Tres prolly won't be starting QB for Lancers,atleast as of now. Tres was starting cause Amherst had their starting RB and QB suspended for the whole year..
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Too Early Top 5
- Thread starter BoKnowsSports
- Start date
Yikes. Kid suspended for a year and he’s gonna be the biggest leader on the team (QB)? Something’s not right at Amherst, if that’s accurate…
He has done everything possible to make up for his mistake..Good kid who made a mistake
I've had some time to mull this over and this is what I'll go with, but all of these teams could easily move up or down a couple spots based on the right argument.
1. Dinwiddie
2. Phoebus
3. King Georg
4. Salem
5. Woodgrove
Honestly can't believe I'm saying this as a Region D guy myself but until the programs not named Salem make a breakthrough then I would say it is a little overrated overall. Teams 2-10 are very competitive as always but Salem owns that region. That being said, EC Glass finally did it this year but then Woody left...hope the Hilltoppers can still have that success without him, they are a sneaky preseason Top 10 for me. Sherando also a team to monitor in D, so far away from all the other southwest Virginia teams but they have a fantastic program.
Call me crazy...I think we are headed for a King George/Salem championship game...
1. Dinwiddie
2. Phoebus
3. King Georg
4. Salem
5. Woodgrove
Honestly can't believe I'm saying this as a Region D guy myself but until the programs not named Salem make a breakthrough then I would say it is a little overrated overall. Teams 2-10 are very competitive as always but Salem owns that region. That being said, EC Glass finally did it this year but then Woody left...hope the Hilltoppers can still have that success without him, they are a sneaky preseason Top 10 for me. Sherando also a team to monitor in D, so far away from all the other southwest Virginia teams but they have a fantastic program.
Call me crazy...I think we are headed for a King George/Salem championship game...
I will not call you crazy. In fact, they are a top 4 team in my book. I received a tip from my man @mbonape1 and it appears North Stafford's starting QB has transferred to King George. With that being said their offense should be a juggernaut. Their run defense may be the only deficit they may have. Although I like Varina's new quarterback they still need to prove they can run the ball. The Blue Devil defense may be the best in Region B and the Class 4 State. Phoebus is going to be tough to beat no matter who you are. Another fine defense. Dinwiddie's offense will be on par with King George, but with a better running game. Salem should come out of Region D unless Lewis decides to enroll early at Tennessee. @MaroonDude seems to think they can rush for 5,000. That's 333 yards a game if they make it to Lynchburg in December. The Spartans will surely be a daisy if they do!
A little over 60 days until my Generals kick off in Canton.
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I might swap the positions around, but I like that top five at this point.
I watched Salem in the majority of their games last year and the OL/DL didn't look like the Salem I'm accustomed to. The offense against good teams didn't get the 3-4 yard drive off the line that you need to keep moving the chains. They were good at making big plays, but not controlling the LOS. On defense Salem was often giving up the 3-4 yard drive off the ball. If they didn't make a big play they struggled to stop good teams from controlling the LOS and keeping the chains moving. I realize if they had a better offensive or defensive line, it would have dramatically helped the other side of the ball.
If you look at the Franklin Co game, Salem was too reliant on the big play. If FC had stuck with what they were doing for the whole 2nd half on the 2 pt conversion, they would have beaten Salem.
Against Christiansburg they struggled mightily with the Blue Demons big lines. Both teams had to deal with terrible weather conditions, and Salem was lucky to leave with a win.
Against PH, Salem didn't make any big plays and they got pushed around most of the game.
In the playoffs against Glass it was more of the same. Not controlling either line cost them from advancing further along.
Salem has all the speed and skill guys you could want, but unless the linework improves, they'll likely get a similar result. Remember Salem had those same skill guys last year, and that only got them so far.
I think Salem's defensive back 7 will be good. Hopefully, they'll improve the front 4's drive off the ball. Offensively, I see good things if the OL can work on their steps and technique to get drive off get to the 2nd level. Another huge component to getting better is putting the work in the weight rook. Bigger, faster, stronger, and for longer!
