The best teams

[freeatlast2013]

Based on last year, Blacksburg was probably the best team during the year but in the playoffs were beat in a tight game by a determined Salem squad. How common has it been for the two, possibly best teams to come out of the same district? To go beyond that, the year before Blacksburg won three A while Salem won 4A. I know this evaluation is subjective but my guess is this is not very common. Opinions?

 

[mike salem]

The Seminole District has had 2 teams play for the championship in 3/4A on 3 occasions. In 2012 Brookville won in 3A, Heritage lost in 4A. In 2008 Brookville lost in 3A and Amherst lost in 4A. In 2002 Liberty won in 3A and Heritage won in 4A.

 

[mbonape1]

Salem earned the number 1.

As you said the rest is speculative.

I think Louisa was the best team in the East but I don’t know how they would have matched up against B.B.

I don’t think B.B. would have beat Mon or Dinwiddie.

There we a lot of good 4a teams last year.

Lafayette, KF, Deep Run, EV, Glass... who knows who was second best.

B.B. is certainly at the top of the list and I’m not mad at anyone that has them at #2.

 

[mike salem]

Salem earned the number 1.

As you said the rest is speculative.

I think Louisa was the best team in the East but I don’t know how they would have matched up against B.B.

I don’t think B.B. would have beat Mon or Dinwiddie.

There we a lot of good 4a teams last year.

Lafayette, KF, Deep Run, EV, Glass... who knows who was second best.

B.B. is certainly at the top of the list and I’m not mad at anyone that has them at #2.

It's all about matchups. I would put Salem, Louisa, Dinwiddie, Blacksburg, Monacan, and Eastern View in the Top 6, but the order is very debatable.

 

[86CulpGrad]

It's all about matchups. I would put Salem, Louisa, Dinwiddie, Blacksburg, Monacan, and Eastern View in the Top 6, but the order is very debatable.

They probably all could've beaten one another on any given day. Salem came through when they had to.

 

[rainman17]

That’s the thing with comparison it’s all about luck of the draw, the top 4 on the east all were undefeated the only team to top 2 goliaths was Louisa. They were an exceptional bunch as we see on the hardwood and gridiron this talent pool there now is deep and talented. Salem plays a brand of football, isn’t always pretty but consistently gives you a good product and yields the results you expect. The others were talented in their own ways, if EV was on the west how they were a few years ago they maybe playing Louisa in the ship. There’s no perfect formula but it’s any given Friday, and the parity between the top few is smaller, the little things is what it comes down too.

 

[JOrndorff]

Ask the Salem kids who was the best team they played this year. I have heard from numerous kids and parents that it was Bburg. No way to know for sure, but I personally think the two best teams in 4A resided in the River Ridge this season.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

Two best teams played in the state championship and I feel like it's a disrespect to Louisa's remarkable season to call any team, the second best. Louisa went on the road and beat Monacan (beat Bird and Manchester), Dinwiddie (beat Salem at Salem and ran away with everyone on their schedule) and then beats the best defensive team in 4a. Two best teams played for all of the marbles. Everything else is just subjective Monday Morning QB talk.

 

[anon_vu6vqwsr4nf3b]

I think Louisa was the best team in the East but I don’t know how they would have matched up against B.B.

Louisa was superb against spread teams all season, so Blacksburg would've been just another spread team for them. Beck's and Terry's speed would've been x-factors, though.

 

[mike salem]

Two best teams played in the state championship and I feel like it's a disrespect to Louisa's remarkable season to call any team, the second best. Louisa went on the road and beat Monacan (beat Bird and Manchester), Dinwiddie (beat Salem at Salem and ran away with everyone on their schedule) and then beats the best defensive team in 4a. Two best teams played for all of the marbles. Everything else is just subjective Monday Morning QB talk.

Correct, subjective just like comparing NC & VA football.

 

[mike salem]

Ask the Salem kids who was the best team they played this year. I have heard from numerous kids and parents that it was Bburg. No way to know for sure, but I personally think the two best teams in 4A resided in the River Ridge this season.

I think if Blacksburg would have beaten Salem, the championship game would still have been very competitive. Too close to call.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

Correct, subjective just like comparing NC & VA football.

