Lost Rivalries

[CRF4Dan]

I had to go out to LC Bird to take care of some Touchdown Club of Richmond business.

I never tire of going to Skyhawk country but I had one of those flashback moments to the first time I went out there, a playoff game years ago against Varina. That led me down a rabbit hole. For all the good that has come from the Realignment of 2013 in terms of state titles for the region, we lost that rivalry.

From 1995 to 2017 Varina & LC Bird met 10 times and the Skyhawks won 6 of those meetings. All in the playoffs. But since 2017 the two have not met again and with Bird in Class 6 and Varina in Class 4, it does not seem likely anytime soon.

Other rivalries I thought about that we have lost over the years, particularly in the Central Region.

From 1994 to 2010 Huguenot & Highland Springs met 15 times. Springers had the edge 11-5 and the series went by the wayside as the Springers ascended to a state championship caliber program and the Falcons went the other direction until recently.

From 1998 to 2014 Monacan & Mills Godwin met 18 times splitting the series at 9 games each.

From 2003 to 2012 Deep Run & Hanover met 10 times with the Hawks holding a 6-4 edge. Early on in the infancy of the programs, this was one of the few games you counted on for a win.

So whether it is the Central Region or across the state, what rivalry do you miss?

 

[EPJr1947]

The old Capital District in hoops
Everybody had a great team and every night was special.
Every team had at least one super star.
TJ vs Maggie Walker filled the Colesium with over 12,000.

The old Capital District in Football was great because everybody had a good team.
Armstrong @ JFK
Armstrong vs Walker @ City Stadium (30,000)
Wythe @ Huguenot
Walker vs JM @ City Stadium (10,000)
JM vs TJ @ City Stadium
TJ vs Walker @ Parker Field

 

[Centralregion804fan]

I had to go out to LC Bird to take care of some Touchdown Club of Richmond business.

I never tire of going to Skyhawk country but I had one of those flashback moments to the first time I went out there, a playoff game years ago against Varina. That led me down a rabbit hole. For all the good that has come from the Realignment of 2013 in terms of state titles for the region, we lost that rivalry.

From 1995 to 2017 Varina & LC Bird met 10 times and the Skyhawks won 6 of those meetings. All in the playoffs. But since 2017 the two have not met again and with Bird in Class 6 and Varina in Class 4, it does not seem likely anytime soon.

Other rivalries I thought about that we have lost over the years, particularly in the Central Region.

From 1994 to 2010 Huguenot & Highland Springs met 15 times. Springers had the edge 11-5 and the series went by the wayside as the Springers ascended to a state championship caliber program and the Falcons went the other direction until recently.

From 1998 to 2014 Monacan & Mills Godwin met 18 times splitting the series at 9 games each.

From 2003 to 2012 Deep Run & Hanover met 10 times with the Hawks holding a 6-4 edge. Early on in the infancy of the programs, this was one of the few games you counted on for a win.

So whether it is the Central Region or across the state, what rivalry do you miss?

Meadowbrook vs LC Bird

 

[CrushBlock]

Can’t think of any we lost on the west side of va the top of my head. Salem has still had to play ec glass and Amherst in the playoffs. Would like to see Salem v heritage but that’s not a true rivalry, but that matchup only happened once in 2012. Would just be cool to see consistently.

 

[EPJr1947]

Meadowbrook vs LC Bird

Bird vs Dale used to have so many folks it usually take 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot after the game.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

I’m going way back, 60’s, but Petersburg and Colonial Heights was pretty big for those communities. Petersburg and Hopewell was big for decades. Still is, really.

Closer to home for me, and more recent, Dinwiddie vs Lake Taylor was mighty big.

Dinwiddie vs Matoaca is a pretty heated rivalry. Not a lot of love loss between these two communities. As intense as the games are, the players on both teams genuinely get along well. Most know each other personally, and have been playing with and against each other in recreation league sports all their lives. Us fans don’t share the same level of love, I can tell you.

 

[Centralregion804fan]

Bird vs Dale used to have so many folks it usually take 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot after the game.

They still play yearly, usually early in the season, but sadly it’s lost its luster from what it once was. Dale has a great fan base but Bird’s has tremendously diminished in the last 5 6 years or so. They pretty much can never fill their stadium anymore.

 

[Virginia HS Football Fan]

I don’t think we’ve lost that many fortunately due to district sizes, the fact that not everyone is mandated to play all their teams in their district (with the exception of some), and the fact that district sizes are typically flexible enough to where you can still schedule a rival if they are an out of district game.

I’m not familiar with the 757 and their rivalries, but maybe some of those have been lost due to that area typically having districts with a large amount of schools? I don’t know. Just thinking out loud.