Obviously, we'll know more in a few weeks. Excited to get back to it.
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Tend to agree except for Cburg. Cburg is plod, plod, and more plod until they punch it in, their team speed was/is very poor (I saw them three times last season). That weather was the best case scenario for Cburg playing Salem. In a dry setting, Salem absolutely dusts them. The line play would almost be a non-factor on offense because much like the PC game, you could have run toss sweep all night against Cburg and Lewis gets the edge 9 times out of 10. Cburg is very big but very slow, almost non-existent skill position play. That QB they had whose name escapes me (also plays SS) was the entirety of their offense. I watched them play CS and they jumped out to a 21-0 lead super early (late 1st or early 2nd) off a long run from him and 2 bombs and he got hurt on the TD throw and sat out the last 3 quarters, which CS won 14-3 and was threatening to score again very late, their offense probably had less than a hundred yards total for the last 3 quarters. Cburg should be good again this season but if they can't diversify that offense beyond that one kid, they won't have the horses to do a shootout with Salem on a dry field.
Salem must not play anybody then…do you know how hard this is to do?? I get they have a top 5 back in nation but even he would say your expectations are way too high.
Thanks for clarifying that because I saw Christianburg play Heritage in state semis last year and went WTF when i read Salem struggled against them.
They played through a tropical storm, it wasn't pretty for either team. Christiansburg was one dimensional last year. Playing in a TS with a big OL and a decent running QB was the "perfect storm" (pun intended)
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Unbelievably bad conditions. You couldn't throw. You couldn't even pitch it. Impossible to punt into wind. Probably shouldn't have been played.
If I remember correctly it was rain with 30/40 mph winds , gust of 50
Game absolutely should have been moved. Many teams moved their games. I imagine Cburg wanted to play for the very reason that it was their best case scenario against Salem, slowed the game to a crawl and just became a slugfest, something they thought they could win.
"No other school in 4D stepped up during this time frame". I'd like to pay my respect to Blacksburg who actually did step up from 2016-18 when Salem dropped off a bit from the Dynasty years. They were a very tough team that we were fortunate to get by in OT. Makes me sad to see their program drop off the way they did. They had awesome fans, very kind and respectful.
This is never not funny.
Should I point out Salem won the title in two of the three years you mentioned?
Yes I know. The message kind of stretched longer than intended. Blacksburg was very good 2016-2018 and Salem's supposed fall off was from 2018-Present (I realize their fall off is most schools dreams). I wanted to note Blacksburg in 2018.
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Salem 2020 State Champs defeated Lake Taylor at Lake Taylor. Rumors of Salems demise are highly overrated.
Blacksburg was really solid in 2017-2018. The 2016 team did win the C3 title after a 5-5 regular season. They made some changes and went 5-0 in the playoffs. They had such good team speed those 3 years. And as you said, some of the nicest people you'll ever meet.
I went to Blacksburg twice in 2017 for the Salem games. I sat on the Blacksburg side because it's easier to see from that side in a wheelchair. Several people knew who I was from posting on Preps. They were exceptionally nice and I enjoyed talking to them before and after the game. Heck, the head coach at the time saw us unloading from the van and came over and talked to me for a minute. Really awesome experience both visits, although it was a bit better the 2nd time around. That 33-32 Reg Final was one of the best games I've ever seen.
Just for your future reference.
Salem Football has won ten Group AA, Division 4 championships, in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2016, 2017 and spring 2021 (Covid-19 delayed 2020 season).
They also have been State runner up 3 times.
Yeh , its a hard argument to put Salem football and the words “fall off “ in the same post for me. My team has been to the game multiple times and couldn’t close the deal. I would love to see them cross over and win just one Championship before I die. Lol
You obviously don't read past my last message. Let me put this to rest. I know the years Salem won states and finished runner-up, for yours and any other "read the last message and react posters", reference. They're the best school in 4A period and always a good-great program, mostly great. I'm not spelling out what I meant by fall off, read the other posts.
