Should be a good one between formidable opponents…I know Graham’s D is tough and Glenvar’s QB is very talented. Thoughts?
Graham vs Glenvar
- Thread starter Gridiron1960
- Start date
Having seen Glenvar and Graham, I would be surprised if Glenvar won playing on the road up there. Glenvar can win, but it will require a flawless game. Union played nearly flawless having no turnovers and less than 50 penalty yards and they got some first downs and killed some clock and still lost. Glenvar in order to win must not give up the big play and force Graham to drive the field for points. They also must shore up their front 7 defensively and not let Graham gash them on the ground.
Glenvar has to match Grahams physicality up front on both sides of the ball and that is a tall task. I favor Graham playing at home, but Glenvar is capable of winning. Should be a good one. Graham is just very difficult to beat at Mitchell Stadium, especially when the cold weather has set in for the mountains and teams not from there do have an adjustment because it's just a different kind of cold. If at Glenvar, I think it's a toss up. Playing at Graham, I favor Grahsm by 10
Glenvar has to match Grahams physicality up front on both sides of the ball and that is a tall task. I favor Graham playing at home, but Glenvar is capable of winning. Should be a good one. Graham is just very difficult to beat at Mitchell Stadium, especially when the cold weather has set in for the mountains and teams not from there do have an adjustment because it's just a different kind of cold. If at Glenvar, I think it's a toss up. Playing at Graham, I favor Grahsm by 10
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From what I've seen on film, I think Graham is just too physical on both sides of the ball. I know many enjoy the fancy passing games, but this time of year, it's the defense and run game that usually wins. Heck, I'd line Lilly and Palmer up in the Wildcat and let them gash them and force them to stop it
Better freshen up the bulbs in the scoreboard. Have a feeling one of these teams will be lighting it up!😄😛
Reminds me of the Graham/Radford game last year. The Glenvar QB is awesome, but I will say, Graham should be better prepared for a QB like that after last year. Overall this Glenvar team isn’t as good as last years a Radford and this years Graham team is better than last years (IMO) so I give the edge to the Gmen. I feel pretty confident we are headed for a Graham/Poqouson showdown for the ship.
Graham couldn’t get their offense going last year against Radford. Radford’s defense game planned well for that game. How is Glenvar’s defense? This year’s offense for Graham didn’t have one superstar like a Ty’Drez but they have several very talented athletes and can spread it out well. Glenvar has a lot more defensive game planning in my opinion than Radford had to do. That’s just my opinion others might disagree. I thought Graham’s defense did pretty well against Radford & their QB. He was just another level of talent.
I estimate that Graham is slightly better on defense this year and slightly worse on offense. I won't say they are better or worse overall, still elite if not the best team in the state. Glenvar is nowhere near as good as Radford was last year. I think Glenvar was even better last year.
Long story short, I think Graham can win 28-7. Glenvar may not even score.
I also think if I had to bet the house, Graham wins in Salem.
Long story short, I think Graham can win 28-7. Glenvar may not even score.
I also think if I had to bet the house, Graham wins in Salem.
I'm a homer, but it will be cold and the football will be harder to throw and catch. Graham's defense is fast and physical. Glenvar will have to get rid of the ball fast, because Graham's D Line and linebackers will put tremendous pressure on slow developing plays, the passing game will be at a disadvantage in the cold weather. The ball will be harder to grip, throw and catch. Graham can beat you by lining it up and running over top of you, they can also spread it out and beat you with their athletes in space. I'm taking Graham something like 28-7. The first team defense is giving up about 3 points per game. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Graham coming out and running the ball quite a bit in this one. Their routine has been to spread teams out early, tire the defense out and then run the ball. I think they can have success running straight at Glenvar with the big boys blocking for Lilly or Palmer out of the wildcat Also, sorry about the bold print ...
Graham plays press so those 5 -7 yard quick hitters glenvar likes to run will be challenged. They will force glenvar to use long developing routes which plays right into the graham defense strength. The defensive line. Will glenvars offensive line hold up? If not it's going to be a long day.
4 things.
Injuries, turnovers, penalties, and a missed opportunity (example- WR open, all alone, ball dropped or overthrown). All 4 of these are gigantic at this point because at this stage, all 4 teams are usually close in talent and you can almost take away or put aside the talent factor as being slightly Less of a factor in outcome at this stage than all four factors above. Especially turnovers, penalties and missed opportunities early in the game where 1 team can ride momentum and make it very difficult for the opponent to catch up.
