2015 was the first yr of football in appo and appomattox county was formed just before the first game kickoff... we don’t know how we got here actually wth....
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Union vs Appo - let the talk begin
- Thread starter pizzzzza
- Start date
Seems pretty accurate, except I remember 2014 when a perennial middle to lower tier swva lee team that has mediocre fan support by swva standards came up there and embarrassed the Appomattox “crowds” numbers and won. Then they have a ridiculous run of talent and everyone’s an Appomattox fan all of a sudden. Where were all these people the previous 40 years? I e even read that after the loss to heritage this year fan attendance dropped. What will those “fans”do if you all have a bad run of talent? I’d guess disappear again. I hope for those that are faithful fans that these last few years weren’t just a shooing star.
the way i see it is like this, last yr is gone this year is here right now. That said union is the #1 seed, at home, undefeated , and supposidly has the best or most recruited player on the field in Mitchell. So it appears clearly they are the fav this yr, they also say they are better then last yr and we are not as good is the consensus .... no matter how we compair to last yr both sides only need to be good enough to beat the other team... seems union has more pressure at home to right the ship and win this game and a state title .. maybe unions seniors are up to the task. someone will clearly win, i hope its a clean game without injury to either side and I hope it doesn't come down to the refs deciding the outcome...
I would almost guarantee if Appo loses, there will immediately be fingers pointed to officiating.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I really don't think the pressure is on Union. VERY few people had them hosting a semifinal game even 3 weeks ago after finishing 10-0. I fully expected the Richlands game to be tight, but I would have never guessed the Marion and Graham outcomes.
Seems like pressure is most felt by those expected to win not to lose. Even locals have predicted Union to lose to Richlands, Marion, and Graham. There's probably a chip on their shoulders, but no pressure.
And like you, I hope for a clean, injury free game.
been around long time, only school in the county. classed different back in 70 & 80's. equivalent to 3A now. always competitive and in top half of the seminole district in 70 & 80's. 83 team lost to Martinsville deep in the playoffs. back then not many made the playoffs. you could go 8-2 and not make the playoffs from what I could remember. a few down years in 90's but other than that always in top 3rd of the dogwood. Have always played seminole teams which is tough most of the time usually causing 2 to 3 losses in the year. I can think of about about 8 to 10 D1 athletes 4 of which played higher than college level. Boo Boo Trent played CFL & NFL. Kevin Ferguson played NFL, Lindsay Fleshman played arena football & there was a linebacker from the 70s I believe played NFL for the Cowboys. They have a rich history but no where near as many titles as Union. I remember the Entertainment tonight did a piece in 1983 on the them saying they were one of the top 10 winning schools.
Hey thanks alot guys I will plug these directions into my gps unit.
You need to research the mantra of what PO1 is and what brought it about to understand fan support in Appo. It's a tragic story of death that brought a community together with a football team. Has fan support really dropped, not really.
This game want be as close as most think. It should be considering it’s the west final. Read this and remember it, The wheels are going to fall off the Appo bus coming down the road. I hope that doesn’t literally happen but some will understand what I’m saying. Appo fans will leave saying, what the heck happened? I’ve never seen anything like that in all the years I’ve been watching football. Some times it’s better that way, than losing by 1 point. Just my opinion and I hope everyone GETS a rash.
I’ve heard that story and I’m sure that’s part of the recent support, but eventually that wound will begin to heal. do you really believe if appo went sub .500 next year the stands would stay full? Answer me that honestly.
Little Buddy here definitely wins Troll of the Year.
I always appreciate a good trolling. Definitely helps Buddy is from Fort Chiswell.
I will add that the tragedies in Appomattox continued last year the night before the Union game. One of our seniors was lost in a car accident. The game against Union last year was played for that young man.
PO1 for this community means the, "Power of One" and it was used for a football slogan but after several deaths in our community the Power of One became a rally cry for healing. One Town, One Community, One Faith.
PO1 for this community means the, "Power of One" and it was used for a football slogan but after several deaths in our community the Power of One became a rally cry for healing. One Town, One Community, One Faith.
Honestly and I may carried off into the Pines for this, but no I don't think they will stay full. Time heals and people move on. I will predict a 7 and 3 season next year.
I appreciate the honesty and would hope you’re wrong. Those kids deserve the same support regardless if they’re winning a state title every year or not.
Appo was winning championships before thay were championships ! Legendary coach Gordon Bragg coached Appo back in the day and led Appo to what I have been told if they keeping records would have been 10 state championships! My mother cheered back in the late 50s and they were dominate , had a running back by the name of ire Mays that had his teeth knocked out by hitting the metal flag in the corner of inzone and kept on playing so there you go !
I don't really remember hearing about Appomattox up until 4-5 years ago. Did they ever win the State before or at least go pretty far?
