Gap Vasity whips Riverheads JV
- Thread starter Xcross
- Start date
Since X Cross has introduced the topic, I will go ahead with the post I was planning. First of all, to address his comment, there was some grumbling among the RHS faithful tonight about the fact that BG had about 5 sophomores on its team, whereas Riverheads only plays 8th and 9th graders at the JV level. But I don't know enough about the rules and regulations (if there are any) to have an opinion on that subject.
The biggest surprise about tonight's game was the weather. It had poured at times today in some areas of the county, but apparently Greenville was spared. So it looked as if it might not have rained there at all and it held off until the last minute or so of the game, and even then we just got a sprinkle.
As for the factors that led to BG's win, I will focus on two in particular. The first is that the Bison defended the RHS running game better than anyone else had, and they were especially effective at shutting down the Big Red's top back, Brody Phillips. He was simply not able to get much of anything going tonight and as a result, the Gladiators had to pass more than usual, which took them out of their comfort zone.
Oh they did have "some" success through the air as Gladiator QB Levi Dunlap tossed three touchdown passes to Austin Roberts................what's that you say?..........oh you want to know how Riverheads could have three touchdown passes if they only scored six points in the entire game? Well that leads into the second reason for the Bison victory tonight.
That being that Riverheads had a terrible time tonight with those men in the striped suits. Now make sure you understand that correctly..........I am not saying the refs gave the game to the Bison, although I am sure many Riverheads fans saw it that way.
Instead the Gladiators I saw out there tonight were just completely out of sync in terms of their timing and efficiency. They were flagged at least 8-10 times for false starts and 3-4 other times for jumping offsides. I assume this was a reflection of the fact that they were playing their first game in about three weeks, so the rhythm was just not there.
As for the "three" touchdown passes, the one that counted came less than four minutes into the game as Dunlap found Roberts out in the left flat and he had a convoy into the end zone, scoring from about 45 yards out, as the Big Red took the early lead.
The other two TD tosses, as you have no doubt figured out, were called back on penalties, which of course incensed the Gladiator fans that much more. The first occurred in the waning seconds of the first half when the Gladiators were trying to re-take the lead, and the second came in the fourth quarter when there was still hope for a comeback victory.
One call was for an ineligible receiver downfield and the other may have been the same call. I don't recall a clear signal from that play.
So all of those yellow hankies had the home fans howling most of the night but the harsh reality is that the Big Red hurt themselves much more than the Bison or the referees did. It was just not the kind of disciplined effort the Gladiators normally give, which was of course disappointing, because I believe tonight's loss snapped a winning streak that had reached 32 games I was told. (The Riverheads' varsity winning streak is now the fifth-longest in the country among high school teams according to my sources, but we will discuss that in more detail after Friday's game.)
As for the Bison, they capitalized on two interceptions tonight to get two of their scores, and they also converted the two-point PAT after their first two touchdowns. They took an 8-6 lead into the locker room, and then ate up the first 8 minutes of the third quarter to take a 16-6 lead, putting RHS in too deep a hole to catch up. The second pick-off occurred after the second of the RHS called-back TDs, and the Bison were then able to drive in for their insurance TD, which they scored with under two minutes left.
So in my supportive-but-objective opinion, the better team clearly won tonight, as Riverheads just did not have the spark that this game would have required. The fans of course reacted to the number of penalties, as fans are prone to do, but if they were to go back and watch a tape of the game with an open mind, I think they would see that it was just not the Big Red's night.
The best thing the Gladiators can do now is to put this one behind them, analyze all those timing issues, and get ready to take out their frustrations on the Green Team when Wilson comes calling next Wednesday night. Speaking of Wilson, for those of you who have not heard, the Varsity game at Wilson next week has been moved to Saturday afternoon at 1:00, in order to help Wilson get in a make-up game with Rockbridge on Tuesday night. I am sure the local media will make sure everyone understands that schedule change.
But before we get to next week's action, let's all hope we get the same lucky break this Friday night with the weather when the Gladiator Varsity team hits the road to Buffalo Gap, which based on what I saw last Friday night in Waynesboro, will not be a walk in the park for the Big Red.
The biggest surprise about tonight's game was the weather. It had poured at times today in some areas of the county, but apparently Greenville was spared. So it looked as if it might not have rained there at all and it held off until the last minute or so of the game, and even then we just got a sprinkle.