Perfect example. Us (Radford) last year against Graham. Sure, Clark was a beast and the best player on the field but Grahams 22 was STiLL, more talented than our starting 22. It was close, but Graham still had a talent edge. What did Graham in? Penalty and missed opportunity. One holding penalty killed a Graham drive that stalled at our 29 in the first qtr and a huge missed opportunity where a Graham WR was in full stride wide open for a TD and no Radford defender close and he simply dropped the ball. Things like that are devastating and missed opportunities is basically when the defense makes a mistake and the offense doesn't capitalize. Or, an offense (QB) throws a horrible ball and it hits the Defensive Back right in the chest who has an easy pick 6 and the DB drops it. That might as well be a turnover.
State Champions win games in the semis and finals in nearly EVERY sport by converting/capitalizing an opportunity the opponent gives them and teams that lose at this level nearly always have 1 or 2 huge plays where they fell to capitalize/missed opportunity the opponent gave them.
Injuries, turnovers, penalties, and a missed opportunity (example- WR open, all alone, ball dropped or overthrown). All 4 of these are gigantic at this point because at this stage, all 4 teams are usually close in talent and you can almost take away or put aside the talent factor as being slightly Less of a factor in outcome at this stage than all four factors above. Especially turnovers, penalties and missed opportunities early in the game where 1 team can ride momentum and make it very difficult for the opponent to catch up.
Perfect example. Us (Radford) last year against Graham. Sure, Clark was a beast and the best player on the field but Grahams 22 was STiLL, more talented than our starting 22. It was close, but Graham still had a talent edge. What did Graham in? Penalty and missed opportunity. One holding penalty killed a Graham drive that stalled at our 29 in the first qtr and a huge missed opportunity where a Graham WR was in full stride wide open for a TD and no Radford defender close and he simply dropped the ball. Things like that are devastating and missed opportunities is basically when the defense makes a mistake and the offense doesn't capitalize. Or, an offense (QB) throws a horrible ball and it hits the Defensive Back right in the chest who has an easy pick 6 and the DB drops it. That might as well be a turnover.
State Champions win games in the semis and finals in nearly EVERY sport by converting/capitalizing an opportunity the opponent gives them and teams that lose at this level nearly always have 1 or 2 huge plays where they fell to capitalize/missed opportunity the opponent gave them.
Add Floyd into that mix for the Wildcat too. He’s the one we first saw it utilized with back in 2022 if I remember accurately.
Southbottomu,
I think the poster was referring to thinking Graham is his pick to win the whole thing (state title in Salem). The Graham vs Glenvar game is in Bluefield, not at Glenvar (Roanoke County).
I think the poster was referring to thinking Graham is his pick to win the whole thing (state title in Salem). The Graham vs Glenvar game is in Bluefield, not at Glenvar (Roanoke County).
Graham is significantly lesser on offense this year without Jennings and Clements. Let’s not kid ourselves here, you don’t like a talent like that and not suffer a dramatic drop off. Defense is much better but the offense isn’t great by any means.
It’s definitely hard to replace a Clements. This is the first year in a long time, Graham doesn’t have a Clements, Bradshaw, Allen , etc. They do have a lot of talented athletes who can make plays though. They have speed & athleticism. We’ll see if it’s enough come Saturday. Glenvar’s QB is very talented, can throw as well as any I’ve seen but seems to have decent speed: Graham’s D better live in the backfield & not give him time to throw.
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From what little i have watched Graham, Edwards is the kid with the true playmaking ability. No offense, im sure there are others, but from what little i have watched them, he could take over a game. They need to find more ways to get that kid the ball and I think Graham is a more explosive team on offense
Defense wins when money is on the table. Graham has that in spades so I would be hard pressed to pick against them. As someone else stated earlier this Glenvar team is good with a solid QB but this isn't the Radford team from last year. I will put it this way, Alleghany was a very good 3A team this year that beat Glenvar handily, but this Graham defense is better so read into that what you want. I will take Graham 28-7
Good luck to both teams and safe travels
Good luck to both teams and safe travels
I agree. Get the ball to Chris Edwards in space and let him make plays. Blake Graham and Cambel Fix are playmakers too.
Is there a place to watch the Alleghany/Glenvar game? I’ve watched other Glenvar games the past couple days but can’t find that one. I’d say it’s a close one and could go either way depending on if Graham’s defense can stop the Glenvar QB & their passing game.
Looks like the common opinion on Glenvar/Graham is that Graham wins by 3 touchdowns and that Glenvar doesn't have much of a chance in Bluefield against superior talent on a cold day.
Don't forget that it took a "miracle play" by Radford at the very end in the Regional final last year to get past Glenvar. I believe this team is a little better offensively, as good defensively, and better on special teams. It's obviously going to come down to big plays by Glenvar versus a grind it out running game by Graham.
