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No, Essex wouldn't if Riverheads were Class 2

Fairlawncat

Fairlawncat

VaPreps Honorable Mention
Nov 24, 2018
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Said this earlier in the year and gave Calpreps predictions showing Galax was the favorite (often the heavy favorite) those yrs in hypothetical matchups against Essex if Riverheads were out of the equation. Some of you guys in the East, not all, but some didn't want to hear it.

It would have been Galax with more titles, not necessarily Essex and the best two Class 1 teams in Virginia were playing in those titles games. Essex just lost to what might be the weakest team Galax has taken to Salem since it last won the state title around 2015. This is actually a down Galax team. I know Essex has had better teams than this one, but Galax has had a lot more better teams than this one.
 
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Fairlawncat said:
Said this earlier in the year and gave Calpreps predictions showing Galax was the favorite (often the heavy favorite) those yrs in hypothetical matchups against Essex if Riverheads were out of the equation. Some of you guys in the East, not all, but some didn't want to hear it.

It would have been Galax with more titles, not necessarily Essex and the best two Class 1 teams in Virginia were playing in those titles games. Essex just lost to what might be the weakest team Galax has taken to Salem since it last won the state title around 2015. This is actually a down Galax team. I know Essex has had better teams than this one, but Galax has had a lot more better teams than this one.
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Very young Essex team. Only a handful of seniors and their 1000 yard rusher got hurt and didn't play the last 4 games.
 
kwhs95fan said:
Very young Essex team. Only a handful of seniors and their 1000 yard rusher got hurt and didn't play the last 4 games.
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That's a huge loss. Look, I'm not saying Galax wins all those titles without Riverheads. I'm Not saying that. I have read many posts on here over the years saying, "the best two teams played in the Eastern Semis" and "Essex would have those titles without Riverheads." I'm saying, this isn't the case either. I'm saying this slam dunk, it's automatically Essex if Riverheads were out of the equation argument just has no weight to it. I've said it for years. At least after today, there's an argument supporting at least......the idea......that maybe, just maybe, Galax was the 2nd best team in the state in many of those title games.
 
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Fairlawncat said:
That's a huge loss. Look, I'm not saying Galax wins all those titles without Riverheads. I'm Not saying that. I have read many posts on here over the years saying, "the best two teams played in the Eastern Semis" and "Essex would have those titles without Riverheads." I'm saying, this isn't the case either. I'm saying this slam dunk, it's automatically Essex if Riverheads were out of the equation argument just has no weight to it. I've said it for years. At least after today, there's an argument supporting at least......the idea......that maybe, just maybe, Galax was the 2nd best team in the state in many of those title games.
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I think in some years that Galax was the 2nd best team and in other years it was Essex.
 
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Fairlawncat said:
Said this earlier in the year and gave Calpreps predictions showing Galax was the favorite (often the heavy favorite) those yrs in hypothetical matchups against Essex if Riverheads were out of the equation. Some of you guys in the East, not all, but some didn't want to hear it.

It would have been Galax with more titles, not necessarily Essex and the best two Class 1 teams in Virginia were playing in those titles games. Essex just lost to what might be the weakest team Galax has taken to Salem since it last won the state title around 2015. This is actually a down Galax team. I know Essex has had better teams than this one, but Galax has had a lot more better teams than this one.
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How bad is Region C and D if Galax is the weakest it’s been in years and still represents the west?? Geez
 
There were 4 other teams in the west very close to Galax in George Wythe, Patrick Henry, Rye Cove, and Honaker.
 
RappriverEHS said:
How bad is Region C and D if Galax is the weakest it’s been in years and still represents the west?? Geez
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Rapp, I'm not meaning to be offensive, but one could look at this and say, "how weak was the east if this somewhat down Galax team won the title." Here's the thing, Rye Cove, Honaker, George Wythe, Grayson County, and even Patrick Henry were all fairly close with Galax this year,. You have 5 other western schools that were capable of beating Galax in the regular season (Grayson actually did). Galax really rose to the occasion in the playoffs. Galax wasn't bad by any means, but this years team was not nearly as good as the ones from 2019 through 2021. But, the other 5 teams in the west named were pretty good. What I'm saying is that even though the west didn't have a crazy elite team this year, it did have 5 or 6 schools that were very close in talent and quality of play. Galax happened to come out ahead.
 
