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Piedmont District 2023

BoKnowsSports

BoKnowsSports

VaPreps Honorable Mention
Sep 19, 2021
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Who’s taking it this year?

Patrick County gone and Mecklenburg is playing a full district schedule.

My predictions:

1. GW- very hard ood schedule. Dinwiddie, Glass and Amherst. Mori Dixon will get them over the hump in most district games. 7-3 is likely, but 8-2 or better, I like them competing to get back to the region championship game.

2. Magna Vista- really like Simeon Moore (he’s going to be the next major D1 athlete out of Southside after Dixon graduates) and Ethan Stockton (reigning Piedmont Defensive Player of the Year). It’s been a while, but the Warriors could be back to region contender status.

3. Martinsville/Bassett- Toss up. Hairston (Bassett) and Jones (Martinsville) were 2 of the top 3 best players in the district last year. Both gone. Martinsville returns more, but won’t have the depth Bassett has. I believe Martinsville will make a run in their region this year.

5. Mecklenburg- undisciplined play was a big reason they were bad. They look the part and has a good mix of size and athleticism. Maybe, the biggest team in the district. I’m not drinking the Kool Aid just yet.

6. Halifax- Maybe Senseney can turn it around.. Halifax is a lot like GW. Great athletes, but normally struggles with physicality in the trenches and tackling. I’m a big fan of Josh Miller who is the Blue Comets RB. He just committed to William and Mary to play football.

7. Tunstall- Brice Poole is a very talented football but Tunstall will be a bad football team. Kid will be the team. Really no reason for them to be so bad. Big, country kids and they have a good feeder program.
 
Looks like the Piedmont will level up this year. Can't say that Piedmont district is not strong this year. There will be some tests week in and week out. The teams that make it to the playoffs will be tough outs.
 
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lyhsports said:
Looks like the Piedmont will level up this year. Can't say that Piedmont district is not strong this year. There will be some tests week in and week out. The teams that make it to the playoffs will be tough outs.
Click to expand...
Man with the right coaching, Mecklenburg could be nasty. I’m talking Dinwiddie level. I also know it takes time to change the culture. They have potential to be very very good in the future.
 
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BoKnowsSports said:
Man with the right coaching, Mecklenburg could be nasty. I’m talking Dinwiddie level. I also know it takes time to change the culture. They have potential to be very very good in the future.
Click to expand...
No to diminish the staff at Mecklenburg, but they are all re-treads within the county and have previously been coaches there, were dismissed or resigned, only to be rehired again years later and none really ever had great success.
 
Ampipe_High said:
No to diminish the staff at Mecklenburg, but they are all re-treads within the county and have previously been coaches there, were dismissed or resigned, only to be rehired again years later and none really ever had great success.
Click to expand...
Yeah bro, I’m familiar. Their HC was at Park View. Those guys pass the eye test but try to fight after every play. I had never seen anything like it. Definitely need to change the culture. It’s hard to get outside coaches in places like Mecklenburg, Halifax, Pittsylvania County, the whole Southside area really. Low paying teaching positions, politics, and the often backwards thinking. That’s not to disrespect our area, it’s proven.
 
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BoKnowsSports said:
Yeah bro, I’m familiar. Their HC was at Park View. Those guys pass the eye test but try to fight after every play. I had never seen anything like it. Definitely need to change the culture. It’s hard to get outside coaches in places like Mecklenburg, Halifax, Pittsylvania County, the whole Southside area really. Low paying teaching positions, politics, and the often backwards thinking. That’s not to disrespect our area, it’s proven.
Click to expand...
You bring up a good point. Because of all the usual factors, economics, demographics, lower pay, petty politics, along with the reluctance to move the wife and kids to parts of the state with a severely struggling economy, these areas almost completely fail to bring in talented coaches, head or assistant. So what happens is either they get a head coach that has a little assistant, or lower level program, experience. And assistant coaches that are with successful programs in other areas would rather wait their turn in areas of the state that are in a different situation.

