State Champion prediction?
- Thread starter eastspartan
- Start date
Radford apparently impressed quite a bit of folks down at a 7 on 7 at Eastside recently. My pick is for Graham to repeat however.
I like Radfords athleticism. If they have good lineplay, they will have a good chance. Same for Appo. Im a little more familiar with Graham. I believe Graham's defense will be very strong. Losing Cam Allen (offensive and defensive state player of the year) hurts more on the offensive side of the ball, just just because Graham has a lot of talent returning defensively. (Yes, I know he was recruited as a defensive back). Graham has potential to have very good offensive production, couple of brutal running backs and a good change of pace back too, a very dynamic qb. Question marks will be at the receiver position and possibly lineplay. I suspect the lineplay will be fine, could be very good if a couple of the kids have developed. Looks like they have been working very hard in the weight room. Like a lot of teams, lineplay will make or break their season.
Radford will be better than last season. We had a solid year, but we will have one of our best teams in a long, long time. Our line is going to be very solid and very physical and we have the athletes at the skilled positions. Appo fans can tell you more about them, but I'm sure Appo will be much better than last season with the youth they had. Anything can happen, but I think Radford and Appo will meet again for the region title and the game will be another close one like last season, and both teams playing at a higher level than last season. I think Glenvar loses a bit and will be about the same as last year. Gretna will be very good and capable of getting a W over Appo or Radford in the playoffs. I don't know enough about the East to comment on who is the favorite in those regions. Graham appears to be a run away favorite in their region and likely the favorite to repeat if what I have heard and read is correct.
Agree with @Fairlawncat on the west side of things. For the east I am going to say that it is wide open as I don't see a prohibitive favorite to be in Salem. There is always the chance that Clarke gets the line play they need and makes things interesting but I feel East Rock and Amelia take a step back. Poquoson could be that team but I am not sure what they have returning. With Goochland moving up to 3A it really opens this side up a bit in my opinion.
Watch Buckingham moving into Region B. Ton of starters back and the move into the new region could do it for the Knights. I’d also say this, Staunton High School, with their new coach could be a formidable team in Region B with their normal athletes. Jake Phillips ran a great offense imo at James River, if he can take that same system to the Staunton Storm? Might take a year is only thing. But Region B wise I think two dark horses to compete to get out of the region
A healthy Gerry Toney will be huge for the Knights. That kid is a monster and only a junior. Alot of young talent. Watch for freshman rb Jordan Woodson the kid is special.
I think the reason most would sleep on Buckingham is not knowing the returnees or the region change. To me they are leaving the deepest region in the new system and coming to one that while good at top isn’t nearly as deep. Last year 6-4 got them a date with Glenvar, I think this year 8-2 could get them a home game easily
Has something changed? I talked to his dad about 2 weeks ago and he was headed to Radford
I heard the same up until about 5 days ago. Of course this was 2nd hand info, so, I guess we shall see. Where he is going seems to change every few days.
That usually depends on the year and the points. I know some regions have teams get in with subpar records.
Just because I post them on here, I know that year before last the 9th place team in be would have made playoffs in Region A (if I remember correctly in 6th place), and I'm thinking maybe in at least one of C or D maybe both.
That's not to say that B is harder or better or anything, but it's not as simple as not as deep (in regards to playoff seeding as you said). And not in a good/bad way, but all 6-4 records are created the same. Your 6-4 could certainly have been more impressive or less impressive than another.
One example I remember, and I'm sorry I cant remember their record exactly, but Poquoson. They were either 7-3 or 6-4. Those losses were all to 4a schools I believe, all at least larger schools as they are only 2a team in their district. I think they had a slew of injuries at the end, but I think I remember that if they would have been 8-2 they would have been the #1 seed over State Runner up Goochland. But I would venture to guess that most teams at 8-2 as you mentioned would have home games in 1st round.
One example of 8-2 traveling I can recall was the first round in 2017 in Region C. Gretna fans were livid as the Hawks hit the road to Floyd County for the Region 2C playoffs. Meanwhile their northern neighbors in Region 1B (Altavista) got to host at 2-8.
What was Floyd record? That is pretty rare. And yea hard to count 1b, only 6 teams have been eligible and 2 were 0-10
I don't see Clarke going deep again this year unless some big kids have moved in to the area. Of course, I could be wrong.
Speaking of Clarke, I volunteer you to come get me for our game with you. That's a long drive. Joking about the 1st part.
