A great game to watch and so far a fun trip. On the way, the wife and I stopped in Bluefield to check out Mitchell Stadium and eat at Applebee's. That stadium is among the top 3 nicest high school stadiums I've ever seen. The size is insane and the way it sets up on the hill was impressive. I can see why that is an intimidating place to play for Graham or Bluefield, WV, opponents. I was also impressed with the baseball field, (Bowden Field I think). For what is a rookie league stadium, that was also very sharp. As for Applebee's, maybe the most God Awful meal I've ever had in recent memory. I love Applebee's and have never had a bad meal at one of them, yet, the one in Bluefield changed that. Food was cold for myself and my wife, and the server looked like a contestant at the American Tattoo Convention.
Richlands stadium was also very sharp for a High School stadium. The field was sharp and the home stands were where we set and they were very nice. The visitors size looked way to small and more seats need added, but overall, a pretty nice dang stadium. As for Richlands, I watched an incredibly well coached team that is physical and just doesn't make mistakes. They remind me much of Poquoson, but Poquoson is probably a bit more finesse than Richlands, and Richlands very physical. The lineplay was very good. The secondary was very, very suspect. I'm suprised this team is 2-6. The local fans told me about the schedule with Graham, Blacksburg, Bluefield, Union, and William Byrd. If Richlands somehow gets in the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed, they will be in a battle with the 1-2 seed more than likely-in my opinion. The front 7 of Richlands defensively is fantastic. Is seems to me that Richlands coaches put their kids in positions to make plays. The defense of Richlands played well, and the offense had what I thought was a pretty solid design, but they just don't seem to have the players this year to make plays. Their fans told me they were young. Size wise, Richlands was big, but Graham was also pretty good size. I've read on this board about how Graham's line is small. Maybe it was me, but I didn't see it. They looked average in size for an AA team, not huge, but certainly not small.
Graham-the most athletic team I've seen this year in AA football. Yes, it appeared to me to be more team speed than Appomattox. I didn't say they beat Appo, but I'm telling ya, athlete for athlete, they are right with Appomattox and maybe even more athletic. The defense of Graham seemed very fast and flew to the ball and very well coached. The assignments-positioning was pretty solid throughout. Graham has a very, very good defense that seems to be in very good positions and you can tell that whoever coaches the defense, knows what he's doing. Offensively, Graham is the worst coached High School Football team (at any level) A, AA, AAA, that I've seen this year. Graham had athletes all over the field and speedsters, but I didn't see many screens, traps or misdirection plays. Certainly, not enough for an overpursuing D like Richlands. Unless someone was making a movie, or trying to appear on practical jokers, or trying to get a rise out of people, I am unable to describe how poor the offensive line is coached from Graham. No offense G-Men Fans. The offensive line from Graham from tackle to tackle looked pretty dang good with good feet and decent size and the talent is there. The blocking schemes are what I'm referring to in that.......there are none. They just go man on man and try to drive the guy in front of them 5-10 yds off the ball. That's unheard of for a High School team in 2017. I'm telling ya....no zone blocking, no trap blocking, no blocking scheme to match the designed play, nothing. It's absolutely astonishing to me that a program like Graham with its tradition is that poorly coached on the offensive line. For Graham, the AD or Head Coach needs to set down with the OC and OL coach and say, "you guys are taking a trip this summer to Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, or South Carolina to learn about High School offense 101 and blocking schemes." Folks, this is just my opinion and please, spare me the "if you think you can coach them better yourself post." I'm a message board poster and not a coach, and the standard by which an offensive line coached is judged is a comparison to other coaches on the offensive line in High School, not me. I'm telling ya, Graham's offensive line coaching is abysmal. The offensive coordination is abysmal, especially when you look at the talent not just at skilled positions, but on the offensive line as well.
Overall, a fun game to watch between two rivals, and to great football schools. Without the turnovers, Graham wins this one by 14-17 points, but TO's are apart of the game, and credit Richlands and discipline for not turning over. That speaks to discipline and coaching. One thing I noticed that was very similar to 2010 with Richlands and Poquoson was Richlands offense during the OT series. It seems to me that when the pressure is on, Richlands is definitely attempting to throw the football on early downs with no misdirection. The same thing happened in OT against Graham. Richlands drops back 4 times to pass. This is where Richlands and a misdirection running game could have been useful. I saw the same thing against Poqouson in the fourth quarter years ago, and the same thing in the semi's against Appo 2 years ago. But, credit Graham's really solid defense which was good against the pass and run all night. Finally, for Graham, they have the talent-literally equal or more in my opinion to not just play with Appo, but beat Appo. They are one offensive coordinator/and or offensive line coach away from doing so. With their current offensive scheme, there is in my opinion, no way they beat Appo. Appo is far to well coached defensively and Smith will have a field day against Graham with their offensive line blocking schemes (which literally do not seem to exist). He will tee-off after watching only 2 films of Graham's offensive line. Remember, I'm saying their offensive line coaching-scheme, not the players. Their 5 from tackle to tackle are very good from what I watched, but a blocking scheme literally does not exist. Only my opinions and you know what they say of those........for all I know, Graham may lose the first round, or they may beat Appo by 4 TD's and win the state title in the next week. I'm no soothsayer. I'm just giving my opinions.