Appo has always had a good fan base for football even when they were 1-9. We never made it past the 2nd round as far as I know. So we never had that deep playoff run history for the state to know about us or be a threat. We have had various coaches in past that brought in many different offenses. Yes, we even ran the Single Wing (SRs assistant coach was a head coach here about a decade ago. Then the Triple Option shotgun under another coach. Doug Smith came in 2012 and brought a great program with him. It took him about 2 years to get everyone on board with new O (split back veer). He laid down a great blueprint and pushed everyone to get on board with the weight room regime, practices, camps, fund raisers, community days, etc. Of coarse he had his ups and downs....I would be a liar to say people didnt want him here no more after Giles of 2013. I told my son to embrace the process and stick by coach smiths side regardless because he hadnt had enough time to truly work the whole program in and he needed more commitment. It came together for the most part in 2014 when the older seniors students had left due to graduation. There were too many cancerous players and back biting with the ones that played under the previous coach.
I suggest you read @Stabler1980 post above about Coach Bragg (stadium named after him). he won state championships before they did playoffs.
What division did they play in before it went to 6 classifications? (Example AA div 3)
We were D III, Seminole District. We played Amherst, Heritage, Brookeville, Rustburg, Liberty (Bedford) with only a little over 700 students.
How long have they been a county school? What schools came together to make Appomattox county?
As long as I can remember. The only time Appomattox was split up is when blacks and whites couldnt go to same school. Anyone from Appo, correct me if Im wrong?
That is correct advocate!! When I played the Seminole district was : Appo . Rustburg brookville William Campbell Amherst altavista Gretna Buckingham S river Nelson !!! Only the district champ made the playoffs and 1 wild card team from the region ! We were 7-3 my senior year and stayed home !!
We must have played about the same time, Seminole District was the same schools when I played.
Not to say you or @Stabler1980 are wrong, because I dont know the answer. But if they didn't have playoffs or anything, and I am assuming not in record books as such, how can you say you win state championships? Is it going by record? I am just assuming as since there were no where near as many schools back then, that others would have been undefeated. This is not meant as a shot, I am truly curious
Gunz I can only tell you what I know !! From what I was told Appo would play against other teams from all over the region , the final teams that had the best records would play each other ! There were not near the amount Of schools as now , was told they had some wars with GW Danville and Covington back then . Will have to do so me more research and see what I can find out !!! Should be interesting!
Need some of my Appo guys to dig deep into archives ! Way before our time but some awesome football teams back then . Use to hear some crazy stuff like the line would practice hitting a concrete wall !! Lol
Get Tommy Lawson on VA PREPS....He was the QB and yes....we ran the single wing at that time like everyone did. lol
As a fan if neither team. I would just like to remind everybody that last year's game means diddly squat for this year's game.
Were you at the game last week? If so you tell me if the FG was good.
I appreciate the thoughtful answer.
I just assumed Appomattox was consolidated into a county school over time. I looked it up just now but I didn't realize there were only about 15,000 people in the whole county. I didn't realize the county was that small. We're about 3 times that population in Tazewell county which makes sense that we have 3 high schools.
Ryan4VT
VaPreps Varsity
I’m excited to see the atmosphere Saturday. I’ve seen plenty of Richlands @ Union and Richlands @ PV games, but this one should be crazier, if that’s possible.
I do know it’s Appo vs. SWVA. I personally know more than 50 Richlands fans who are headed down to cheer for Union, and I’d assume there will be fans from all other SWVA communities represented.
Should be a fun one.
I do know it’s Appo vs. SWVA. I personally know more than 50 Richlands fans who are headed down to cheer for Union, and I’d assume there will be fans from all other SWVA communities represented.
Should be a fun one.
And you are from what school?? Most of us don’t hide behind a name on here.Little Buddy here definitely wins Troll of the Year.
I always appreciate a good trolling. Definitely helps Buddy is from Fort Chiswell.
You troll me every time I post. I got some bait for you gayder. LMAO!!Little Buddy here definitely wins Troll of the Year.
I always appreciate a good trolling. Definitely helps Buddy is from Fort Chiswell.
Thought I would post this. Tickets can be purchased online for this game. There is a $1.50 "convenience" fee added to each ticket.
https://gofan.co/app/events/19096
https://gofan.co/app/events/19096
From the Tidewater area, actually married an Appomattox girl. Had the pleasure of meeting Coach Bragg in ~1991 through her home church. What an awesome man he was...heard he was a hard nose coach back in the day. Great man off the football field though
bad calls happen all the time as it is part of the game. our camera along with WDBJ 7 & WEST 13 were sitting directly behind the goal post and watched it clearly go thru the uprights. The news people talked about it to us. Crowd was not happy but I would say we were not ugly or disrespectful about it. Glad it didn't make the difference.
You may be right but one thing I know, the leaders of this team have a way of fighting through adversity to find a way to win. Javon,DeVon & Co. will have their adrenaline pumping and love the opposing hype so it will be fun to watch. I will also say Appo see’s this as Appo versus Union. We have played and have what I think is mutual respect for Richlands, Giles, Glenvar..etc. ...so folks can hype SouthWest versus Appo but some on here may be surprised at who’s pulling for who.
I just have this feeling for some reason, it could be that I just need a snack. LoL!!
Why do I feel ashamed all of the sudden. How could this be? I would of rather not known that. I had you figured for Enbrid or something.
You just went clear over my head on that????..but anyway, the Raiders will come to play.