Ampipe nailed it. This is what perpetuates, year after year. If you keep doing the same wrong thing, over and over again, you will get the same wrong results, over and over again.

I’m not saying that this is good, bad, or ugly. But I am saying that it really is the truth.
 
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They do and it brings in some tourism dollars with festivals and fishing tournaments. There pay is competitive for the area, but they have never had a strong board and I don't know if it is still the same, but the two ends of the county do not like each other. Another thing about the county is that it is very rural and you have to travel an hour or more just to get to some decent shopping or activities. It does not draw in new teachers, at least not ones that are willing to stay.
 
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New track and bleachers down at GW. Somebody who knows how, please post. GW has one of the nicest stadiums in the state of VA. View, concessions, parking and accessibility all better than most stadiums.
 
Ampipe_High said:
No to diminish the staff at Mecklenburg, but they are all re-treads within the county and have previously been coaches there, were dismissed or resigned, only to be rehired again years later and none really ever had great success.
Click to expand...

It's comments like these give that people a distorted view of others when they are not a part of the process day to day.

The Coaches are not re-treads but are Godly men who came back to their community to help the kids and community grow. I know the Head Coach Kelvin Hutcheson who was a standout at Park View and at Averett University (probably the best player in the school's history) coached at Averett as an assitstant to help them when their Conference Championship. He had some good seasons at PV as well. His coaching staff has standouts who played there or at the college and NFL level. They are doing a great job bringing these two communities together and helping these kids understand what it takes to win but most importantly how to win in life. The Bluestone community rarley had sucees in their football program with many winless seasons. It is a lot of old habits and mindsets the coaching staff is battling to get the kids from both sides to believe they have talent to win. Park View had some success but average teams throughout the years. From what I see from afar is a need of committment from the kids learning how to work in the off-season. The coaches are there everyday working hard and consulting with other top tier programs in the state trying to have a winning team. Let's allow the season to play out before we write them off.
 
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FootballLife82 said:
It's comments like these give that people a distorted view of others when they are not a part of the process day to day.

The Coaches are not re-treads but are Godly men who came back to their community to help the kids and community grow. I know the Head Coach Kelvin Hutcheson who was a standout at Park View and at Averett University (probably the best player in the school's history) coached at Averett as an assitstant to help them when their Conference Championship. He had some good seasons at PV as well. His coaching staff has standouts who played there or at the college and NFL level. They are doing a great job bringing these two communities together and helping these kids understand what it takes to win but most importantly how to win in life. The Bluestone community rarley had sucees in their football program with many winless seasons. It is a lot of old habits and mindsets the coaching staff is battling to get the kids from both sides to believe they have talent to win. Park View had some success but average teams throughout the years. From what I see from afar is a need of committment from the kids learning how to work in the off-season. The coaches are there everyday working hard and consulting with other top tier programs in the state trying to have a winning team. Let's allow the season to play out before we write them off.
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I know several of the people on the current Mecklenburg staff well and consider them to be fine individuals and give them props for coming back to their hometown to give back. Unfortunately being a Godly man or having participated in football at any level does not make you a good football coach. You can have the football IQ at a college NFL level, but that does not mean you are able to translate your knowledge and bring it down to the level of a high school player and get it to translate to a low level. A lot of times, these coaches have a hard time not wanting to do too much, because they are used to that higher level of playbooks and skills.

You make the comment that " comments like these give that people a distorted view of others when they are not a part of the process day to day" and then further along admit that your observations are seen "from afar."

