 50 seconds left plenty of time for us to get into field goal range which is all we would have needed , so to say the game was stolen like a lot of media portrayed is an outright lie because you never had the game to begin with.
