Early season matchup between 2 of the top teams in region D. Graham has been riddled with injuries. Could this be when somebody snaps their 33 game win streak?
Graham bs Union.
- Thread starter Real Sasquatch
- Start date
The injury bug has hit Graham hard early on this season. We will see if that next man up mentality can kick into overdrive to snatch the win. The Bears will be tough and the GMen will need their best game to win this one! Union traditionally has played Graham better at Mitchell than at BSG. Union seems to be rolling in spite of the loss to Science Hill. They held their own until the 4th Q, SH’s depth just caught up to the Bears. Hopefully, it’s a really good game coming down to the wire with the GMen winning and an injury free game for both teams! Safe travels for the Union folks heading to Bluefield!
Not sure if Graham was missing some lineman but Union owned the trenches. Good game by both teams although the G-men seemed to run out of steam in the red zone which is uncharacteristic for them. Likely rematch coming late in the playoffs. Good luck to both down the stretch.
I think Graham's youth on the line showed tonight. Hats off to Union for a great game. Hoping Graham learns a lot from this experience, gets everybody healthy for the long run and gets another shot at a very good Union team. Union has all of the pieces to be a serious contender for a title this year
All summer long the arrogant Graham fans on this board have been bragging about how good Graham is. Their line was going to be better than last year. Now after Union pushed them around the Graham line is "young". Just take the L and don't make excuses.
They are talking about 33 straight regular season wins not playoffs.
All the Graham fans on this board and the SWVA board haven’t shown any arrogance IMO. Most of them even stated that Union had a good chance and beating them. They’ve also mentioned how they’re not as strong in the trenches as years past. I feel like they have every right being proud of what their team has accomplished as they have been the new face of the west since 2021, dethroning Appomattox.
The Graham fans on swvasports.com are overwhelmingl humble. They are proud of what their team has done, but very objective. Probably half of them were predicting Graham to lose last night. That's about as humble or objective as you can get. For Graham's line, their fans said this years line would be deeper and it is very deep. They said by the end of the year, they could be as good. Union has a great team and I picked them to beat Graham in the pickem. Graham is injured. Riddled with injuries including a first team all state D1 RB. I wouldn't pick against Graham if the two play again, even if it's at Big Stone Gap.
It may not seem like it right after the loss, but so does Graham.
Well one thing is for certain. Whether it's Union or Graham they won't be playing Poquoson because they aren't good enough to get there. Choke on that d***.
About 1/3 of the game before he got hurt again. But that's football. Next man up.
To be fair Graham had some very mediocre years. 1-9 in 2010.
https://wordsmith.org/words/today.html
For “anyone” possessing a somewhat limited vocabulary. Not calling anyone out in particular , lol!
For “anyone” possessing a somewhat limited vocabulary. Not calling anyone out in particular , lol!
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He played with a lot of pain. He wasn't ready. He should be by the end of the season.
No, he wasn’t! I wouldn’t have risked further injury by using him when he was probably 30% ready. Hopefully, they let him heal. I know he wants to be out there but he needs to heal up.
Union had 274 total yds to Grahams 256. Graham had 2 turnovers. Union deserved to win. Assuming we're healthy and considering Union had no turnovers and we are injured bad, we have a shot at Union if we play again. Union outplayed us on the LOS, but they didn't dominate the LOS. There's a difference in outplaying and domination.
BigWinners, Bristol Herald usually has them. Maybe the Graham guy got them from the Bluefield Daily. I just watched this on NFHS. Unon is really good. Graham is really good. High level of football played. I think Radford has a chance against Appo, Glenvar, Union, and Graham this year, but I think Union and Graham might be the best 2 in the West.
BDT said Chandler with 138 rushing and Anderson with 102 yards.
More impressed with the fundamentals for Union, blocking, tackling and lineplay in general was better then what Graham showed.
Good chance of that. Both are quality teams. I read on another board Graham had as many as 5 guys that were either hurt, didn't play in the game due to injuries, or played in the game with injuries and all of them starters. If that's true, that's not a bad showing for Graham for it to be that close of a game.
It is in fact accurate regarding injuries. Im
Just hoping the team can get healthy. Hughes is out for the season. He’s missed greatly not only for his abilities as a player but as a leader on the field. Hopefully, he can still be picked up to play college ball somewhere. I feel like when Graham had the ball at the goal those two times, Hughes could have barreled through and scored. He’s like a locomotive that keeps churning.
True, Graham had at least 3 playing hurt and a couple more out with injuries and another that is out for the rest of the season with injury. Not to make excuses though, I think Union was the more physical and the more aggressive team and was better at executing the fundamentals of blocking and tackling. Would it have been closer without those injuries? No doubt. However, Graham can't expect to play a physical team like Union and come out with a win, if they play lazy football, trying to tackle high, getting pushed around on the line of scrimmage because they won't get low enough, missing assignments on defense, taking plays off, etc... I sure hope this was a wake up call for this team, they are better then what they showed against Union. On a side note, when Clements is 100%, it will make a big difference in the offensive output for Graham. He was clearly hampered against Union and couldn't plant and cut and didn't have that break away speed. Jennings has played hurt all season with a hamstring and a shoulder injury. Jamel Floyd is coming off of an ankle sprain (I believe - or some other lower leg injury). Offensive lineman Carter Lloyd is slated to return after week 8 and D - Lineman "Duke" Williams was out - not sure of his injury. Hughes is out for the season and is perhaps the biggest loss for Graham, his absence is felt quite a bit on defense. His replacement, Gabe Lilly is a sophomore and is coming along, but Hughes is just one of those players that you can't replace.
All that being said, it won't matter for Graham, if they can't block and tackle against a team like Union. They were getting to the ball quickly and were making textbook tackles and hitting hard and winning the Line of Scrimmage. All of the talent in the world will not beat a disciplined football team and that was the difference last friday night.