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Fairlawncat said:
Rapp, I'm not meaning to be offensive, but one could look at this and say, "how weak was the east if this somewhat down Galax team won the title." Here's the thing, Rye Cove, Honaker, George Wythe, Grayson County, and even Patrick Henry were all fairly close with Galax this year,. You have 5 other western schools that were capable of beating Galax in the regular season (Grayson actually did). Galax really rose to the occasion in the playoffs. Galax wasn't bad by any means, but this years team was not nearly as good as the ones from 2019 through 2021. But, the other 5 teams in the west named were pretty good. What I'm saying is that even though the west didn't have a crazy elite team this year, it did have 5 or 6 schools that were very close in talent and quality of play. Galax happened to come out ahead.
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The east was very weak this year. This years Essex team was also not as good as previous years. They lost their entire offense and had their center playing QB this year. This years team was 80 percent underclassmen with a majority being sophomores. It’s not fair to compare this years Essex team to previous years while also saying Galax had a down year. So congrats to Galax, Essex will be back.
 
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RappriverEHS said:
The east was very weak this year. This years Essex team was also not as good as previous years. They lost their entire offense and had their center playing QB this year. This years team was 80 percent underclassmen with a majority being sophomores. It’s not fair to compare this years Essex team to previous years while also saying Galax had a down year. So congrats to Galax, Essex will be back.
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Essex would be my pick to win it next year. Essex was my pick this year. George Wythe is one to watch in the west. Returns a bunch and they were one of those teams fairly close to Galax this year. I dont know about Sussex and Altavista. I know Essex was loaded with youth this year.

I would like to see Essex get the ball in space a little more. More misdirection offensively, more screens, etc. They have a lot of speed out there and playing that style of offense played to the strong point of Galax defensively. It allowed Galax to shorten the game, kill clock, and then was able to keep it close enough down the stretch for the miraculous to happen.
 
Fairlawncat said:
Essex would be my pick to win it next year. Essex was my pick this year. George Wythe is one to watch in the west. Returns a bunch and they were one of those teams fairly close to Galax this year. I dont know about Sussex and Altavista. I know Essex was loaded with youth this year.

I would like to see Essex get the ball in space a little more. More misdirection offensively, more screens, etc. They have a lot of speed out there and playing that style of offense played to the strong point of Galax defensively. It allowed Galax to shorten the game, kill clock, and then was able to keep it close enough down the stretch for the miraculous to happen.
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Well said, unfortunately Essex just did not have the offensive fire power this year. The double wing got them to where they were but they ran into both altavista and Galax who shut that down. They just didn’t have a plan b to go to. Hats off to the defense though.
 
Fairlawncat said:
Essex would be my pick to win it next year. Essex was my pick this year. George Wythe is one to watch in the west. Returns a bunch and they were one of those teams fairly close to Galax this year. I dont know about Sussex and Altavista. I know Essex was loaded with youth this year.

I would like to see Essex get the ball in space a little more. More misdirection offensively, more screens, etc. They have a lot of speed out there and playing that style of offense played to the strong point of Galax defensively. It allowed Galax to shorten the game, kill clock, and then was able to keep it close enough down the stretch for the miraculous to happen.
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Coach Jones had to adjust to his personnel and I don't know if they would have even been in the championship game yesterday if they ran the spread offense like they did in years past. Heck, this year's quarterback was the center last year. They do have Bundy the QB and Holmes, who was a 1000 yard rusher this year, but missed the last 4 games, for 2 more years plus several linemen who are just sophomores and from my understanding, they have some studs on JV, who are just waiting their turn. But all in all, I think the double wing fits this particular group of Essex players perfectly and they'll be back and even better next year.
 
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If it wasn’t for Riverheads there would be a statue of Dixon in Galax
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Surprise Prank GIF

But too lifelike!
 