Speaking of Poquoson, does anyone have any insight on them? I know they graduated a lot, so I don't expect them to be nearly as good as the past two seasons, but I hope I'm wrong....
Well, looks like Green will be at Radford and another transfer from Pulaski, "Cobbs". They are now my odds on favorite to win it all. Graham won't be far behind, but lack depth. Graham looks to be getting a pretty good and fast athlete themselves, very similar to Cobbs, so no complaints. But, the game is won in the trenches. Offensively, Graham has a good mix of power and finesse at the athletic positions. But, if the line cant hold a block, it wont matter. Outside of Bluefield, Graham wont face a team like Appo or Radford in the regular season. Tazewell may be the most athletic team they face this year, other than Bluefield, and Tazewell has their own issues, the main one being consistency at qb.
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He will for sure. He has the ability to make plays and turn nothing into something, very quick and good hands.
Richlands is probably a year away from making a serious Region/State run, but the matchup on 10/4 against Radford will be a good benchmark test for both teams
Ridgeview returns one of the best players in Class 2, Trenton Adkins (offers from Penn State and others) and they will still be a force to be reckoned with as well
Ridgeview returns one of the best players in Class 2, Trenton Adkins (offers from Penn State and others) and they will still be a force to be reckoned with as well
Appo is my pick. Both they and Radford will be even better, but I feel like Appo will get the upper hand this time.
The entire East will be down this year. Goochland moves up, Shenandoah and Bull Run powers were senior heavy last year, and Poquoson lost some great talents. The conditions are right for a dark horse to emerge in the East.
The entire East will be down this year. Goochland moves up, Shenandoah and Bull Run powers were senior heavy last year, and Poquoson lost some great talents. The conditions are right for a dark horse to emerge in the East.
I'm not even sure what to expect from Ridgeview this year. Lol. Still not sure what our QB situation is like. Adkins may be taking the snaps himself.
I would certainly be working on some wildcat plays with a player like that.
I'm picking Radford, but wouldn't be surprised if Appo takes region C, at all. Graham is my favorite in region D. That C and D matchup in the semis should be a good one, if everybody lives up to expectations. It's high school football, so anything can happen. An injury here and there and we may see somebody totally different make it to that point, but I would expect Graham out of D and Radford or Appo out of C and one whale of a matchup in the C finals and State Semis, if that happens.
Richlands will be better this year than next year. This year’s offensive line will be dominate
I know who my pick in East (even though Augusta county is about as far west as you can get). Wait, when we had the two Region playoffs I think A/B was West. I'd have to go back and look at my playoff points.
Anyway, not saying they will be the best on this side, but never go against your own team haha.
Everyone have a blessed day
They will be a favorite to win the 'doah and with the changes to the A and B region makeup you could be right. Amelia may have a say coming out of region A but B looks to be down a little to me.
Shh. Let them be under the radar haha.
I have no clue what to expect besides should be better than last year. Most games were close in 2nd half but were really young
I agree with this assessment. Richlands may go 7-3 or 6-4 this year in my estimation, but they have Bluefield, Radford and Graham all with very good teams. They may go 8-2 next year, but have a team that is not as good as this years.
Poquoson graduated 21 seniors, so they've got a lot to replace. By my count, they have three or four starters or kids that saw some playing time on both sides of the ball. Offensively they need to find a quarterback first and foremost, but since p-a-s-s is a truly a four-letter word in Poquoson, they'll find someone to hand-off and who knows, maybe can pass too. There will be guys who can run the football, and a couple linemen coming back. The big problem is defense. I believe they lost the entire defensive line, got one OLB, one ILB, and one CB coming back...lost everyone else. Making the playoffs and winning a game would be big. Actually making it to the region semi-finals or finals would be gargantuan. Schedule is horrible as well, as they play Lafayette the 8th game of the year...not good. We'll see.
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Thanks for the update...sounds like a .500 season would be a reasonable goal. It'd be nice if Poquoson could play a schedule of Class 2 teams...if so, they'd likely be a top two Region A seed in most, if not all, sports on a consistent basis.
@LHS Rams, I hear ya on playing teams in your division but come playoff time that tough schedule has you prepared for just about anything. It does present a problem with so many graduating but will get them ready for the rigors of playoff football. With that said, I also see where it could kill you in points and makes it where you have to travel more often than not even in other sports where you are certainly as good as those getting home field/court. Tough scenario for sure.
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