As for the factors that led to BG's win, I will focus on two in particular. The first is that the Bison defended the RHS running game better than anyone else had, and they were especially effective at shutting down the Big Red's top back, Brody Phillips. He was simply not able to get much of anything going tonight and as a result, the Gladiators had to pass more than usual, which took them out of their comfort zone.
Oh they did have "some" success through the air as Gladiator QB Levi Dunlap tossed three touchdown passes to Austin Roberts................what's that you say?..........oh you want to know how Riverheads could have three touchdown passes if they only scored six points in the entire game? Well that leads into the second reason for the Bison victory tonight.
That being that Riverheads had a terrible time tonight with those men in the striped suits. Now make sure you understand that correctly..........I am not saying the refs gave the game to the Bison, although I am sure many Riverheads fans saw it that way.
Instead the Gladiators I saw out there tonight were just completely out of sync in terms of their timing and efficiency. They were flagged at least 8-10 times for false starts and 3-4 other times for jumping offsides. I assume this was a reflection of the fact that they were playing their first game in about three weeks, so the rhythm was just not there.
As for the "three" touchdown passes, the one that counted came less than four minutes into the game as Dunlap found Roberts out in the left flat and he had a convoy into the end zone, scoring from about 45 yards out, as the Big Red took the early lead.
The other two TD tosses, as you have no doubt figured out, were called back on penalties, which of course incensed the Gladiator fans that much more. The first occurred in the waning seconds of the first half when the Gladiators were trying to re-take the lead, and the second came in the fourth quarter when there was still hope for a comeback victory.
One call was for an ineligible receiver downfield and the other may have been the same call. I don't recall a clear signal from that play.
So all of those yellow hankies had the home fans howling most of the night but the harsh reality is that the Big Red hurt themselves much more than the Bison or the referees did. It was just not the kind of disciplined effort the Gladiators normally give, which was of course disappointing, because I believe tonight's loss snapped a winning streak that had reached 32 games I was told. (The Riverheads' varsity winning streak is now the fifth-longest in the country among high school teams according to my sources, but we will discuss that in more detail after Friday's game.)
As for the Bison, they capitalized on two interceptions tonight to get two of their scores, and they also converted the two-point PAT after their first two touchdowns. They took an 8-6 lead into the locker room, and then ate up the first 8 minutes of the third quarter to take a 16-6 lead, putting RHS in too deep a hole to catch up. The second pick-off occurred after the second of the RHS called-back TDs, and the Bison were then able to drive in for their insurance TD, which they scored with under two minutes left.
So in my supportive-but-objective opinion, the better team clearly won tonight, as Riverheads just did not have the spark that this game would have required. The fans of course reacted to the number of penalties, as fans are prone to do, but if they were to go back and watch a tape of the game with an open mind, I think they would see that it was just not the Big Red's night.
The best thing the Gladiators can do now is to put this one behind them, analyze all those timing issues, and get ready to take out their frustrations on the Green Team when Wilson comes calling next Wednesday night. Speaking of Wilson, for those of you who have not heard, the Varsity game at Wilson next week has been moved to Saturday afternoon at 1:00, in order to help Wilson get in a make-up game with Rockbridge on Tuesday night. I am sure the local media will make sure everyone understands that schedule change.
But before we get to next week's action, let's all hope we get the same lucky break this Friday night with the weather when the Gladiator Varsity team hits the road to Buffalo Gap, which based on what I saw last Friday night in Waynesboro, will not be a walk in the park for the Big Red.
Sophomores can play jv. We have played division 4 and 5 schools whose entire JV is sophomores. They actually have 8th and 9th grade separate teams called Freshman team which is under JV and plays other big school freshman teams. Most D1 schools don't have many sophomores on JV because they are needed for numbers on varsity. JV is just a learning time and have seen many almost all 8th grader jvs play almost all sophomore jvs many times. Remember once we had 20 of our 22 starters were 8th graders and played bigger JV that was entirely sophomores. It is very common.
Complaining about 10th graders on JV is a new level of funny. Do those people know juniors can play on JV teams in parts of VA?
I did not see the game but, Gap will take a win from Riverheads at any level, any way they can get it legally. I hate games with huge game changing flags unless they are clear and obvious. I was told the Shenandoah district voted right before the season to allow 10th graders to play JV as they have been only 8th and 9th for a good while in the Shenandoah district. I was also told only RHS and Gap voted for no 10th graders. I don't know if that is true. Ironic thing is I am not sure Gap would have had a JV football team without a few 10th graders this year. Without those few 10th graders, they would be a much different team. You will not see any of those same players in the varsity game until the 4th quarter Friday if Riverheads is up by 40 or more. I will say the good news for Gap is that the few 8th and 9th graders we have, many are physically large.