LOL! Disrespectful that I compared VA football to NC football NOT EVEN CLOSE

 

[Shabutie]

I personally feel like Blacksburg was the second best team in the state but I also think all those potential matchups would have been close. It would have been fun to see their spread vs Dinwiddie's spread but a Louisa matchup probably would have been very competitive also. Blacksburg was very good against the run (better than Salem or Louisa) and then they had a lot of speed in the secondary as well. They just had a really good blend of skill players and quality players up front on both sides of the ball.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Mike, you mentioned EV. Do I remember correctly, don't they have nearly everyone returning this season?

 

[cb2018]

The 2 best teams in 4A were Salem and Blacksburg. If they hadn’t been in the same region, one would be state champ and the other runner up. Scoreboards tell the story. The OPs point was about districts, Mike had it right about the Seminole, would have been different if those teams had been in the same classification.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

The 2 best teams in 4A were Salem and Blacksburg. If they hadn’t been in the same region, one would be state champ and the other runner up. Scoreboards tell the story. The OPs point was about districts, Mike had it right about the Seminole, would have been different if those teams had been in the same classification.

LOL!!! What’s in the water up in Blacksburg and Salem? Y’all are drunk and delusional!

 

[86CulpGrad]

Mike, you mentioned EV. Do I remember correctly, don't they have nearly everyone returning this season?

No....but they have a lot. D’Ago Hunter will be a big loss on offense/defense/special teams.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

Blacksburg would've got beaten by Dinwiddie, Monacan, and Louisa. They barely beat Glass..Does that make Glass the 3rd best team??

 

[mike salem]

I'm not sure what Eastern View returns, but they have been getting stronger every year. They will probably be in the mix again for the East.

I don't know if the Top 6 teams I mentioned from last year (imo) will all be there again.

 

[cb2018]

Blacksburg would've got beaten by Dinwiddie, Monacan, and Louisa. They barely beat Glass..Does that make Glass the 3rd best team??

You don’t know that DSH. Only one of those 3 played against eventual champ Salem in the final (you know Salem was a different team later in the season as I do).Unless they play head to head, all subjective.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

You don’t know that DSH. Only one of those 3 played against eventual champ Salem in the final (you know Salem was a different team later in the season as I do).Unless they play head to head, all subjective.

Man I’m not sold one bit. Other than beating Salem, who else did Blacksburg beat? Their second best opponent was Botty and they lost. I guess Salem fans logic is if they beat us then they must be the second best. They play Dinwiddie schedule and they lose at least 3 games. Same with Monacan’s schedule. How can you dismiss a Louisa team that went 14-1 and beat Dinwiddie, Monacan and Lafayette to make the ship. They were a 4th and 1 away from winning the state championship or at least taking the lead late.. Cmon dude!

 

[1MoreHokie]

Yes, other than beating the state champs by 37 points they beat nobody. Great argument.

 

[mbonape1]

They probably all could've beaten one another on any given day. Salem came through when they had to.

We were arguing over super models all year in 4B! We may never have that again. Best football statewide was played in class 4 last year. If we put our top 10 in class 4 against 5 and 6 top 10’s I think we win more than we lose. First time I can say that IMHO

 

[JOrndorff]

Blacksburg would've got beaten by Dinwiddie, Monacan, and Louisa. They barely beat Glass..Does that make Glass the 3rd best team??

Coming from the guy who said GW Danville was the team to watch. Salem should be scared!!!Lol

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

Coming from the guy who said GW Danville was the team to watch. Salem should be scared!!!Lol

I could really care less. I have zero affiliation with GW Football other than being a mentor for those guys. Good to see the kids in my hometown do well. 15+ D1 athletes since 2008 and a good number of D2 and D3 athletes. Free education homie! We’re doing well in Danville thank you!

 

[1MoreHokie]

Also it's a horribly misconceived notion for anyone here to go "they played in the title game, that's your 1 and 2". It's fine if you think Louisa is #2 (or #1, whatever, it's just a harder argument) but have it be for something other than how long their season lasted. Blacksburg had FIVE losses last year, you could absolutely make the argument they weren't even the best in 3A (you can 100% do this for Salem in 2000 with 4 losses, I think VHSL-Ref had them 8th best in 4A that year). I'm not making that argument, I'm just saying you can, although those 2 cases are exceptions to the rule i.e. the state title winner is traditionally the best team. Hells bells, I guarantee you there are people here now, likely too scared to say it at this point, who think Salem hasn't been the best team in the state in any of the past 3 years.