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Wa
Warwick is in Div 5 now. I think Phoebus beats them again soundly.
@Senex and @CRF4Dan can either of you give us a quick take on the Hanover County teams. I know Hanover lost their two best players and offensive threats. PH-A is always tough and oddly are not playing district foe Highland Springs. I honestly have no clue about Mechanicsville or Atlee. Just curious if any these teams could be in the running for top four finish in Region B.
Waiting to get back info on the Hanover schools currently.
Hanover should be fine... I think they will be the class of the county again.
Patrick Henry should be a 6-4/7-3 squad... not sure if this will be a team to contend for the region.
Mechanicsville should be improved in their second season under Coach Reynolds and without the distractions of last season.
Atlee is a bit of a mystery to me. I think they have some pieces to be 6-4, they have a RB who I like a lot in JJ Lewis but they are always a team that when I expect them to be good, they let me down and when I don't expect much from them, they surprise me.
Already working on them, looking to start publishing by next week.
@BoKnowsSports did you get a chance to watch the Huguenot staff interview on the BallinVa Podcast? This one right here.
Appreciate you bro, I’ll tune in. We’ll have to chop it up one day, I’ll be working at the high school in your neck of the woods this year. Looking forward to some good football in the 804 this year!
Most definitely ! Thought it was some interesting tidbits in there. But they definitely highlighted some of the issues I have with them.
I haven't been able to get out to too many practices for the Hanover schools, but based on returning players and a few scrimmages...
Atlee has the talent to complete with most of 4B, they have a massive senior laden OL and a returning 2 year starter at QB(Lee) & RB(Lewis). Lee is a solid player, won't turn the ball over, but isn't the game breaker they have had in the past. Lee is small but very quick and he works well with the zone scheme that they incorporate. The problem with Atlee the last several years has been play calling and defensive adjustments; they usually have more talent than the other Hanover schools but coaching holds them back. Watching Hanover and Patrick Henry absolutely bully them with less talent has me questioning their mental & physical toughness and Matt Grey's staff. If the coaching remains the same then 4-5 wins is probably the best they can hope for.
Hanover returns most of their core, the QB/RB Steelman is a problem for most programs, there aren't too many guys that can bring him down 1v1 and Coach Rogers has shown an ability to create plus matchups for his guys. The OL returns 3 starters and the RT Mott is a stud that could play for anyone in 4A, he is NASTY. Defensively they they are always tough, and Coach Snow is a very good DC, they return 6 DL/LB and most of their secondary. If Steelman stays healthy and makes an impact defensively I can see them going 6-4 or 7-3 against a plus schedule.
Mechanicsville, who knows? They return nearly all of their OL/DL, and they are massive. The question I have is can the passing game keep defenses from loading the box, multiple JV QB's and an average WR cast will have to develop for them to win. Defensively, they only return 4-5 from last years team that gave up over 30/game. 2-3 wins against a weak schedule is the best I see them doing.
Patrick Henry (Ashland) - They have lost a TON of talent the last 2 seasons and they may be the youngest team in all of RVA with a total of 20 seniors/juniors . Strong Soph/Fresh (78) classes will have to step up for them to compete in the region. Their schedule is absolutely BRUTAL (Louisa, Glen Allen, Herm, Th. Dale and Varina, along with the rest of the Capital). Johnson returns at QB but he is more of a fullback in their option game. The OL will be young, 1 FR, 3 SO, & 1 Jr started against Freeman last week, but I think Coaches Wakefield & Webb will have them schooled up. Defensively, only the 2 safeties return in Henderson and Grant, but as is the PH way every defensive starter will be sub 4.8 (40 time). If PH can return to their signature MAUL BALL, then 5-7 wins is possibly in the cards for them. The next several years should be intriguing at PH.
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