A retread is an individual who is being rehired after previously being dismissed. Coach Hutcheson was the HC at PV and at one time did not have his coaching contract renewed. There are other coaches on the staff that had head coaching or coaching jobs at either Park View, Bluestone, or both and had their services terminated. So, bringing them back, again, after failed attempts at one or both of Mecklenburg's past high schools makes them a retread. They have been brought back in the same capacity to attempt to accomplish something they were not able to do so in the first place. Yes, they have a tough battle ahead of them, because the communities were very loyal to their respective high schools and neither school was having much football success. Almost all staffs work tirelessly everyday of the year and consulting with other schools and attending clinics is commonplace, but again it's having the ability to take all of that information, fit it to your team, and create a product is not easy and not all have that skill.

My final comment is that the thread was started to talk about Piedmont District football and to discuss predictions, so we kind of make a judgement call now instead of waiting and letting the season play out. If we all waited to the end to make our predictions, we would all be 100% accurate.
 
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I’m not from the area but I saw most of Mecklenburg home games last year. Can’t say much about the Piedmont because I think they only played Halifax in that district. I was at that game it was back n forth and I think Mecklenburg was up at half. I have rental property there and my folks are near the lake so I’m looking forward to catching some more football. I can say Mecklenburg played a few games against very tough competition, including 2 state contenders from NC. The team I saw that came up from the Charlotte area would probably boat race the whole Piedmont. I’m from Norfolk and when I played we were 6A so never saw any teams from the Piedmont honestly
 
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From what I hear Magna Vista and Martinsville should be solid. I imagine GW will bounce back though, thread says Bassett is graduating a lot. Being young in HS football is tough. I can see a team like Mecklenburg in the top 3 or 4 and who knows, any given Friday 🤷‍♂️
 
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I've been happy to observe but will offer my 2 cents

1-GW- last year was an aberration. As inexperienced and injured as the Eagles were last year they would have been a playoff team and a tough out for someone had it not been for the meltdown at Bassett and the overtime loss to MV in the season finale. If you were going to get GW, last year was your year. Anyone that saw their JV's and know what they return won't bet against them but with the casino opening maybe you can if you desire. 😀

2- Magna Vista- well coached year in and year out. As someone pointed out the have the returning defensive POY, a future D1 skilled player and their QB was a freshman. They will be a force to be reckoned with.

3-Bassett- going out on a limb here giving the Bengals the nod above Halifax but this is another team that is well coached. They did lose a lot but their JV team wasn't terrible. They return some good pieces and I'm sure coach J will find a way to blend them into a solid unit. The biggest challenge will be replacing the QB. He was special.

4- Halifax- It's always a mystery why this group can't be at or near the top of the district. Good looking players all over but just seem to come up short in big games. They have enough returning to be in the hunt if they can stay healthy and have the ball bounce their way.

5-Mecklenburg- The only varsity team I've not seen up close but the athletes there are capable. I'm pretty sure they are aware of what they are getting into but whether or not they can rise to the occasion is another matter.

6-Martinsville- Bobby Martin has done a magnificent job bringing this program back from the dead and they were for real last year but I cannot see a repeat. The guys they lost left huge holes that based on what I saw from their young kids they are not going to able to fill. There is a RB in the pipeline though that will make them an instant contender if he stays put.

7- Tunstall- What can you say. They wish they could have followed Patrick County out of the district.
 
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Ampipe_High said:
I know several of the people on the current Mecklenburg staff well and consider them to be fine individuals and give them props for coming back to their hometown to give back. Unfortunately being a Godly man or having participated in football at any level does not make you a good football coach. You can have the football IQ at a college NFL level, but that does not mean you are able to translate your knowledge and bring it down to the level of a high school player and get it to translate to a low level. A lot of times, these coaches have a hard time not wanting to do too much, because they are used to that higher level of playbooks and skills.

You make the comment that " comments like these give that people a distorted view of others when they are not a part of the process day to day" and then further along admit that your observations are seen "from afar."

