Dinwiddie Schedule

[mbonape1]

What gives you hope at Huguenot?

Lots of athlete's. New A1 facilities and field. Former power that has started to show glimmers of competitiveness in district play. I just figure there has to be a quality city school at some point. Looks like the most likely choice. With the rest of the metro richmond schools so bad in football seems like a likely landing spot for transfers who don't want to play at dismal programs but want to stay in the city zone.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Lots of athlete's. New A1 facilities and field. Former power that has started to show glimmers of competitiveness in district play. I just figure there has to be a quality city school at some point. Looks like the most likely choice. With the rest of the metro richmond schools so bad in football seems like a likely landing spot for transfers who don't want to play at dismal programs but want to stay in the city zone.

I expect big things from TJ as far as the city schools go this year. They might not be 4A but they are going to have a schedule that pits them against team more their 3A size. With a new coach you never know but there is some talent returning to a team that went 4-5 last year and made the playoffs. Like you I do think Huguenot will be improved but I think TJ will be the city school with the better record.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Patrick Henry's schedule will be similar to 2016 except out is Mills Godwin and in is Deep Run

That's about an even swap. Maybe a step up considering DR seems to be headed in the right direction.

Caroline, Glen Allen, and Armstrong sure hurt them with respect to points for "defeated opponents win's."

And man, Hanover laying an egg last year by loosing 8 games hurt a lot of teams points. You just have to believe they will improve this year.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Lots of athlete's. New A1 facilities and field. Former power that has started to show glimmers of competitiveness in district play. I just figure there has to be a quality city school at some point. Looks like the most likely choice. With the rest of the metro richmond schools so bad in football seems like a likely landing spot for transfers who don't want to play at dismal programs but want to stay in the city zone.

You know, you make a good point. Huguenot having first rate everything now could be a magnet. If their athletic teams begin to improve, I could see some of the better players inside the city limits finding a way to move there.

 

[CRF4Dan]

That's about an even swap. Maybe a step up considering DR seems to be headed in the right direction.

Caroline, Glen Allen, and Armstrong sure hurt them with respect to points for "defeated opponents win's."

And man, Hanover laying an egg last year by loosing 8 games hurt a lot of teams points. You just have to believe they will improve this year.

Well when you're down there is only one place to go and that is up so I do think Hanover will bounce back but that won't take much considering how low they hit last year. They lost so much from the year before and then losing Clayton were tough blows. I could see them bouncing back to 5-5 or 6-4 in 2017.

 

[mbonape1]

I expect big things from TJ as far as the city schools go this year. They might not be 4A but they are going to have a schedule that pits them against team more their 3A size. With a new coach you never know but there is some talent returning to a team that went 4-5 last year and made the playoffs. Like you I do think Huguenot will be improved but I think TJ will be the city school with the better record.

By big things how big are we talking here? I do think they will be the best city zoned school but that isn't saying much. I think they will be a middle of the pack team in the 804 area as a whole which in its own right is a major improvement. Could they be as good as say a Mills godwin or a Cosby?

Do you think they can make a deep playoff run in 3A? That would be great to see.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Agreed.

A mutual "friend" told me about someone that picked Jacksonville State to be the the National Champion. You think I should go put down $5 on that one?

 

[CRF4Dan]

By big things how big are we talking here? I do think they will be the best city zoned school but that isn't saying much. I think they will be a middle of the pack team in the 804 area as a whole which in its own right is a major improvement. Could they be as good as say a Mills godwin or a Cosby?

Do you think they can make a deep playoff run in 3A? That would be great to see.

By big I think a winning record given their schedule is not out of the question and depends on who they draw in the playoffs, maybe their first playoff win. Either one of those would be huge for a city school.

 

[CRF4Dan]

Agreed.

A mutual "friend" told me about someone that picked Jacksonville State to be the the National Champion. You think I should go put down $5 on that one?

I've seen a Final 4 that has VCU, Florida, Kentucky and Rhode Island.... I guess anything is possible.

 

[SpartanOfYore]

Mike and company, how about on your side of the universe? Who will be the teams to beat?

Hard to recall now who will return what, in the heart of the offseason. I'll comment on a few of the teams in the new Region D:

William Byrd will welcome back Larry Basham for his senior year. Due to the loss of the qb and the two excellent defensive ends/OL's, I see Byrd as still being good, but not near last year's level.

Jefferson Forest lost eight games in a rebuilding year. Five of those eight losses were of margins of five or fewer points; only one of the losses was to a bad team (Liberty). JF could well be able to flip at least half of those losses.

Blacksburg is riding high off their 3A championship, but will move up to Class 4. I'm not sure what the Bruins return in addition to Grant Johnson, Tiquest Terry, and Cole Beck, but those three alone should account for a lot of W's.

Amherst County, I think I've read, will say goodbye to twenty-five seniors from the team that handed Salem its only loss, and was a legit state contender prior to an injury to qb Keshon Turner. I think Turner returns this fall.

