Way-Too-Early Top 25

[Gunz41]

My post wasn’t directed to Bleeding Navy by any means. There was a private conversation between board members and I that I will not disclose due to the ingregity, respect and privacy of each of us. We’re all good. No harm or hard feelings. When we have differences we state them and move on..I expect them/y’all to do the same for me in a respectful way.

In all honesty, I would like to see a team who hasn't won win it, or one that isn't talked about highly.

Certainly in 1a and only 1 team I WANT to win in 2a lol

 

[mbonape1]

Curious as to why you feel Dinwiddie is too high?

Good question... Kymon Pope is going to have a whale of a year.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

In all honesty, I would like to see a team who hasn't won win it, or one that isn't talked about highly.

Certainly in 1a and only 1 team I WANT to win in 2a lol

IF Salem falls before the state title I believe that it will be to...
1. Glass
2. Sherando
3. GW Danville
In that order.
The East will be nasty. EV, Louisa, Dinwiddie, Monacan, LT, Lafayette, King’s Fork, Deep Creek, Heritage, heck even Powhatan can make some noise.
If Salem 4-peats then I’d put money on them to possibly 5 and 6 peat. That’s crazy to think of but they will be young and have the next man up mentality.

 

[BleedingNavy]

Curious as to why you feel Dinwiddie is too high?

Danny, I can't answer for @86CulpGrad, but he may have a point. Dinwiddie, lost some talented players in the defensive front 7 and as we saw last year not being able to stop the Louisa running game in the playoffs proved to be the Generals undoing.

Big backs/qb's (Ramsey, Bell, Johnson (LT), Sam Rogers, and Cheatham) who can pound it are always our nemesis. Our defense is based on speed and stretching plays out. EV, Thomas Dale, and Hopewell had good speed backs and did very little on the ground.

EV had a lot of success on us in the air, but even with the loss of Williams who transferred to Dale I look for the Generals secondary to be very good.

The top 4 teams in Region B lost skill players to graduation. I look for each team to be just fine, but just as I said about last years Louisa and Monacans teams experience at qb matters. Both EV and Dinwiddie return their starter and based on prior post Lowry and Pope are working hard in the offseason.

Louisa shut us all up last year, so it will be interesting to see if they can keep moving forward. EV, just might get over the hump. Should be another great season. Hut, hut....

 

[tommythecpa]

Danville made some real good points. Here are some more from what I've seen the last few years. Sherando is a consistently good program and so is the Danville NFL pipeline team. When you get to playoffs over a long season coaching, type of play, depth, injuries all play a role.
Salem 2014 rolled through regular season but lost a defensive lineman late in season and had several key injuries and that played a role in championship even though they probably would not have beat Lake Taylor anyway but might have been better game..
2015 Another injury plagued year but coaching and execution make the difference in playoffs.
2016 Coaching execution and very few turnovers
2017 The trend continues as Salem was much better at end of year than during scrimmages and early play. Many people on here rated Salem as top 10 or 12 team but they were only team that beat Louisa. I think Danville was extremely good last year but Salem made them pass against their experienced defensive backs and they were out of it before they had a chance to breathe.

Salem's pass defense really was good. LB play was good too. They changed the looks up pretty good.

 

[tommythecpa]

IF Salem falls before the state title I believe that it will be to...
1. Glass
2. Sherando
3. GW Danville
In that order.
The East will be nasty. EV, Louisa, Dinwiddie, Monacan, LT, Lafayette, King’s Fork, Deep Creek, Heritage, heck even Powhatan can make some noise.
If Salem 4-peats then I’d put money on them to possibly 5 and 6 peat. That’s crazy to think of but they will be young and have the next man up mentality.

Deep Creek used to be a really tough place to play. Looks like Powhatan has had some problems in 4a.

 

[86CulpGrad]

Curious as to why you feel Dinwiddie is too high?

I think they will be good....just not as good as last year. He has them ranked higher than where they finished last year. I think the loss of a couple of those players will be very hard to replace.

 

[DanvilleSportsHead]

I think they will be good....just not as good as last year. He has them ranked higher than where they finished last year. I think the loss of a couple of those players will be very hard to replace.

Dinwiddie and Salem are two programs that has the next man up mentality. When they went into Salem Stadium and beat the 3 time defending state champs without the best LB of the class of 2018 (Pope), it showed. Williams is a huge loss in my eyes but they have a program that plugs athletes in. East is loaded down. West has the opportunity to send a new horse to the finish line..Will be tough to beat the champs but it will be a lot easier than it has the past 5 years. Sherando has the easiest path to the finals, especially if they go undefeated and play the state semi's at Arrowhead. Only Salem and Sherando has represented the West (and North) in the state finals.

 

[86CulpGrad]

Danny, I can't answer for @86CulpGrad, but he may have a point. Dinwiddie, lost some talented players in the defensive front 7 and as we saw last year not being able to stop the Louisa running game in the playoffs proved to be the Generals undoing.

Big backs/qb's (Ramsey, Bell, Johnson (LT), Sam Rogers, and Cheatham) who can pound it are always our nemesis. Our defense is based on speed and stretching plays out. EV, Thomas Dale, and Hopewell had good speed backs and did very little on the ground.

EV had a lot of success on us in the air, but even with the loss of Williams who transferred to Dale I look for the Generals secondary to be very good.

The top 4 teams in Region B lost skill players to graduation. I look for each team to be just fine, but just as I said about last years Louisa and Monacans teams experience at qb matters. Both EV and Dinwiddie return their starter and based on prior post Lowry and Pope are working hard in the offseason.

Louisa shut us all up last year, so it will be interesting to see if they can keep moving forward. EV, just might get over the hump. Should be another great season. Hut, hut....

That's pretty much it. I thought Dinwiddie would win it all last year but I was wrong there too. Nothing really more than a hunch...just don't get the feeling they will be quite as good this year. Still very good though.

 

[Shabutie]

IF Salem falls before the state title I believe that it will be to...
1. Glass
2. Sherando
3. GW Danville
In that order.
The East will be nasty. EV, Louisa, Dinwiddie, Monacan, LT, Lafayette, King’s Fork, Deep Creek, Heritage, heck even Powhatan can make some noise.
If Salem 4-peats then I’d put money on them to possibly 5 and 6 peat. That’s crazy to think of but they will be young and have the next man up mentality.

Unless some players step up beyond what is expected the next two years could be weaker than the years that follow (Some of the best young talent I have seen at Salem in middle school ages) The rising junior class they have just has so few players compared to the norm.