Due to money, the playoffs will forever be regional and thus eliminate a better chance at finding the 2 best teams. Obviously you can't do this anyway but something like the NCAAT tends to (but not guarantee) that you find the best teams in the end. The only thing that has stopped almost any Eastern poster here from saying "The East has had at least the top 2 teams each year since the merger" is Salem winning because at the moment the East is deeper than the West. Remove Salem from the equation and you've got Dinwiddie stomping Sherando, LT killing Liberty-Bealton (who Salem beat handily), LT stonewalling JF (who Salem beat handily), Dinwiddie handling Dominion (who Salem beat handily), and Louisa killing Sherando (who Salem beat handily).

I think the issue is because Blacksburg is not a traditional power that people, especially those who didn't watch them, have a tougher time buying them being so good. The reality is Blacksburg was incredibly good and a few bad kicks away from playing for state and I, much like any other Salem fan I've talked to, think Bburg vs Louisa would be too close to call.

 

[mike salem]

DSH, in the Region D game when Salem was starting to fire on all cylinders, Blacksburg went toe to toe. I'm not going to say Blacksburg was the 2nd best team (I have no problem if someone maintains that opinion) but they would have been toe to toe with Louisa, Dinwiddie, Monacan, or Eastern View imo. The Top 6 were all very capable with great players and coaching. Salem and Louisa made it through their respective sides and Salem executed better on offense and defense, capitalizing on some mistakes and missed opportunities.

 

[1MoreHokie]

Dude who cares? Believe it or not, there’s better accomplishments than beating Salem you know? Salem is a good program but they are not world beaters ya know? They are a very fortunate program.

You care. Your argument was "who did they beat besides Salem" and I'm telling you they beat the state champs by almost 40 points and barely lost to them in the POs. Name the last state champ you remember with a 37 point loss on their schedule. If that's all Blacksburg did was play Salem tough then yes, that absolutely is worth noting because of Salem's success currently. It has nothing to do with Salem being Salem, it has to do with them laying the wood to the eventual state champs and almost doing it a second time.

Your logic is bizarre and makes no sense.

"I guess Salem fans logic is if they beat us then they must be the second best"

Yes, that's exactly how this works. Salem, the team who won it all, was beaten by 2 teams last year. One pulled the rug out from under them late in the 4th, the other blew them out of the building by half and when they faced a much better team they almost won again. Every sane person is going to think the team that did that is really good. Blacksburg would have absolutely murdered Sherando and played for state if they made a couple extra points, making the argument they were #2 isn't crazy. There were absolutely people who said Monacan was #2 in the state the year LT beat Salem badly because Monacan posted a solid record (11-3) and essentially had LT beat.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

DSH, in the Region D game when Salem was starting to fire on all cylinders, Blacksburg went toe to toe. I'm not going to say Blacksburg was the 2nd best team (I have no problem if someone maintains that opinion) but they would have been toe to toe with Louisa, Dinwiddie, Monacan, or Eastern View imo. The Top 6 were all very capable with great players and coaching. Salem and Louisa made it through their respective sides and Salem executed better on offense and defense, capitalizing on some mistakes and missed opportunities.

Just think it’s kind of hard to call a team who caught Salem at a bad time during the regular season and played a 2a/3a heavy schedule and lost to their best ODD opponent the second best team in 4a. Widdie beat MBK, Hopewell and Dale while Monacan beat Bird and Manchester. Louisa beat both teams on the road. Just not buying that Blacksburg is in that conversation. BB not beating any of the 5 teams i mentioned (MBK, Hopewell (their best chance of winning of the 5), Bird, Manchester or Dale). Not happening.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

You care. Your argument was "who did they beat besides Salem" and I'm telling you they beat the state champs by almost 40 points and barely lost to them in the POs. Name the last state champ you remember with a 37 point loss on their schedule. If that's all Blacksburg did was play Salem tough then yes, that absolutely is worth noting because of Salem's success currently. It has nothing to do with Salem being Salem, it has to do with them laying the wood to the eventual state champs and almost doing it a second time.

Don’t care.

 

[1MoreHokie]

Don’t care.

You care so much, you've got stop acting like you don't. Older people here may buy it but younger people won't. It's fine to care, you're just definitely not capable of acting like you don't care.

 

[mbonape1]

Guys it is not out of the question that any of 7-8 teams might have been number 2. It was a whale of a year. I agree that the road in the east was harder I think that is not debatable. But with that same breath if B.B. was in the east they would have been a major threat also. I’ll leave it at Louisa being number 2 bc they got there.

How about our 4a top 10 vs the 5a’s top 10 or 6a top 10? Am I the only one that thinks we win more than we lose???

