Danville 34 Halifax County 16

[Mic Honcho]

I think Coach Anderson has been to the playoffs every year he has been at GW hasn’t he been to the 3rd round Twice second round several times
And last year in the abbreviated season was in the Regional final vs Salem and winningest coach in school history how does that stack up
In Region 4D with those coaches

 

[mikesalem]

Fair enough Did GW have more Students when Pugh and Martin were there as compared to Anderson

GW had more students back in the Pugh/Martin eras, but also were in C6 or C5.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

Also when comparing Both coach Johnson and Coach Anderson prior to their present Positions
Coach Johnson was DC on two State Championship teams at MV and Coach Anderson was OC at Greenville Rose when they won the State and Head Coach at Kinston when they lost to Reidsville on the last play of the game in the State Championship both have great resumes

My apologies. I thought Johnson was offensive coordinator & Fielder was the DC. Maybe I have it backwards. I do know that Johnson was credited in playing a big part of those championship teams. He was a heck of a QB when he played for Bassett in the mid 2000s. I knew about Nick at Kinston. They actually lost to one of my good friends and West Stokes about 10 miles outside of Winston Salem in the mountains back in 2011. He came to Danville in 2013.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

GW had more students back in the Pugh/Martin eras, but also were in C6 or C5.

GW used to play one of the hardest schedules in the state. It was nothing for Pulaski and Danville to play opponents in NoVA, Tidewater, North Carolina and Richmond. Very long bus rides to play good teams.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

Fair enough Did GW have more Students when Pugh and Martin were there as compared to Anderson

GW was D6 until 2007. They went D5 in 2007 and stayed until the 2012 season. 2013 they dropped to Double A ball. At one time, GW had as many students as Franklin County.

 

[mikesalem]

They both did. In fact, Favero asked Harvey Taylor did he want to go for 2 against Salem. They went for it and won. Fact is, MV hasn’t been a contender since Johnson left.

Harvey Taylor was harder to catch than a greased pig!

 

[SFUWO 21]

Halifax did not play Bluestone.

Let me clear it up a little. I was talking about one of the teams Halifax beat (Parkview South) only win was against Bluestone. I know Halifax did not play them

 

[SFUWO 21]

Park View South Hill*

Yes Halifax beat PV. PV's only win was against Bluestone. Who I think anyone would beat.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

Harvey Taylor was harder to catch than a greased pig!

I grew up with Harvey. Those 2010 and 2011 Magna Vista teams that beat Salem were loaded and were better than the 2014 and 2015 teams that won state. The best player during that time, Brenden Motley, ended the Warriors season both years. Those Christiansburg teams were loaded with Snell and Motley. It’s still crazy to me that they almost beat that loaded Briar Woods team in 2011.

 

[SFUWO 21]

I grew up with Harvey. Those 2010 and 2011 Magna Vista teams that beat Salem were loaded and were better than the 2014 and 2015 teams that won state. The best player during that time, Brenden Motley, ended the Warriors season both years. Those Christiansburg teams were loaded with Snell and Motley. It’s still crazy to me that they almost beat that loaded Briar Woods team in 2011.

They should have won that game.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

They should have won that game.

Me, Harvey, Marty Bishop and Motley were all in the same grade. Our sophomore year in 2009, Christiansburg sent Salem home and they went to Amherst with basically all sophomores in the snow and almost beat the 2x defending state champs.

 

[SFUWO 21]

Me, Harvey, Marty Bishop and Motley were all in the same grade. Our sophomore year in 2009, Christiansburg sent Salem home and they went to Amherst with basically all sophomores in the snow and almost beat the 2x defending state champs.

Marty is on LT's coaching staff

 

[Mic Honcho]

I went back and looked at the stats from the GW vs HC game I’m encouraged after I looked at the Them GW definitely did not play well
But on Offense they had over 400 yards on Defense they held HC to 7 points and 177 total yards and no first downs in the second half Jeb
Byrnes passed for over 300 against an undefeated team so if the Eagles can get things
Cleaned up they could be ok

 

[SFUWO 21]

I went back and looked at the stats from the GW vs HC game I’m encouraged after I looked at the Them GW definitely did not play well
But on Offense they had over 400 yards on Defense they held HC to 7 points and 177 total yards and no first downs in the second half Jeb
Byrnes passed for over 300 against an undefeated team so if the Eagles can get things
Cleaned up they could be ok

Your putting too much into HC record. Yes they will be ok if they clean some things up. Region 4 D has several good teams this yr. The region champ will have to beat at least 2 quality teams.
Louisa Co, EC Glass, Salem and GW should be the top 4 teams. I listed these in no particular order.