For the current and ex-Battlefield teams, I can say that not much has been terribly lost since the defection of Louisa County and Orange County a couple of decades ago. Despite being a short drive away and with similar fan bases, Louisa County and Spotsylvania never materialized into a massive rivalry.

Schools have lost some rivalries in the area temporally (James Monroe when they were a Class A school for a short time and Courtland when they were AAA for a little bit in the 80s). But they have long since continued to play rivals.

I know that before I was born, Stafford and James Monroe was massive. And yes, they play on and off again here and there, but that might be the one in this area that has been lost when you look at things across the board.

 

[Hales Bottom]

The old Southwest District when Gate City was great and was in the SWD. Graham vs Gate City. Also, when Blacksburg was in its hey days, Graham vs Blacksburg.

 

[WP02alum]

I don’t think we’ve lost that many fortunately due to district sizes, the fact that not everyone is mandated to play all their teams in their district (with the exception of some), and the fact that district sizes are typically flexible enough to where you can still schedule a rival if they are an out of district game.

I’m not familiar with the 757 and their rivalries, but maybe some of those have been lost due to that area typically having districts with a large amount of schools? I don’t know. Just thinking out loud.

For the current and ex-Battlefield teams, I can say that not much has been terribly lost since the defection of Louisa County and Orange County a couple of decades ago. Despite being a short drive away and with similar fan bases, Louisa County and Spotsylvania never materialized into a massive rivalry.

Schools have lost some rivalries in the area temporally (James Monroe when they were a Class A school for a short time and Courtland when they were AAA for a little bit in the 80s). But they have long since continued to play rivals.

I know that before I was born, Stafford and James Monroe was massive. And yes, they play on and off again here and there, but that might be the one in this area that has been lost when you look at things across the board.

Maybe Stafford will start playing JM again in the “Battle of the Bridge”. JM had dropped off pretty far & the points didn't make sense for SHS. There were also a couple years recently where the game was an afterthought and the social media jawing beforehand resulted in at least one forfeit out of concern about potential violence at the game.

 

[edwinanderson2nd]

Varina vs Dale was a pretty good north vs south rivalry. I remember those games being very competitive up until 2015

 

[G-Men2012]

Salem/Pulaski was really really good....seemed to fade to non-existent the further Pulaski got from the Hicks era....conversely, if the fall of Salem holds, it may be back on, just on the lower end of things

 

[CrushBlock]

Wo wo wo the fall of Salem?? like 2002?

We coming back strong baby!!!



I got owned by Pulaski in 2012. 5-5 Pulaski almost knocked off 10-0 Salem first round of playoffs because of poor o line play on Salems(my) part.

*cougar screams*

 

[Hales Bottom]

T

Wo wo wo the fall of Salem?? like 2002?

We coming back strong baby!!!



I got owned by Pulaski in 2012. 5-5 Pulaski almost knocked off 10-0 Salem first round of playoffs because of poor o line play on Salems(my) part.

*cougar screams*

They haven't been the same since Hicks left. The first 26 or 27 years of PC football really good. The last 25, not in the same league from what they were.

 

[CrushBlock]

They gave us a stomping in 2008, 2010

maybe they weren’t peak form, but Pulaski/ Salem feelings were still there.

 

[SFUWO 21]

T

They haven't been the same since Hicks left. The first 26 or 27 years of PC football really good. The last 25, not in the same league from what they were.

Might be because Pulaski's enrollment has dropped. They use to be DIV 6 AAA. Now they are C3

 

[Virginia HS Football Fan]

Might be because Pulaski's enrollment has dropped. They use to be DIV 6 AAA. Now they are C3

Imagine how much more their enrollment would drop if there weren’t two universities and a community college being major employers in the immediate area.

 

[G-Men2012]

Wo wo wo the fall of Salem?? like 2002?

We coming back strong baby!!!



I got owned by Pulaski in 2012. 5-5 Pulaski almost knocked off 10-0 Salem first round of playoffs because of poor o line play on Salems(my) part.

*cougar screams*

 

[G-Men2012]

Judging by the thickness of Salem's line in that video, I can only assume that's in the pre-Holter era

 

[mikesalem]

Judging by the thickness of Salem's line in that video, I can only assume that's in the pre-Holter era

Yes, 2012

 

[CrushBlock]

Judging by the thickness of Salem's line in that video, I can only assume that's in the pre-Holter era

You can’t ask for 6’0 + and 240+ across the board every year in Salem. The 2 three-hundred pounders on the right side are a scarce commodity. Only went 12-1 so forgotten about team anyway, if it weren’t for me bringing them up.

Not sure how much holter can affect the god given altitude and thickness of his players.