A retread is an individual who is being rehired after previously being dismissed. Coach Hutcheson was the HC at PV and at one time did not have his coaching contract renewed. There are other coaches on the staff that had head coaching or coaching jobs at either Park View, Bluestone, or both and had their services terminated. So, bringing them back, again, after failed attempts at one or both of Mecklenburg's past high schools makes them a retread. They have been brought back in the same capacity to attempt to accomplish something they were not able to do so in the first place. Yes, they have a tough battle ahead of them, because the communities were very loyal to their respective high schools and neither school was having much football success. Almost all staffs work tirelessly everyday of the year and consulting with other schools and attending clinics is commonplace, but again it's having the ability to take all of that information, fit it to your team, and create a product is not easy and not all have that skill.

My final comment is that the thread was started to talk about Piedmont District football and to discuss predictions, so we kind of make a judgement call now instead of waiting and letting the season play out. If we all waited to the end to make our predictions, we would all be 100% accurate.
Click to expand...
To know some of these coaches so well your statements are completely false. Coach Hutcheson resigned after the 2016 season to spend more time with his family and pursuing other endeavors. He only had one losing season in 2014 when the Salley kid died after a collision in a game. His OC took over after he resigned with a loaded team of seniors and they won the Tri-River District in 2018. Again you are close and know these people but don'thave any of your facts together.

Mecklenburg didn't play but 1 district game last year and the game was close until late in the 4th. The 2 teams from NC Lee and Weddington were tough teams for them. Mecklenburg has to work on their depth but I do know they only had like 6 seniors with a lot of young talent. They played a tough schedule last year trying to find games. Their new AD left in the middle of the season. I remember coaches saying the new weight didn't get put in until late October. They couldn't workout during the season. They didn't have a full off-season last year. They had to travel between schools to workout until the new building was ready.

You sound like a disgruntled parent or citizen from Bluestone who is upset a PV alum has the job, you wanted the job, or acitizen from South Hill who didn't want to combine the schools, or you are just bitter in genreal of Mecklenburg athletics.

Either way I will continue supporting Mecklenburg athletics and hope they can have success in the Peidmont District. I will say this Mecklenburg will be a top 3 team in the Peidmont district next season.
 
I wanna try to get this back going for next season. Trying to compile a list of schedules for the 2023 season for the Piedmont District schools.

I have full schedules for:
Bassett
8/25 Franklin County
9/1 At Patrick County
9/8 At Dan River
9/15 William Byrd
9/22 Halifax County
9/28 At Mecklenburg County
10/6 Tunstall
10/13 At George Washington
10/20 Magna Vista
10/27 At Martinsville
11/3 BYE WEEK

Tunstall
8/25 Dan River
9/1 Chatham
9/8 At Gretna
9/15 Staunton River
9/22 At Magna Vista
9/29 Martinsville
10/6 At Bassett
10/13 Halifax County
10/20 At Mecklenburg County
10/27 BYE WEEK
11/3 George Washington

GW-Danville
8/25 Dinwiddie
9/1 Amherst County
9/8 E.C. Glass
9/15 BYE WEEK
9/22 At Staunton River
9/29 Magna Vista
10/6 At Martinsville
10/13 Bassett
10/20 At Halifax County
10/27 Mecklenburg County
11/3 At Tunstall

Partial Schedules for Magna Vista, Martinsville, Mecklenburg County, & Halifax County.
 
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FootballLife82 said:
To know some of these coaches so well your statements are completely false. Coach Hutcheson resigned after the 2016 season to spend more time with his family and pursuing other endeavors. He only had one losing season in 2014 when the Salley kid died after a collision in a game. His OC took over after he resigned with a loaded team of seniors and they won the Tri-River District in 2018. Again you are close and know these people but don'thave any of your facts together.

Mecklenburg didn't play but 1 district game last year and the game was close until late in the 4th. The 2 teams from NC Lee and Weddington were tough teams for them. Mecklenburg has to work on their depth but I do know they only had like 6 seniors with a lot of young talent. They played a tough schedule last year trying to find games. Their new AD left in the middle of the season. I remember coaches saying the new weight didn't get put in until late October. They couldn't workout during the season. They didn't have a full off-season last year. They had to travel between schools to workout until the new building was ready.

