Final Graham 34, Va High 0
- Thread starter Fairlawncat
- Start date
VH had some good runs but Graham’s defense was stingy! They really kept Smith, Slagle, & Burks pretty much locked down. The Lilly kid for Graham had a game!
I was dumbfounded, I think they needed five yards for first down and they had gotten five plenty of times during the game.
Puzzling, especially when the season is on the line. Only thing I can guess is that their punter is also their most dangerous play maker. Maybe he was going to run it, saw it was going to be snuffed out and punted....
I watched this game this morning. I think VH punted in an attempt to keep the score under 30 points in margin for Graham and conceded they weren't winning, and wanted to avoid giving Graham a short field leading to another score and worse margin of victory (which still happened). I would have gone for it on 4th also, but would it have mattered and would VH have got the first down? No. They where physically done at that point.
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They were physically done - I agree - however my competitive mind says you try to win the game no matter what. Say you pick up that first and maybe break one for a TD. Now you are down 20-7 with 7-8 mins to go. A recovered onside kick and you’re still in it.
Punting in that scenario means the coaches quit on the kids. That’s sad.
Virginia high had 93 rushing and 0 passing — Smith had 35 yards on 10 touches or something similar - Lilly had over 220 rushing - dominant again by Graham
That was the noticeable difference from what I viewed. Graham's line play is scary good and the most impressive performance in Class 2 last night was probably Graham, but Strasburg has a strong argument as well. That game was a snowstorm, bitter cold, and weather neutralizes everything and with the way VH had been playing, a 34 to 0 score and less than 100 total yds of offense for VH is a scary performance by Graham. That performance is why Graham has been ranked 1st by Va Preps all year and favored to win the whole thing because it shows their potential when they are clicking. Graham's A game is better than every other teams A game in Class 2 in my opinion, but Graham has battled with bringing its C game a few times in the form of penalties. If they bring their A game, any team they face will have a tall, tall task. Graham is beatable because they don't always bring their A game, but if they do, it's trouble for the opponent.
The kid is really good but Graham’s defense got him visibly frustrated. He’s put up some impressive numbers past few weeks but I don’t think any of those defenses were near as stout as Graham’s. No offense to any of those other teams, Graham’s defense is just rolling right now unfortunately for Smith, they were like a brick wall he couldn’t penetrate. He gave it his all though.
