G.W. vs. Halifax County (Free Audio)

[Chuck Vipperman (GW)]

It's Senior Night for the G.W. Eagles. They'll be at Averett University to take on their long-time rivals from Halifax County.

Chuck Vipperman is ready with the play-by-play. Jim Mccauley will fill in for Clarke Whitfield tonight for color commentary. Brad Fussell prowls the sidelines.

We take the air at 6:30pm, kickoff is 7pm!

(Photo courtesy Dennis Reaves Jr)

 

[ClarkeFan83]

I'm liking this because of how Mr. Whitfield spells his name.😁

 

[DinwiddieProud]

I'm liking this because of how Mr. Whitfield spells his name.😁

🙄🙄🙄

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Thank you for the win, and the rider points GW!

 

[BleedingNavy]

GW is on quite a roll. Three wins in a row and by my calculations they have worked their way back into playoff contention. Glad to see a proud program right the ship. Well done players and coaches.

 

[cutnjump]

GW is on quite a roll. Three wins in a row and by my calculations they have worked their way back into playoff contention. Glad to see a proud program right the ship. Well done players and coaches.

Even if they somehow back into the playoffs I expect their stay to be short. You are right that they have 3 straight wins, however, Tunstall, Patrick County and Halifax MIGHT be able to field a decent 3A roster if they combined all 3 squads. If they manage to shock Bassett and Magna Vista I may have to rethink my previous criticism slightly but, only slightly. Things are a whole lot different out this way than when you were playing BN. ;-)

 

[BleedingNavy]

I told everyone I was going to be positive and that's what I was doing. Lol After starting ofer it is nice to GW not mail it in. I actually thought people were saying Halifax was decent? In my my day playing Glass, GW, William Fleming and Pulaski was a full bore nightmare. Salem, Franklin County, Cave Spring and Northside were okay, but fairly easy nights.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

GW got a nice win Friday. Bassett is probably better than any of the 3 teams that GW beat COMBINED if you combined their best players. If GW can get into the playoffs, it’ll be a good momentum boost going into next season. The JV team is really good and the freshman and sophomores playing on varsity will have a lot of good experience. It’s a down year in Danville but I love and believe in GW’s new AD and I believe they’re going to be back into contender status in a few years.

 

[hrsepasture1]

Bo, the middle school team in Danville has got quite a few studs on their team so the future does look bright over the next few years for the Eagles.

 

[cutnjump]

Bo, the middle school team in Danville has got quite a few studs on their team so the future does look bright over the next few years for the Eagles.

Hopefully they do not end up at LCA. ;-)
Joking but, only partially.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

Danville has rec league football up and running and it’s some big boys playing. Should probably do what Dinwiddie’s little league program does and have 2-3 teams and travel to play other local teams (county league, Greensboro, Rockingham County NC, Lynchburg, etc). GW has some very good men in position of power in Nick Anderson, Mancino Craighead, Cody Perdue, who’s one of the best recruiting coordinators right now, and a quality strength and conditioning program. GW should be a top 3 team in 4D next year.

 

[BleedingNavy]

Ok fellows GW almost pulled off a win tonight. I think they have figured some things out. If they could only stop someone on defense.

 

[hrsepasture1]

GW was up 43-21 with about 8 minutes to go and gave up 22 points to Bassett to go to ot. Bassett scored on their first play in ot and went up 50-43 and then held GW on a 4th down from the half yard line to get the win.

 

[General172011]

They were up 43-21 when I turned the game off 😢

 

[Original Warrior]

How did Bassett come back and win? Did GW fall asleep or did Bassett wake up?

 

[used2coach]

Bassett played inspired football especially with their starting QB out so give them some credit. Despite the improvement they have made GW has been their own worst enemy is a few losses this year. In the end, the officials won this game. Last Bassett touchdown should not have been allowed. They clearly got away with two forward passes on the 4th down play that allowed them to go for 2 and the tie. Lots of calls went against the Eagles but this "no call' might have been the worst. Also looked like GW runner got in on 3rd and goal at end. Officiating has been shaky at best all year. Enjoy it Bassett while you can. No one from Danville will forget what happened in this one.

 

[Original Warrior]

So Bassett scored 50 pts but the officials won the game? What about GW’s defense giving up so many pts?

 

[Chuck Vipperman (GW)]

It was both. We had some terrible defensive breakdowns in the fourth, but the officials missed a double-forward-pass play on the game-tying touchdown. Not to mention the ubiquitous "sideline warning" flags that one official kept calling against us---the same official who saw fit to get into our coach's face after the game.

This is my 33rd season of broadcasting GW football. That's nearly 400 games.

There have only been two games where I think there was an active officiating bias against the Eagles.

1993 @ Cave Spring

Tonight @ Bassett

And that's a damned shame. All I ask for is a fair shake. And we simply didn't get that tonight.

Hats off to Bassett. They played their hearts out. So did we.

 

[used2coach]

Bassett has a good team. Perhaps their best in many years and their comeback was epic but their coaches and players will always know they got away with one. GW players and fans also know. For the record and from a reliable source GW had 17 penalties to Bassett's 3 but the irony if the play they didn't call on the double pass was the backbreaker.

The official on the GW sideline did make a couple of questionable calls but it's not a coincidence that the majority of the flags came from officials on the Bassett sideline. Think they were getting advice from Bassett staff? Also heard at least one of the officiating crew is a Bassett graduate. How does that happen?