The temp is forecasted at 36 degrees and sunny with 10mph winds. The cold hasn't seemed to slow the passing game down at all in the last couple of games so I don't think that is going to be a factor. Grahams secondary is where the game will be ultimately decided. Glenvar will get enough stops on defense and enough big play offense to get the win in a close one in Bluefield. Go Highlanders! Glenvar 28-21
I definitely think it will be a close one. At this stage of the game , every team has to take every opponent serious and anything can happen. After all, those are kids on the field and with kids you never know. I don’t think weather plays a factor. It’s going to be nicer than the past two games held at Mitchell. Looking forward to a good game between two talented well respected programs! Flip a coin 50/50 which team wins!
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I'm down thar at the Herminy Akers pool in summer enjoying myself and Lil boy poops in the pool cuz. It's all over right there dawg. Pool closed shut down an fun is over. This is how GMen got2b from hear on out G. Got2b dominatin an just disrupt tha fun and shut down compitishins. Apptomix was same way in 2019. Dem Boyz enter playoffs and fun was over 4 every bodie. Glanver says they like to shuter down compitishins 2 an poop in pools 2 so sumthins got2give cuz! Gmen gonna need to come out an lay down a big ole cleveland steemer in first minute to set tha tone. Dedazzz!
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I have no idea but I do have an idea where Karen is
I'm from the area and I personally think region D is relatively weak this year. I think Graham has the players to be more dynamic on offense, but for me, after watching what i have this Year and looking at the remaining teams schedules and scores, i think Graham looks like one of the weaker teams left remaining. That could be just cuz im an offensive guy. Not saying they're weak, just one of the weaker remaining. I would pick glenvar in this one. Maybe 28-14. But Graham's D has looked stellar, although sometimes allowing a lot of yardage but keeping teams out of the endzone. But again i think the region wasn't very strong this year so thats why im picking glenvar.
If I was a defensive coordinator planning for Graham I would sell out to stop the screen passes & inside runs the first couple of possessions.
In a lot of the games I’ve rewatched on Graham it seems like their starting QB struggles when having to let routes develop downfield. In turn, Coach Palmer doesn’t seem to trust him to figure it out. Going back to last season, if there were a couple of possessions where the QB couldn’t move the ball Palmer will pull him off the field and run wildcat. That has been very successful for them but the slight downfall to that is that you are taking out your athletes on the outside to replace them with bigger guys. The field shrinks for the defense at that point and you’re firing your bigger guys out by having to go both ways, notably #35. I would want him fresh on defense.
At that point you can stack the box to stop the run. Can #1 throw well enough to offset that when he’s in? Maybe. But I would rather take my chances on stopping the run and guarding two receivers on the outside rather then having all of Graham’s speed on the field in a 4/5 wide set.
In a lot of the games I’ve rewatched on Graham it seems like their starting QB struggles when having to let routes develop downfield. In turn, Coach Palmer doesn’t seem to trust him to figure it out. Going back to last season, if there were a couple of possessions where the QB couldn’t move the ball Palmer will pull him off the field and run wildcat. That has been very successful for them but the slight downfall to that is that you are taking out your athletes on the outside to replace them with bigger guys. The field shrinks for the defense at that point and you’re firing your bigger guys out by having to go both ways, notably #35. I would want him fresh on defense.
At that point you can stack the box to stop the run. Can #1 throw well enough to offset that when he’s in? Maybe. But I would rather take my chances on stopping the run and guarding two receivers on the outside rather then having all of Graham’s speed on the field in a 4/5 wide set.
You know what they say, let your pads do your talkin’ . Those boys from Glenvar & Graham will have to do just that and we’ll see come about 4pm on Saturday which team game planned best for their opponent, adjusted when needed, made the fewest mistakes, & capitalized on the others’ miscues. I’m really hoping it’s the GMen! 🤞
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PLEASE don't tell her about this board!🤣
CRAP! I fell into her trap yet again! Soon, she'll have the whole Internet catalogued on Facebook. 😂
I read that stuff over on swvasports with you Union guys and the nut job on Facebook. Sounds like she's a live one. Seems like every fanbase has them, but by reading some of that, you guys got a unique one. Can you imagine having a small fender bender with her or getting her order mixed up at a Wendy's? Ticking timebomb
Hormonal imbalance or something for that one.
I’m not even sure how us non-Union folks got drafted into her circus 🤡. 😂
On a different note, it sure is cold to be practicing football this week. Luckily, Saturday looks to be nicer. It does get windy up on that hill even in nice weather though. Tough on us older folks! 😂
Yeah, gonna wear 3 layers and some type of face covering for sure. The older I get, the harder the elements are to get out in. 36 and clear will be a welcome break from this cold.
I’d take the top 4-5 in 2D against the top five in any other region and I believe 2D would be near, if not at, the top.
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