Graham vs Appomattox State Semifinals
- Thread starter Gridiron1960
- Start date
1). It was stated earlier in the thread that this Graham team on offense was better than the 2016 Appo team and just as good if not a little better on defense to the 2016 Appo team. I’ve seen every Appo team live since their run started in 2015. I’ve seen Graham live in 2018 and 2019. Neither Graham team is beating the 2016 Appo team.
2). I don’t know if you’re trying to troll or you’re just clueless. The hype (earlier on this thread) about how good this Graham team was stated.....numerous times. Everyone heard about their speed, explosiveness, and how they stacked up against previous Appomattox teams. That’s hype. I never stated you were the author of the comments. But, the hype was said.
All I’m saying is, after watching Graham today, I think the hype was a little much. They are a solid ball club, but, nothing that Coach Smith hasn’t seen.
Just for fun...here’s how I would rank the Graham and Appomattox teams I’ve seen since 2015....
1). 2016 Appomattox (one of the best 2A teams I’ve ever seen. They could have competed for a state title all the way up to 4A.)
2). 2015 Appomattox
3). 2017 Appomattox
4). 2018 Graham
5). 2019 Appomattox
6). 2019 Graham
7). 2018 Appomattox
The only comments I've seen making those comparisons was from the Union guy and he's clarified those comments. I'm pretty sure most people in their right minds weren't saying we were on the level of those teams. If you would've asked me I would've said we were the underdogs coming into this game. You just seem to be taking this as an opportunity to tell us how mediocre you think we are.
I could only imagine if Lester legs had Asbury's vision from Richlands. That spread would be dangerous...But..Like Gator said, that O Line didnt help Lester much today. I cant say enough about the OLine for Appomattox, they should get the game ball. Lester could not handle pressure when Appo put it on him. He couldnt get away with running the ball up the seams due to speed when pocket crashed. He couldnt just take off and run up middle on a designed play that was to send spread out and open it up for him to run. Instead of trying that WR bubble pass to the side, why not mix in a RB screen to go with it?
Look...I get it.....I watched the highlights and I THOUGHT WE WAS DONE! I will admit that. It just goes to show that highlights dont tell the whole story. I thought Gmen speed was going to kill us on both sides of the ball....
Yall get mad at me cause I call it the way I see it...That is why i stepped back from these boards...Everyone from Appomattox on these boards dont just sit back and avoid controversial statements. Im that guy...and that is the reason I got on years ago when people was disrespecting Appo Offense and saying they just had a D. There was no appo fans at that time and Im glad to see them now, wish more teams would get on here.
Graham came to play and it was a tough game regardless and many mistakes on both sides. TOs was an issue in this game. Penalties was an issue in this game. At the end of the day, I was surprised at the outcome and I think Graham is a good football team and they have proved that through the DECADES!
Look...I get it.....I watched the highlights and I THOUGHT WE WAS DONE! I will admit that. It just goes to show that highlights dont tell the whole story. I thought Gmen speed was going to kill us on both sides of the ball....
Yall get mad at me cause I call it the way I see it...That is why i stepped back from these boards...Everyone from Appomattox on these boards dont just sit back and avoid controversial statements. Im that guy...and that is the reason I got on years ago when people was disrespecting Appo Offense and saying they just had a D. There was no appo fans at that time and Im glad to see them now, wish more teams would get on here.
Graham came to play and it was a tough game regardless and many mistakes on both sides. TOs was an issue in this game. Penalties was an issue in this game. At the end of the day, I was surprised at the outcome and I think Graham is a good football team and they have proved that through the DECADES!
I'd put Raiders 15/16 team against them any day.
If VA PREPS allowed a GIF, i would insert a STANLEY GIF from The Office if you saying 2011 Gretna could beat past state champs of Appo? Now if you was saying the Vic Hall days...i would enter a Meme of a dog with tail tucked between legs walking away. Yall was just unfair back then.
