Riverheads should simply be the #1 ranked team
- Thread starter uvacavs1
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I may make the trip down to see this Auburn game tonight. I spoke to a friend that is a PM fan and he is thinking it's gonna be a huge dose of Nelson tonight.
You kinda' prove my thought. In a 16 team playoff format, the bottom 4-6 teams are usually pretty bad. Riverheads won 1-2 games v. the bottom half but then lost against the better 2A teams, once the wheat was sorted from the chaff so to speak. Nothing against Riverheads as a program, they are a very good in the smaller division. But they have yet to prove that they would be a Top 10 2A type program.
I get what you are saying.. They are not the powerhouse in 2A that they are in 1A. 2A they are a competitive team, 1A they are a powerhouse.
I get WHAT you are saying but with all due respect, name 10'teams that have a better playoff record in 2A over that timeframe. I respect your opinion but I just see the statistics over that period differently.
Lost to Gretna by 14 at home while being the number 1 seed, lost to Wilson by 1 at their place after a controversial regular season game gave them home field (only two losses that year), Lost to Giles by 21 at Giles in the coldest damn game I have ever witnessed personally, and lost to King William by 1 at our house while being 1 seed. You are correct that we beat the lower seeded teams and never could win against the top tier teams. Well except the year we beat Goochland by 4 for the honor of traveling to Giles.
Look I get that no one is bashing RHS but to dismiss what those teams done is laughable. With the exception of Gretna, Goochland, Giles, and Essex not many can pump their chest out but so much in 2A. We were moderately successful in my opinion. And I will say that with the exception of the teams listed above, most teams in 2A would take that record including the playoffs over that timeframe.
Good luck to whichever team you pull for. I hope this years Gladiator team has what it takes to hoist the trophy in Salem as there are a number of teams that have enough talent to get it done.
Lost to Gretna by 14 at home while being the number 1 seed, lost to Wilson by 1 at their place after a controversial regular season game gave them home field (only two losses that year), Lost to Giles by 21 at Giles in the coldest damn game I have ever witnessed personally, and lost to King William by 1 at our house while being 1 seed. You are correct that we beat the lower seeded teams and never could win against the top tier teams. Well except the year we beat Goochland by 4 for the honor of traveling to Giles.
Look I get that no one is bashing RHS but to dismiss what those teams done is laughable. With the exception of Gretna, Goochland, Giles, and Essex not many can pump their chest out but so much in 2A. We were moderately successful in my opinion. And I will say that with the exception of the teams listed above, most teams in 2A would take that record including the playoffs over that timeframe.
Good luck to whichever team you pull for. I hope this years Gladiator team has what it takes to hoist the trophy in Salem as there are a number of teams that have enough talent to get it done.
I had not had the chance to respond yet, but I agree with RPN that Riverheads has more than held its own in the 2-A playoffs.
Just to add a few comments to what he said........
It was an honor just to play Gretna, considering where they were at the time as a program, yet we were competitive in that one. And if I am not mistaken, that may have been our very first year competing at the 2-A level, if they even called it that back then.
The win over Goochland was probably one of our all-time great victories. They too were considered a powerhouse at the time and we stunned them with two late TDs and a couple of great defensive plays down the stretch.
The 21-point win by Giles was a little deceptive because our starting QB was hurt that day. I would like to think we would have given them a better game if he had been healthy. Would we have won? Perhaps not, because Giles was title-bound that year, but it would have been a better game with him in there. (Coldest game you say........I can still remember at least four other playoff games over the years that still make my teeth chatter just to think about them. But then I guess I am older than you are. Then you have days like we were blessed with last year, both at GW and against Galax in Salem.)
The truly disheartening loss in our 2-A days was the one-point home loss to King William. We had made a nice comeback from two scores down and our place-kicker had not missed one all season up to that point. But someway, somehow he missed that one. Those are the breaks.
Overall I find the gap between 1-A teams and 2-A teams to be narrowing anyway. Our two districts here in the Valley used to be a night and day difference in strength, but for the past several years, the Shenandoah (a mixture of 1-A and 2-A teams) has just plain been better than the Valley (which has one 2-A, several 3-A teams, and even one 4-A team that will soon be 5-A.)
So no, Riverheads was never a "powerhouse" at the 2-A level and if we are elevated there next year, we may not be then either. But we have been a force to reckon with and anybody that played us knew they had been in a game.
Just to add a few comments to what he said........
It was an honor just to play Gretna, considering where they were at the time as a program, yet we were competitive in that one. And if I am not mistaken, that may have been our very first year competing at the 2-A level, if they even called it that back then.
The win over Goochland was probably one of our all-time great victories. They too were considered a powerhouse at the time and we stunned them with two late TDs and a couple of great defensive plays down the stretch.
The 21-point win by Giles was a little deceptive because our starting QB was hurt that day. I would like to think we would have given them a better game if he had been healthy. Would we have won? Perhaps not, because Giles was title-bound that year, but it would have been a better game with him in there. (Coldest game you say........I can still remember at least four other playoff games over the years that still make my teeth chatter just to think about them. But then I guess I am older than you are. Then you have days like we were blessed with last year, both at GW and against Galax in Salem.)
The truly disheartening loss in our 2-A days was the one-point home loss to King William. We had made a nice comeback from two scores down and our place-kicker had not missed one all season up to that point. But someway, somehow he missed that one. Those are the breaks.
Overall I find the gap between 1-A teams and 2-A teams to be narrowing anyway. Our two districts here in the Valley used to be a night and day difference in strength, but for the past several years, the Shenandoah (a mixture of 1-A and 2-A teams) has just plain been better than the Valley (which has one 2-A, several 3-A teams, and even one 4-A team that will soon be 5-A.)
So no, Riverheads was never a "powerhouse" at the 2-A level and if we are elevated there next year, we may not be then either. But we have been a force to reckon with and anybody that played us knew they had been in a game.
Fellas, I'm not sure anyone is saying Riverheads didn't hold their own in 2A, just that they weren't the same juggernaut in 2A that they are in the current 1A setup. I wish they were and think they should be, in 2A still, but it doesn't sound like they will be for the next several years based on the new alignment plan, right?
For years the Valley was better than the Shenandoah imo, but the past few years have definitely seen a shift.
For years the Valley was better than the Shenandoah imo, but the past few years have definitely seen a shift.
It's really simple... the depth of 1A is where the difference is.
The first two rounds of the playoffs in 1A are glorified scrimmages
In 2A the first round might have a couple mis matches but round 2 is usually very competitive.
I'd say the top four in 1A could play night in and night out with any four in 2A.
The first two rounds of the playoffs in 1A are glorified scrimmages
In 2A the first round might have a couple mis matches but round 2 is usually very competitive.
I'd say the top four in 1A could play night in and night out with any four in 2A.