 

[rawacopaea]

Actually, It was other way around when Kinston played Reidsville. Kinston won on the Hail Mary and I believe it was in the eastern finals and not the state championship.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

Actually, It was other way around when Kinston played Reidsville. Kinston won on the Hail Mary and I believe it was in the eastern finals and not the state championship.

Yep you’re correct. Kinston and Reidsville was in the East and West Stokes came out of the West.

 

[rawacopaea]

I have to add that those 3 Bassett shutouts came against some offensive juggernauts.

If this game shapes up to be anything like these threads have become it will be a great game. I can't wait!

 

[BoKnowsSports]

I have to add that those 3 Bassett shutouts came against some offensive juggernauts.

If this game shapes up to be anything like these threads have become it will be a great game. I can't wait!

Yeah I think Bassett has a good team but those 3 teams they shut out are atrocious. Horrible. Terrible. God awful. Amongst the worst in the state.

 

[1MoreHokie]

Shutouts are never a bad thing but they're a poor indicator of a defense in a blowout. If those games were 9-0, 17-0, 6-0 scores or something where it's clear everyone's first string was in all the game and the game was basically in question until the very end I think that is much more indicative of the quality of the defense in question. Teams getting down big early usually results in a change of gameplan and people rotate starters (on both sides usually) and I think people reach too much when it comes to the goose egg. I remember in 2015 specifically Salem would get up big early and play second-string for most if not all the second half to get those kids valuable experience and they gave up points and people used that to question how they'd stop the 50+ ppg offenses of JF and Lake Taylor and we all saw how that went. Salem's D that year posted a whole one shutout but they completely stonewalled the two best offenses in the state when things mattered.

GW will come into the game averaging about 42 ppg on offense with lows of 32 and 34 against Glass and Halifax respectively. If Bassett's D can come in and drop that number lower or significantly lower then that will give you much more of an idea about the quality of their D than some blowouts against teams like Patrick County.

 

[Mic Honcho]

you were right Kinston beat Reidsville and lost to West Stokes in the State Championship
When coach Anderson was there

 

[tommythecpa]

GW had was 1700-1900 students under Pugh
Martin 1700-1575 ish
Anderson 1300-1350
Wins Pugh 147 19 y
Martin 111 14 y
Anderson 76 9y

 

[Mic Honcho]

Good info

 

[rawacopaea]

Alright tommythecpa! Thanks for info. Can we assume by your handle you are a numbers man? If so I hope you appreciate the following.

I know GW played different opponents in the different eras but statistical relevance not withstanding, it could be argued that Anderson is the better coach. He's won 8.4 games per year while Pugh and Martin won 7.7 and 7.9 per year respectively. Coach Pugh was the coach of the state championship team and really built the program. Had he lived he no doubt would have set records that no one would break.

One thing I glean from this is that GW has figured one thing out through the years. I'm sure they'd love to have more than one state championship but it looks like understand that stability produces consistency.

 

[tommythecpa]

GW has won at least 4 games a year since Pugh started in 1964. Pugh upgraded all aspects of football in Danville from equipment, weight training to jr highs and pee wee ball. Took several years and some said he was too tough lol.
Pugh and Martin were great coaches who could coach multiple offenses and defenses.
Anderson is a great coach who can coach multiple offenses and defenses. He is the right coach at the right time for Danville.

 

[SFUWO 21]

Alright tommythecpa! Thanks for info. Can we assume by your handle you are a numbers man? If so I hope you appreciate the following.

I know GW played different opponents in the different eras but statistical relevance not withstanding, it could be argued that Anderson is the better coach. He's won 8.4 games per year while Pugh and Martin won 7.7 and 7.9 per year respectively. Coach Pugh was the coach of the state championship team and really built the program. Had he lived he no doubt would have set records that no one would break.

One thing I glean from this is that GW has figured one thing out through the years. I'm sure they'd love to have more than one state championship but it looks like understand that stability produces consistency.

You can't compare the wins a coach has in different era's to try and determine who's better. Are the teams GW playing now better overall than the teams they played in yrs past?

