Raiders played a complete game. Good luck in Salem next week.
Hats off to the Appomattox Raiders
- Thread starter BCKnights
- Start date
They were great today. Extremely well coached, schemes three wide open TDs today and held Lester in check. Graham didn't convert their chances whereas Appomattox did.
Hey brother I'd rather have the chance to play in Salem than have that axe...but that axe do look good in the case lol! Good luck to yall. Well deserved.
While at Appomattox-Graham game, I was thinking: 16 years ago, Gretna was playing Graham in state semi finals.
Wow how time flies. And since that time Ahmad Bradshaw of Graham has collected 2 Super Bowl wins. Gretna went on to win the state that year plus four more. Quite the feat for a team not long removed from setting state record for consecutive losses. Wasnt it 44 ? How does any team lose that many in a row?
And that 44 has been surpassed several times since Gretna's losing streak ended
Yep and did they not have a 38 game winning streak? You need players. Good coaching. Support from school administration. I mean involved support from admin. And financial and other support from community. And throw in a dash of luck. The rest will take care of itself, LOL.
All that you mentioned really started halfway through 2015. I know Coach Smith didnt get the support he needed early in his coaching career at Appomattox. Winning in 2015 really helped wake "some people up" that needed it.
Heck....Coach Smith wasnt even the first choice for the coaching job. The other guy turned it down and Smith got it. THAT was what @High School Sportz2 means by DIVINE INTERVENTION. I was there to see the struggling years of parents bickering about practice being too long, Smith offense is trash, why he got them kids in weight room all year, and the list goes on!
I know @OldSchoolRaider knows all about it...huh big guy?
Well, another thing I always like to add is the great youth sports program the county has. The volunteers there need to be given credit for the success the football program is enjoying now.
Well said most people have no idea how much time the youth league coaches spend helping the next generation of athletes that grace the high school playing fields.
Hats off and a huge Thank you to all that do it. Most, simply for the love of the kids and the game.
Youth league is the tone setter for your high school program. That doesn't mean they always win but the fundamentals and approach taught there are the habits and mentality that is carried on to the next level for the JV and Varsity coaches to pull from. Kudos to Appomattox for doing it the right way.
I know of one school about 8 or 9 years ago, that basically promoted the entire youth league coaching staff to the high school team. Team was loaded with talent, yet never really won anything, but some regular season games. This team never came close to state championship, despite having probably more talent than any team in state.
With a little luck in 05-06, 09-10, Gretna could have won 9 straight state championships.
With a little luck in 05-06, 09-10, Gretna could have won 9 straight state championships.
I hear ya HR6 but to me that's an argument of ability to coach against others at that next level. Some HS coaches could coach college and college coaches could coach NFL but how many can successfully make the transition? I think pointing out the youth program and the affects of having a solid program in no way undermines the work and ability it takes to run a successful high school program. I will say again that especially at the lower classification levels, if your youth program is not working in concert with the high school coaches in some manner, then you will see sporadic results. In the last decade numbers are declining rapidly at the youth level so it puts even more of an emphasis on sound fundamental teaching along with inclusion so the player engagement is there. Specialization is killing some communities involvement due to unreal expectations placed on these young athletes to commit to one sport and ride it out. That's just craziness in this day and age. Any school under 1000 students that propagates that mindset is shooting themselves in the foot. My.02 anyway.