E. C. Glass is a team about which I honestly have no knowledge. Looking at VHSL-Reference, the six wins posted by the Hilltoppers last season was the most by a Glass team since 2005. They started out 4-0, but dropped four of the last six to just miss the 4A West playoffs. The Glass program seems to be on an upward trajectory.

Charlottesville is another team that looks to be on the rise. The Black Knights notched their first playoff victory since 1999 last year.

George Washington is another unknown to me. I seem to recall the 2016 edition of the Eagles being very young. The Eagles had seven wins, but only one was against a team a winning record (2A Martinsville).

William Fleming continues to confound me. The turnaround I expected when they hired Coach Martin hasn't occurred yet; I don't know that I would look for it to happen this fall. [Edit: oops! I forgot Fleming will be moving back up to Class 5.]

Salem should still be strong, but qb Noah Beckley - IMHO, quite likely the best in program history - will cast a long shadow. Replacing his leadership and play-making ability will be a very tall order, indeed.

As of now, my sheer early guesswork would list the Region D favorites in this order: Salem, Blacksburg, Charlottesville, Jefferson Forest, William Byrd, and GW/Amherst Co.

The other half of 4A West will now be Region C. Just from what I know by following scores and records, and reading on here, I would guess the favorites would be Woodgrove, Sherando, Millbrook, and Dominion.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

DP, I have to agree with you with all due respect to Mbonape1. I think Ashland could contend for a spot in the 4a championship. They return quite a bit including Hunter Hart! Not as big as Cheatham at Hanover but just as capable of making big time plays. Hart is a little faster and has about the same physicality. Been looking at this kid for 2 years and he's the real deal!

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

I've seen a Final 4 that has VCU, Florida, Kentucky and Rhode Island.... I guess anything is possible.

I hope they're right lol!!!

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

Hard to recall now who will return what, in the heart of the offseason. I'll comment on a few of the teams in the new Region D:

William Byrd will welcome back Larry Basham for his senior year. Due to the loss of the qb and the two excellent defensive ends/OL's, I see Byrd as still being good, but not near last year's level.

Jefferson Forest lost eight games in a rebuilding year. Five of those eight losses were of margins of five or fewer points; only one of the losses was to a bad team (Liberty). JF could well be able to flip at least half of those losses.

Blacksburg is riding high off their 3A championship, but will move up to Class 4. I'm not sure what the Bruins return in addition to Grant Johnson, Tiquest Terry, and Cole Beck, but those three alone should account for a lot of W's.

Amherst County, I think I've read, will say goodbye to twenty-five seniors from the team that handed Salem its only loss, and was a legit state contender prior to an injury to qb Keshon Turner. I think Turner returns this fall.

E. C. Glass is a team about which I honestly have no knowledge. Looking at VHSL-Reference, the six wins posted by the Hilltoppers last season was the most by a Glass team since 2005. They started out 4-0, but dropped four of the last six to just miss the 4A West playoffs. The Glass program seems to be on an upward trajectory.

Charlottesville is another team that looks to be on the rise. The Black Knights notched their first playoff victory since 1999 last year.

George Washington is another unknown to me. I seem to recall the 2016 edition of the Eagles being very young. The Eagles had seven wins, but only one was against a team a winning record (2A Martinsville).

William Fleming continues to confound me. The turnaround I expected when they hired Coach Martin hasn't occurred yet; I don't know that I would look for it to happen this fall. [Edit: oops! I forgot Fleming will be moving back up to Class 5.]

Salem should still be strong, but qb Noah Beckley - IMHO, quite likely the best in program history - will cast a long shadow. Replacing his leadership and play-making ability will be a very tall order, indeed.

As of now, my sheer early guesswork would list the Region D favorites in this order: Salem, Blacksburg, Charlottesville, Jefferson Forest, William Byrd, and GW/Amherst Co.

The other half of 4A West will now be Region C. Just from what I know by following scores and records, and reading on here, I would guess the favorites would be Woodgrove, Sherando, Millbrook, and Dominion.

Danville will get LCA, Amherst, and JF as their first 3 opponents this year plus another 3 teams that should make the playoffs in their prospective class (Franklin Co, Magna Vista, and Martinsville). If they can win 5 of those and win out (which they're very very very capable of winning all six games) then you could be seeing the 1 or 2 seed coming to Danville this year.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

Amherst lost a lot of seniors, but they return A LOT!!!!!! Very good JV players coming up and a lot of juniors will be seniors. They will be huge in the trenches and as always will have an abundance of speed (they always do). This will yet again be a 8-9 win team. In essence I think that Salem, GW, Charlottesville, JF and Amherst will be the top dogs in no specific order. Glass will be very good but this program has to learn how to win again. They will be in the playoffs but IMO the 5 I named will have the best shot to advance to the 3rd and 4th rounds of the playoffs.