Galax played only 8th and 9th graders on the jv team for years, most of the teams we played back then were comprised of 9th and 10th graders. Now in the last few years Galax started playing a few 10th graders on jv but I think now we have what they call a middle school team and the ninth graders play varsity but I might be wrong on that.
I will chime and add a few things beings that I was fairly close to a good many of the “controversial” calls.
First, the biggest one for momentum was the TD called back for the QB being beyond the line of scrimmage right at the end of the first half. The ball was on the twelve and when the ball was released the QB is just behind the LOS but he had rolled to his left closer to the sideline. Since there were 5 officials the white hat has this call from mid-field and it is a pure guess. It was close but I could see down the line and he was legal. Again not malicious but certainly one that is hard to make from there.
Second were the numerous false starts. There should have been a river on the visitor sideline with the crying and begging for that call. Again not an egregious call in itself but literally was the same thing that the Gap line was doing.
Third, the multiple illegal formation calls. This was frankly a legitimate call as the lineman were not inside of the centers hip ever time. The line judge told them specifically what the call was for and it wasn’t correct at times. 1000% agree with those calls.
In summary there were 18/19 calls against Riverheads and 3 going against Gap. I would argue that there were probably 8-10 legit calls against the Gladiators mainly due to multiple times the line was not correct so they had more than 4 in the backfield by rule. The others were definitely lobby calls with a specific holding penalty called in the first half largely due to a Gap supporter giving what for to the side judge, lol.
Unlike some I could care less whether 10th graders played. That did not win Gap the game. Nor did the penalties. They executed more times than Riverheads did, it’s really that simple. I will add that IMO the predominantly 8th grade Gladiators did well and will only be better for being challenged by playing “better” competition.
ps- on a side note, trust that everyone heard the Gap JV coach talking about “flexing on ‘em” and how they will be “flexing on Friday night too”. It could very well happen if the Gladiators come out rusty after their bye week and Gap is hitting on all cylinders. I for one will have my popcorn and expect a show in Swoope.
First, the biggest one for momentum was the TD called back for the QB being beyond the line of scrimmage right at the end of the first half. The ball was on the twelve and when the ball was released the QB is just behind the LOS but he had rolled to his left closer to the sideline. Since there were 5 officials the white hat has this call from mid-field and it is a pure guess. It was close but I could see down the line and he was legal. Again not malicious but certainly one that is hard to make from there.
Second were the numerous false starts. There should have been a river on the visitor sideline with the crying and begging for that call. Again not an egregious call in itself but literally was the same thing that the Gap line was doing.
Third, the multiple illegal formation calls. This was frankly a legitimate call as the lineman were not inside of the centers hip ever time. The line judge told them specifically what the call was for and it wasn’t correct at times. 1000% agree with those calls.
In summary there were 18/19 calls against Riverheads and 3 going against Gap. I would argue that there were probably 8-10 legit calls against the Gladiators mainly due to multiple times the line was not correct so they had more than 4 in the backfield by rule. The others were definitely lobby calls with a specific holding penalty called in the first half largely due to a Gap supporter giving what for to the side judge, lol.
Unlike some I could care less whether 10th graders played. That did not win Gap the game. Nor did the penalties. They executed more times than Riverheads did, it’s really that simple. I will add that IMO the predominantly 8th grade Gladiators did well and will only be better for being challenged by playing “better” competition.
ps- on a side note, trust that everyone heard the Gap JV coach talking about “flexing on ‘em” and how they will be “flexing on Friday night too”. It could very well happen if the Gladiators come out rusty after their bye week and Gap is hitting on all cylinders. I for one will have my popcorn and expect a show in Swoope.
IMO Gap has zero chance Fri night. Their wins are against weak competition. All streaks come to an end, Gaps JVs ended Riverheads long winning streak, Riverheads varsity streak will also end at some point, but I guarantee it wont be Friday night in Swoope. Riverheads names the score.
If playing 10th graders is within the rules, then it is what it is.
What I do find interesting is Gap had some of their 10th graders "move down" for this game. That's where I wonder what is up and what is the motivation. If they are on JV and play there all season, fine, but if Gap is just moving varsity guys down for this game I find that interesting. Wonder if they are gonna bring some Rivenburgs back for the varsity game Friday. Pickle is still in the area, maybe he can get some carries in.