You sound like a disgruntled parent or citizen from Bluestone who is upset a PV alum has the job, you wanted the job, or acitizen from South Hill who didn't want to combine the schools, or you are just bitter in genreal of Mecklenburg athletics.

Either way I will continue supporting Mecklenburg athletics and hope they can have success in the Peidmont District. I will say this Mecklenburg will be a top 3 team in the Peidmont district next season.
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To be observing the program from afar, you sure are full of information and facts all of a sudden. My children are grown and out of school. I do not live in either Bluestone or Park Views attendance zones or even in Mecklenburg County. Do I think they should have built the one high school...No. I believe in smaller schools that have ties to the community. I know of their split school practices and delays in the field, and practice areas and lack of weights. Am I bitter in general of Mecklenburg athletics, absolutely not. As I said, I know people on the staff, coaches that I have known as friends and also know some of the administration and staff, so no, I am not bitter and actually wish all of their sports well. You sound like a coach within the program that has a chip on his shoulder because people aren't high on your squad. You don't like what people are saying and where they rank Mecklenburg, well then prove everyone wrong.

Winning the Tri-River district was usually not that difficult and the knock on PV usually was about how weak their district schedule was and how they underperformed in the playoffs.

This is a message board and people are entitled to their opinion and thoughts. You are within your right to say you think they will be a top 3 team as I am in my right to say top 5 at best. I do not see them being ahead of GW, MV, Bassett, and Halifax. Tunstall should be an easy win. IF Mecklenburg makes it to the playoffs, they will really get thumped. Region 4D is a beast of a region.
 
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shtndark said:
I've been happy to observe but will offer my 2 cents

1-GW- last year was an aberration. As inexperienced and injured as the Eagles were last year they would have been a playoff team and a tough out for someone had it not been for the meltdown at Bassett and the overtime loss to MV in the season finale. If you were going to get GW, last year was your year. Anyone that saw their JV's and know what they return won't bet against them but with the casino opening maybe you can if you desire. 😀

2- Magna Vista- well coached year in and year out. As someone pointed out the have the returning defensive POY, a future D1 skilled player and their QB was a freshman. They will be a force to be reckoned with.

3-Bassett- going out on a limb here giving the Bengals the nod above Halifax but this is another team that is well coached. They did lose a lot but their JV team wasn't terrible. They return some good pieces and I'm sure coach J will find a way to blend them into a solid unit. The biggest challenge will be replacing the QB. He was special.

4- Halifax- It's always a mystery why this group can't be at or near the top of the district. Good looking players all over but just seem to come up short in big games. They have enough returning to be in the hunt if they can stay healthy and have the ball bounce their way.

5-Mecklenburg- The only varsity team I've not seen up close but the athletes there are capable. I'm pretty sure they are aware of what they are getting into but whether or not they can rise to the occasion is another matter.

6-Martinsville- Bobby Martin has done a magnificent job bringing this program back from the dead and they were for real last year but I cannot see a repeat. The guys they lost left huge holes that based on what I saw from their young kids they are not going to able to fill. There is a RB in the pipeline though that will make them an instant contender if he stays put.

7- Tunstall- What can you say. They wish they could have followed Patrick County out of the district.
Click to expand...
I like it. Martinsville has to change it up this year. They struggled to get it going in most games because they were too dependent in Jones. Believe it or not, GW is knocking on the door of making a state run. Some of those kids coming up are going to be very very special. Perdue is doing an immaculate job getting kids’ names out there for college. I think you’ll start to see some kids transfer into GW, which traditionally doesn’t happen. GW often loses talent to other schools.
 