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Fairlawncat said:
Said this earlier in the year and gave Calpreps predictions showing Galax was the favorite (often the heavy favorite) those yrs in hypothetical matchups against Essex if Riverheads were out of the equation. Some of you guys in the East, not all, but some didn't want to hear it.

It would have been Galax with more titles, not necessarily Essex and the best two Class 1 teams in Virginia were playing in those titles games. Essex just lost to what might be the weakest team Galax has taken to Salem since it last won the state title around 2015. This is actually a down Galax team. I know Essex has had better teams than this one, but Galax has had a lot more better teams than this one.
Click to expand...
Both times Galax has won the Class 1 Final, the Maroon Tide won 7 to 6 in 2015 over Riverheads and last Saturday over Essex without their offense ever getting inside the Trojans 25 yard line. Has anyone ever heard of a football team winning a VHSL Championship without scoring a single touchdown?
 
Raiders Radio said:
Has anyone ever heard of a football team winning a VHSL Championship without scoring a single touchdown?
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Jefferson Senior (Roanoke) beat Woodrow Wilson 3-0 in both 1923 and 1924.

Seriously though, didn't Rustburg beat Turner Ashby is 2000 by the score of 9-6? If memory serves, neither team scored a touchdown.
 
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sixcat said:
Jefferson Senior (Roanoke) beat Woodrow Wilson 3-0 in both 1923 and 1924.

Seriously though, didn't Rustburg beat Turner Ashby is 2000 by the score of 9-6? If memory serves, neither team scored a touchdown.
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Rustburg did beat Turner Ashby 9 to 6 in the AA/Division 3 Final in 2000. Are you saying that the Red Devils kicked three field goals and the Knights kicked two?
 
Raiders Radio said:
Rustburg did beat Turner Ashby 9 to 6 in the AA/Division 3 Final in 2000. Are you saying that the Red Devils kicked three field goals and the Knights kicked two?
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I remember a game 20 something years ago where the only points scored were on field goals but I'm really not certain if that's the game. I'm also thinking it could have been a game Powhatan was involved in.

I'm getting old. My memory isn't what it used to be.
 
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Honaker was the Northumberland of the west, only slower. Great offense, but that matador defense wasn't stopping anyone
 
RappriverEHS said:
Essex wins by 2 scores at the least
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Pretty obvious you didn’t watch any Honaker games. They aren’t Northumberland and Aiden Lowe is as good as anyone in 1A. The way Tiller runs the Honaker offense, I can promise you Essex would be in a dogfight
 
BigWinners said:
That vaunted Galax defense that held Essex to six points, how many did Honaker put up again?
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How many points did Honaker score in the 2nd half? How many times did Galax punt?

Stops on defense and controlling the clock by running the football still matter. Honaker didn’t make a single stop. They wouldn’t have against Essex either.
 
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RappriverEHS said:
Honaker gave up 49 points to Galax. Essex gave up a field goal. Great argument
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Essex managed six points on Galax.
Honaker scored 36. Honaker also only allowed 42, seven came on a 95 yard INT return for a TD. If Honaker could score on Galax, they could score on Essex. I’m not sure Essex had the firepower to match Honaker, especially if Honaker got out to a two score lead.
 
BigWinners said:
Essex managed six points on Galax.
Honaker scored 36. Honaker also only allowed 42, seven came on a 95 yard INT return for a TD. If Honaker could score on Galax, they could score on Essex. I’m not sure Essex had the firepower to match Honaker, especially if Honaker got out to a two score lead.
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Galax could have easily had two more scores late in the game with Honaker but called off the dogs. Honaker would have scored on Essex but they would have had to be perfect on offense to make up for that defense. Perfect as in, no turnovers and score on every possession.

I don’t believe that’s realistic against that Essex defense. Just my opinion. I’ll bow out now.
 
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RappriverEHS said:
Get by Galax next year and maybe we will find out.
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They lost a ton to graduation, including Lowe. Can’t imagine they’ll be in the hunt next year.

My point is, Honaker can score 28+ on any 1A team. Can Essex get to that number ?? The world will never know.
 
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