 

[Original Warrior]

You think the refs were getting advice from the coaching staff? Cmon now!!!! That one is hard to believe. I’ve watched Bassett’s head coach plead with refs b4 only to be threaten to be quiet or get ejected from the contest. There was 93 pts scored in the game. I think Bassett was down 22 pts with under 5 minutes to play, but it’s one play that was the back breaker? Bassett’s back up QB threw for close to or over 300 yards, It’s never ONE play that determines a game. Just my opinion though.

 

[used2coach]

I agree it's never one play. Games are won and lost throughout. Still, with the game on the line the officials choked. A clip of that play will circulate and anyone with an ounce of football aptitude will immediately know it was illegal.

Please note; I never said Bassett's head coach was helping or influencing calls but as anyone who has ever coached will attest, inexperienced and/or bad officials can be talked into making calls. Coaches on every sideline will be screaming things and weak refs can be talked into a call. In some cases it's legit and in some it isn't. The rule an official must abide by is if I don't see it I can't call it. One has to admit the penalties were skewed.

Game over. Congrats to Bassett. Can't wait to see y'all in Danville next year.

 

[hrsepasture1]

Just went back and watched the play in question. The Bassett qb was straddling the 35 yard line and the first pass was caught on the 33 making the second a illegal forward pass. A terrible missed call. There were numerous head scratching calls throughout this game. Also what constitutes a "sideline warning"? I keep the chains at a local hs and I've seen coaches stay on the field more than the players and never get called for a thing and I've also seen it called for what amounted to nothing. I just don't understand what's the criteria to call this penalty.

 

[1MoreHokie]

Just went back and watched the play in question. The Bassett qb was straddling the 35 yard line and the first pass was caught on the 33 making the second a illegal forward pass. A terrible missed call. There were numerous head scratching calls throughout this game. Also what constitutes a "sideline warning"? I keep the chains at a local hs and I've seen coaches stay on the field more than the players and never get called for a thing and I've also seen it called for what amounted to nothing. I just don't understand what's the criteria to call this penalty.

Sideline warnings are more of a philosophical penalty in a lot of cases. Sometimes players and coaches legitimately break the rule and are warned/penalized for it, this is more of a safety issue than anything else, officials aren't looking peripherally when running and it'd be easy to be blindsided by a coach or player who stepped out for a better view of a play. Often times, however, it's used initially as a warning for coaches to leave that official alone. Seasoned officials tend to let you plead your case until you're hoarse because they're just going to ignore you but newer officials aren't interested in having every call questioned and they may hit you with a warning without embarrassing you with an immediate unsportsmanlike conduct call, which is within their rights to do.

 

[hrsepasture1]

Thanks for the clarification. Just seems funny that certain teams get flagged immediately and others stay on the field the whole game without being penalized.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

Congrats to Coach Johnson & staff. Bad calls here and there but no reason our Eagles should’ve blown a 22 point lead, late in the game like that. This loss is a lesson for the young Eagles moving forward.

 

[playa4life87]

Check out this video Bassett made after this game

 

[1MoreHokie]

1) This is what happens when a team is 1-11 against you all-time and that win came in the early 60s. The price of being Goliath is the celebrations are always bigger when David wins.

2) It's hilarious how bad of a missed call that last TD in regulation was, that's just egregious. I guess the state of that field helps hide those kind of things, it'd stand out like a sore thumb on turf. Also, why include it in the video lol.

3) The kids didn't set out to cheat to win and you certainly can't take away anything else in that game from them.

It is what it is. Next time don't let a team get 3 TDs and a 2 point conversion in half a quarter and it won't be a problem.

 

[General172011]

Wow that is egregious 😖

 

[used2coach]

To be clear and it may be splitting hairs but all that wasn’t done in 4 minutes. The GW scoop and score took place w about 8 min to go. From there this is what transpired.

Bassett scored after a quick 3 or 4 play drive.

GW then proceeded to misplay an onside kick. The Bengals recovered and on their 1st play from scrimmage GW blew the coverage allowing Bassett to pull to within 8.

A 2nd onside kick was recovered by the Eagles. This is what actually took place with about 4 min to go. GW drove down to about the Bassett 20 before turning it over on downs w less than 2 min to go.

First play on the ensuing possession the Bassett QB scrambles to midfield and another GW mistake (personal foul), tacks on 15. This set up the frantic final minute and a half which saw Bassett get one more first down and use their final timeout.

The final Bassett play in regulation took place on 4th and 15. It should have been an easy call. The penalty for an illegal forward pass is 5 yards plus loss of down. GW would have taken over, knelt down and game over.

It’s all moot now. I hope these officials are not rewarded w a playoff game. God help the teams playing if they are.

Also, whoever put this together, thanks! You can bet it will be replayed a number of times about 12 months for now.

 

[eugene051070]

You think the refs were getting advice from the coaching staff? Cmon now!!!! That one is hard to believe. I’ve watched Bassett’s head coach plead with refs b4 only to be threaten to be quiet or get ejected from the contest. There was 93 pts scored in the game. I think Bassett was down 22 pts with under 5 minutes to play, but it’s one play that was the back breaker? Bassett’s back up QB threw for close to or over 300 yards, It’s never ONE play that determines a game. Just my opinion though.

If it's on 4th down at end of the game to lead to the tying score it does!