 

[tommythecpa]

All three were the right coach at the right time. Pugh built the modern GW program. He built community support and got a lot of private financial support from the business community.
Danville was lucky to get Eddie Martin after Joel Hicks backed out. Coach Martin got every ounce of the resources he had.
Danville was lucky to get Nick Anderson after the central office bungled Bobby Martin's contract. Coach Anderson has modernized the program with limited resources.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

People talk about coaching but the mindset in the city has changed big time. You’d be hard pressed to find any kids whose parents were Dan River Mill workers during these days. GW once had a blue collar mentality with lots of pride. These kids are nothing like how we were coming up in Danville and I’m not that much older than these kids. Last year I remember a member on here talking about the junk the kids post on Facebook and I concur. Just plain terrible. GW has had over 20 fights in the building in this short year and Danville Public Schools is top 3 worst in the state. My point is, GW will never be the GW of old. You’ll be lucky to get 500 people in the stands on Fridays, consistently. Nick Anderson has done a good job considering. GW is standing on its last leg and Anderson should get a lot of credit.

 

[Chuck Vipperman (GW)]

Winningest coaches in GW History. Anderson is third.

http://gwfootball.com/archive.htm

 

[rawacopaea]

Correct CV but he's also been at GW 5 years less than coach Martin was who is second.

As Bo pointed out, Anderson has dealt with a school in major transition and kept the program playing at a high level. From what I understand the kids there love him. To me that is a sign that he is the right man for the job. If players like a coach they will play hard.

I agree with whoever said you can't compare coaches records across eras. I tried to express that in an earlier post but failed to make that point clear. The teams Pugh and Martin coached not only had different kids they played different opponents. My point was that Anderson has averaged more wins per year than anyone.

One final note comparing GW coaches. Reidsville coach Jimmy Teague will be a hall of fame coach in NC once he retires. He deserves it but he only lasted 2 years at GW and finished 1 game above .500. He had his reasons but the way he left GW rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

This GW team came into the season with a lot of question marks and faced some major adversity early when they lost the QB for a time. They rallied repeatedly against a very good Glass team and almost pulled out a win. That game showed this team has some character and it is a reflection of the head coach and his staff. Not being cocky when I say this but if I was to bet, I'd say Glass would rather not see the Eagles in the playoffs.

After the Glass game GW went to SC and took on a team that has been a traditional powerhouse and pretty much dominated. As the season has evolved we now know NF is only .500 but don't discount the fact that a lot of eyebrows were raised when people saw them on the schedule and many more took notice with the result. Most teams look to schedule as many cupcakes as possible out of district. GW didn't. Dinwiddie (yet to come), Nation Ford, Amherst, Glass are all solid programs. Someone there understands that to be battle tested they need to play tough teams outside the Piedmont district. It's the only way they will ever be prepared for the Salem's of the world.

Bassett is good. GW respects them and will be prepared. The Bengals better hope the Eagles make some mistakes. It's their best chance of coming away with a win.

 

[tommythecpa]

Nick's players are very respectful on the sideline compared to the early mid 70's and I was one of the 70s bunch.

 

[tommythecpa]

Teague is a good guy. He respected the the traditions of the program. His 2011 GW team shocked Massaponax 42-26 up there in the playoffs.

 

[cutnjump]

Nick Anderson has done a good job despite a Danville Public School System that is a mess. That is a significantly different challenge than his predecessors faced. On the other hand his predecessors(Pugh, Martin) faced a vastly superior level of competition than Anderson has faced and had vastly superior talent to what has come through GW in recent times. Hard to compare across eras and account for demographic changes, however, GW prior to 2000 had a lot of kids at upper tier collegiate programs and in the NFL. Since 2000 those numbers have drastically declined with a few exceptions, the most notable being David Wilson.

 

[BoKnowsSports]

Nick Anderson has done a good job despite a Danville Public School System that is a mess. That is a significantly different challenge than his predecessors faced. On the other hand his predecessors(Pugh, Martin) faced a vastly superior level of competition than Anderson has faced and had vastly superior talent to what has come through GW in recent times. Hard to compare across eras and account for demographic changes, however, GW prior to 2000 had a lot of kids at upper tier collegiate programs and in the NFL. Since 2000 those numbers have drastically declined with a few exceptions, the most notable being David Wilson.

The whole athletic program. Just 8 years ago, GW’s girls basketball team was the #1 team in the state in 4A and they’d be top 10 yearly in Triple A. My cousin Ravin Yancey would bring Duke, UConn and Tennessee to the gym back in the early 2000s to watch those girls teams play. I think I heard that they’ve won 10 games since 2015. The baseball program was a contender year in and year out, now they’re one of the worst programs in the state. It was good to see boys basketball get over the hump and win the state championship in 2019 but the talent level is way down. No more Charles Stephens or Bobby Wimbushs or Johnny Newmans or Vic Colemans in those hallways anymore. These kids don’t know and could really careless about the work those guys put in to be great. Excellent post by you.