Either way, I'm glad achieved their goal of winning this JV game.
What I do find interesting is Gap had some of their 10th graders "move down" for this game. That's where I wonder what is up and what is the motivation. If they are on JV and play there all season, fine, but if Gap is just moving varsity guys down for this game I find that interesting. Wonder if they are gonna bring some Rivenburgs back for the varsity game Friday. Pickle is still in the area, maybe he can get some carries in.
Either way, I'm glad achieved their goal of winning this JV game.
Trust me, no one moved down for this game. The varsity needs every able body they can get.
Not questioning you brother but the Gap players last night said there were 5 kids with them this week that normally don’t play JV. For me there were 3 standouts for Gap with 1, 35 and 11 being the kids that just seemed to be around the ball all the time. Again, even if they are 10th graders, that didn’t win them the game IMO, poor execution on our part was the biggest contributor coupled with very good defense from Gap. It is my understanding that 1 and 35 are sophomores but 11 is a freshman. I couldn’t tell you if the 10th graders play regularly for varsity but I do know the Gap player I talked to said this past week is the first one that Hewitt (#1) was with JV. Take that for what it’s worth. They definitely looked good last night so the future should be bright in Swoope.
Schools move kids up and down all the time. Maybe #1 has been with varsity because the coaches felt he could help them and just he hasn't been getting much playing time. If a kid is practicing with varsity to help the varsity get better looks during practice, but they send him down to play JV games, I am all for the player getting reps. JV game reps are better reps than scout practice or no reps on a Friday.
I may be wrong here, but I seem to remember when my son played, he played both JV and Varsity as a 9th and 10th grader. Seems to me the rule was he could play in 40 quarters for the regular season. Every qtr. he was on the field for at least one play in JV, was one less qtr. he was allowed to play for varsity. I guess some coach was responsible for tracking this. Not sure if it was enforced too strictly.
Thats the rule i thought existed also as we have in the past dressed some jv players and played them on varsity some if needed or to get them a few reps late in 4th qtr in a runaway game.
It’s still 40 quarters a year to my knowledge. There used to also be a weekly max too but I think some of that is relaxed with so many games being played in the same week. Heck some teams are having to play Monday/Tuesday and then again on Friday/Saturday so there would be no way to have a limited weekly max that makes sense.
I know this has been discussed previously, but why were 10th graders prohibited from playing JV in the Shenandoah District? Sophomores have been playing JV football in the NND since sometime in the early 80s.
I really can't believe this many words were dedicated to JV, a learning level as mentioned up the thread. Maybe they will have to put an * in the VHSL JV record book. 😛😛😛
Agree, I can promise you Casto doesnt care if the JVs win a game or not as long as they are being prepared and taught the varsity system. Never saw the JV trophy case at the school. Congratulations to Gap on the win
I have never in my 27 years on this earth, heard people trash a team for having sophomores on their JV team. When I was in school, sophomores on JV wasn’t your better players (unless your varsity team was just that loaded).
Well the OP did complain at the beginning of the season that his 8th grade grandson had to play against 10th graders and it was unfair 🙄🤣
And that is XCROSS, mr aka mystery man, nobody knows his identity, u have a better chance at seeing bigfoot than u will of him
Actually somebody did see him. He got on here a few years back mouthing about a Stuarts Draft coach with a ponytail..and that coach got on here and called him out lol.
FINAL-Riverheads 51, Stuarts Draft 6
Unofficially total yards were Riverheads 579, Stuarts Draft 46. I’ll type up recap later tonight.
virginiapreps.forums.rivals.com
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Ponytails and sophomores playing JV, the two things that grinds Xcross' gears the most.
So, a coach in the press box is screaming at his players who are on the field and undoubtedly cannot hear him with their helmets on I would gather to guess. What's up with that???
XCROSS come on down to pecks bbq, they have some sale on hotdogs, and also get a burger before the game, they don't have the chili like moore's does in lynchburg, I will pay, and u know me and jer don't have ponytails, GO BIG RED, glad u don't like ponytails, and hope u don't like man bunns as well,
Lol schools have been playing sophomores on jv for decades. I cached an 8th grade team with a couple players in 7th grade who moved up from sandlot. Not every school in the district had a 8th grade team. We played their 9 and Tenth grade teams regularly.
I graduated in 1995 and we had 10th graders on jv, long before then.