He's a troll and does this every year. Appo isn't even his team. He picks a team that's on fire and fanboys to make himself feel better about his team I suppose.
There was another account that did the same thing. Although, I haven't seen him in a while.
I have never had the opinion that Gator is a troll? He addresses comments made much like I do, but thats something on here frowned upon....
A troll that laughs when a guy from Region D feels inferior about his hometown region and tries to state all the teams that come out of Region D are legit. You did it with Union, Richlands, and now Graham. You make claims about how this Graham team would stack up against past Appomattox teams and then when people actually see them play and don’t agree with your evaluation you go back on what you said....and then try to change what you were saying....yeah....I’m the troll.
that's a dumb post considering Graham won a state title last year.
And aside from 2016 when that Appomattox buzzsaw was destroying everyone, Region D fared at least as well if not better than any other team against them. Richlands choked away in 2015 and Union fell by three I believe in a dogfight without a QB. But you can keep your narrative, it's cool.
I'm not the first person to refer to him as that.
You give your opinion in a respectable manner and post win or lose. And unlike him, you don't consistently put HS kids down, make fun of them or degrade the area they are from. Also, when his bandwagon team loses or underachives, he's nowhere to be found.
Not me. Haven't seen a single 2019 C team in person, and don't typically rate teams I haven't seen in person.
Graham was absolutely on fire when they played Union 2nd round. Could do no wrong. No clue what happened to them today.
Not saying you or who did. Just that it was said.
The Raiders happened is what I would say.
Both teams made bad penalties and hurt themselves at times.
Appo’s defense stepped up big!!!!!!
The Raiders happened is what I would say.
Both teams made bad penalties and hurt themselves at times.
Appo’s defense stepped up big!!!!!!
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What I think is funny is....I personally never make comments about a team I've never seen. That's why when people were making comments about this year's Graham squad...I kept my mouth shut. I saw the highlight videos, heard how fast they were, heard about all the explosiveness, etc...I couldn't dispute it, I've never seen them.
So...when I do see them LIVE....I make my comments.....and now that's rubbing a few people the wrong way? Was I being condescending about the Graham not living up to the hype? Sure. But, I wasn't stating that to the kids, because they didn't say it. The fans on Preps did....that's who I addressed my comments to. You do realize that when you beat your drum....you do open yourself up to others making comments...?
Stop trying to attack my character by saying I put high school kids down. That's cheap. I made comments about their football abilities. I don't know them personally, how on earth would I know what type of person they are? If you believe that evaluating a high school football game honestly and openly is attacking a kid....you have some serious problems.
Again....I heard the hype about Graham. I couldn't dispute it during the week as I had never seen them play. I saw them play today. IMO they didn't live up to the hype. Plain and simple.
So...when I do see them LIVE....I make my comments.....and now that's rubbing a few people the wrong way? Was I being condescending about the Graham not living up to the hype? Sure. But, I wasn't stating that to the kids, because they didn't say it. The fans on Preps did....that's who I addressed my comments to. You do realize that when you beat your drum....you do open yourself up to others making comments...?
Stop trying to attack my character by saying I put high school kids down. That's cheap. I made comments about their football abilities. I don't know them personally, how on earth would I know what type of person they are? If you believe that evaluating a high school football game honestly and openly is attacking a kid....you have some serious problems.
Again....I heard the hype about Graham. I couldn't dispute it during the week as I had never seen them play. I saw them play today. IMO they didn't live up to the hype. Plain and simple.
Just my humble opinion but having Kiser out, a two way Senior starter messed with Graham’s mojo a bit. They were a tad off and that may have been a contributing factor. As I said before , congratulations to Appomattox. Your boys played better today.