Yes Coach Cody Perdue really does a lot behind the scenes with GW recruiting Coach Anderson hit a home run with his addition to the staff at GW as well as his development of the GW receivers Bo you are correct with your analysis
Of the future of GW the JV went 9-0-1 last year
With a tie in the first game to Salem the MS team went undefeated also Kemori Dixon will be back
For the Eagles this year the varsity team was very young last year but no excuses the Eagles lost a Bassett game that they dominated and they dropped an overtime game to a MV team that was very well coached and had the Defense POY
In the Peidmont I think the Eagles will be thoroughly vetted with their non District schedule this year prior to the Peidmont games gonna be a fun bunch to watch in 2023

Go Eagles
 
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GW also has Mook Reynolds who won 3 state championships at Northern Guilford and started 3 years at VT. He’s been coaching the secondary. GW is on the right track. Those kids/coaches had an uphill battle with the cards they were dealt but things are looking up. We’re just built a lot differently in Danville Virginia.
 
Mook has just gotten the Defensive Coordinator’s position at the New Alamance County HS that opens in the fall in Burlington NC the School is going to be named Southeast Alamance HS
 
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Class 5 is now much much easier to win now that Highland Springs is gone. Class 4 has and will continue to be the toughest classification to win a state championship in.
 
My thought was same. Class 5 might be easier than class 4. Would they be 5C or 5D? They are a ways east of us but I know there isn't a lot around them.
 
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BoKnowsSports said:
Who’s taking it this year?

Patrick County gone and Mecklenburg is playing a full district schedule.

My predictions:

1. GW- very hard ood schedule. Dinwiddie, Glass and Amherst. Mori Dixon will get them over the hump in most district games. 7-3 is likely, but 8-2 or better, I like them competing to get back to the region championship game.

2. Magna Vista- really like Simeon Moore (he’s going to be the next major D1 athlete out of Southside after Dixon graduates) and Ethan Stockton (reigning Piedmont Defensive Player of the Year). It’s been a while, but the Warriors could be back to region contender status.

3. Martinsville/Bassett- Toss up. Hairston (Bassett) and Jones (Martinsville) were 2 of the top 3 best players in the district last year. Both gone. Martinsville returns more, but won’t have the depth Bassett has. I believe Martinsville will make a run in their region this year.

5. Mecklenburg- undisciplined play was a big reason they were bad. They look the part and has a good mix of size and athleticism. Maybe, the biggest team in the district. I’m not drinking the Kool Aid just yet.

6. Halifax- Maybe Senseney can turn it around.. Halifax is a lot like GW. Great athletes, but normally struggles with physicality in the trenches and tackling. I’m a big fan of Josh Miller who is the Blue Comets RB. He just committed to William and Mary to play football.

7. Tunstall- Brice Poole is a very talented football but Tunstall will be a bad football team. Kid will be the team. Really no reason for them to be so bad. Big, country kids and they have a good feeder program.
Click to expand...
I think Tunstall will be greatly improved, but that may mean losing games 42-14 instead of 56-0. That's a huge difference but it may not show much in their overall record. I think they hired a great young coach in Kirkland Brown who has done a great job recruiting kids to play football since so many kids there are basketball only or baseball only. In fact, they didn't have a 7th/8th grade middle school (A team) last year because of fall baseball. Once fall baseball started, they lost so many football kids that they had to disband. Kirkland used to be the OC at Averett but gave it up to go to Chatham as OC last year and this year got the head job at Tunstall. He was very creative as OC last year at Chatham and made it tough on defenses. He ran a variety of things to overcome injuries. Tunstall has enough athletes, big kids, quality baseball arms, and soccer program to get everything you need to fill out a football team. I haven't heard who his DC will be but I trust Brown's ability to put points on the board. Stopping someone may be a different thing.
 
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BoKnowsSports said:
Class 5 is now much much easier to win now that Highland Springs is gone. Class 4 has and will continue to be the toughest classification to win a state championship in.
Click to expand...
Don't forget Stone Bridge (Class 5) who gives Highland Springs all they can handle year in and year out. Most years they're better than the Class 4 Champ.
 
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