 

[JOrndorff]

Just think it’s kind of hard to call a team who caught Salem at a bad time during the regular season and played a 2a/3a heavy schedule and lost to their best ODD opponent the second best team in 4a. Widdie beat MBK, Hopewell and Dale while Monacan beat Bird and Manchester. Louisa beat both teams on the road. Just not buying that Blacksburg is in that conversation. BB not beating any of the 5 teams i mentioned (MBK, Hopewell (their best chance of winning of the 5), Bird, Manchester or Dale). Not happening.

Caught them at a bad time? Really? Wasn’t aware they had a bad time, they only lost one other game. Bburg was very physical and had the most team speed in 4A. Salem beats all of us because they are coached exceptionally well.

 

[mike salem]

Just think it’s kind of hard to call a team who caught Salem at a bad time during the regular season and played a 2a/3a heavy schedule and lost to their best opponent the second best team in 4a. Widdie beat MBK, Hopewell and Dale while Monacan beat Bird and Manchester. Louisa beat both teams on the road. Just not buying that Blacksburg is in that conversation.

I'm not saying Blacksburg was the 2nd best team, but I saw Louisa, Dinwiddie, and Blacksburg, and I think they would have been competitive with either of those teams imo. I would put Salem, Louisa, Dinwiddie, Blacksburg, Monacan, and Eastern View in my Top 6 and I think that any of them could have beaten the other in the playoffs. Obviously, it's all opinion at this point so it doesn't really matter. I would have liked to see Monacan and Eastern View this year because Region B was very good.

 

[JOrndorff]

No disrespect for the east teams. I think they do have a tougher road and a bunch more quality teams.

 

[cb2018]

Man I’m not sold one bit. Other than beating Salem, who else did Blacksburg beat? Their second best opponent was Botty and they lost. I guess Salem fans logic is if they beat us then they must be the second best. They play Dinwiddie schedule and they lose at least 3 games. Same with Monacan’s schedule. How can you dismiss a Louisa team that went 14-1 and beat Dinwiddie, Monacan and Lafayette to make the ship. They were a 4th and 1 away from winning the state championship or at least taking the lead late.. Cmon dude!

Not dismissing anybody but the scoreboard read 43-22

Guys it is not out of the question that any of 7-8 teams might have been number 2. It was a whale of a year. I agree that the road in the east was harder I think that is not debatable. But with that same breath if B.B. was in the east they would have been a major threat also. I’ll leave it at Louisa being number 2 bc they got there.

How about our 4a top 10 vs the 5a’s top 10 or 6a top 10? Am I the only one that thinks we win more than we lose???

No, you’re not. Class 4 is top to bottom the toughest in VHSL IMO. Before the season everyone was saying Bburg had no chance coming in as 3A Champ. They did, proud of it and I realized the depth of competition in the Class. At the end of the season, I’d put those final top 8 teams up against anyone.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

You care so much, you've got stop acting like you don't. Older people here may buy it but younger people won't. It's fine to care, you're just definitely not capable of acting like you don't care.

Nah it’s bigger things than football to me. This type of stuff is just a hobby. The best football team I seen last year was Louisa and I saw Dinwiddie, Salem, Monacan, Lafayette and GW Danville... Multiple times. Before I seen Louisa, I thought they were hype and just a bunch of message board talk but I was wrong. They were legit. Don’t mean a thing though. All that matters is those kids get a chance to play at the next level and get a good education. The only reason I even commented is because I get tired of hearing the bias BS that some of you put out. Only reason most Salem fans agree is because it benefits their team. So nah I don’t care, but I did feel like it was in the best interest for the Louisa kids to respond.

 

[mike salem]

If I remember right I said Blacksburg would be in the mix this year before the season started and everyone said it was too big of a step up to go from 3A to 4A. I guess I was finally right once in my lifetime. Haha

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

@cb2018 the Louisa/Salem game was a one possession game with 2:30 left. Salem stopped Louisa in deep Salem territory on 4th down and on the very next play Ramsey goes 80 yards for a TD. Salem scores again late to make it a 21 point game. I was there. Saw the whole game and talked to Salem fans. They were pooping bricks on that 4th down play. Salem struggled big time with Bell. Game showed how good of a program Salem has.

 

[JOrndorff]

So you saw all of those teams and came to the conclusion that they would all beat Bburg??? Even though you never saw Bburg play. This just shows what cb2018 was saying that people perceived they weren’t good because they weren’t a traditional power.