For those saying Graham didn’t live up to the “hype”. I don’t recall anyone from Graham really hyping it up. I said all along even on this board that Graham had to bring their A game to beat a team like Appomattox. Graham didn’t play to their potential. They are much better than their showing yesterday. Appo capitalized on Graham’s miscues. Graham couldn’t capitalize on Appo’s mistakes and left too many missed opportunities on the field. You can’t do that in a state playoff game and win.
Good luck to Appomattox against Stuart’s Draft.
For those saying Graham didn’t live up to the “hype”. I don’t recall anyone from Graham really hyping it up. I said all along even on this board that Graham had to bring their A game to beat a team like Appomattox. Graham didn’t play to their potential. They are much better than their showing yesterday. Appo capitalized on Graham’s miscues. Graham couldn’t capitalize on Appo’s mistakes and left too many missed opportunities on the field. You can’t do that in a state playoff game and win.
Good luck to Appomattox against Stuart’s Draft.
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After reading posts on how good graham was compared to the Appo 2016 team I was hoping my raiders could just make it a game but 5 minutes into the game I realized that this graham team was nowhere close to the 2016 Appo team. Don't get me wrong that was two very good teams playing yesterday but to compare either one to the 2016 raider team was a total joke. Graham had already done something the raider team didn't come close to doing. Lose 2 games during the season with a schedule that was not as strong as Appo. Appo beat a heritage, rustburg and Amherst team by 30 plus points each. Each of these teams were 3 & 4 A teams that went deep into their playoffs. Heck heritage lost to state champ Salem and that was a much closer game. The graham defense was not even close to the 16 Appo defense as Appo gave up 112 points that year in 15 games but keep in mind only 48 of those points were against the first string. When you want to start comparing offensive stats you also have to know the starters were long gone 2 minutes into the 3rd quarter so their offensive and defensive stats are not comparing apples to apples with others teams. This happened in about 12 of their 15 ball games. Yesterday was a battle between two very good teams but to say they were 2016 raider good. I am still laughing at that one.
And ONCE again, I was comparing ONE opponent in ONE game. I didn't see either team in either year play anyone else but Union.
I assumed that was obvious, but ONCE again, I guess it was not. Can't do anything about Graham missing a two way starter for the Appo game, and not playing to the same level they did against Union or in their HUDL highlights.
My great and humble apologies to all.
I assumed that was obvious, but ONCE again, I guess it was not. Can't do anything about Graham missing a two way starter for the Appo game, and not playing to the same level they did against Union or in their HUDL highlights.
My great and humble apologies to all.
To be fair. That might have something to do with the quality of the team that was lining up against them yesterday. Maybe they were off some but it can't be inferred that they lost for that reason.
They might not played a team (other then their neighbor) that was overall as athletic as the Raiders.
I will say that my son gave huge props to 78. He said he was a beast. LOL!
Graham left at 7am yesterday morning. Yes, a long way to travel.
No clue really, could have just been the expense of it or just preferring to travel day of.
Most people believe when you make a statement like that even if your intention was to compare both of the teams against Union are going to relate the two. I’m sure multiple people thought you were comparing personnel from the stated teams (2016 Appo and 2019 Graham).
This should show you that I wasn’t going out of my way to troll you in any way....the personnel comparison between 2019 Graham and 2016 Appo isn’t close. Appo is far better. I didn’t make my comment until 1 half of play. I could tell after the first series they weren’t close.
Again, I wasn’t trolling with those remarks, but, I will own up to the condescending way in which I stated it.
They drove. Met at the school at 6:30 and left at 7:00 from what I was told.
I have said if it wasnt for that punt return by Ellis, union probably was state champs in 2017. Please dont mention the holding that everyone said happened on that play.
As long as you guys acknowledge it! lol
That penalty or non penalty didn't bother me, it was the procedure call before it that drove me nuts. It wasn't the right call, but oh well lol.
I have watched that return atleast 100 times, to this day with my laymans knowledge of the rules i cant say it was or was not a hold. Now that you mention it i'll have to go back and look at the procedure call and see what that is about if i can.
