VA Preps Preseason top 10

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

Records are how teams finished last season.

1 George Wythe 12-2

2 Galax 11-4

3 Riverheads 13-1

4 Essex 11-2

5 Sussex 8-3

6 Honaker 8-4

7 Altavista 5-7

8 J.I. Burton 11-2

9 Lunenburg 9-4

10 Patrick Henry 8-3

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

Do you agree with this?

 

[zonecoach]

Honaker and Burton will only be a shell of itself. They have lost two much and at small schools you eventually run out. Hurley needs to be on the list somewhere I would say around 7. Bland could also be listed

 

[honestjohn60]

Do you agree with this?[/QU

Do you agree with this?

Definitely not

 

[GKKING]

one of Burtons best lineman transferred

 

[GKKING]

wadsworth(district defensive player of year) moved to Tennessee, Hurley had a good transfer qb come in from twin valley-sykes

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

Hurley should be on the top 10 no doubt and as said above I could see Bland make it on. And for anyone questioning GW at 1 we really do have that much returning.

 

[Bgboy38]

Altavista # 7 Does someone know something that I don't know. Are they going to be good this year?

 

[Delantie]

Altavista gotta a lot of speed and change in qb

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

What's the line play and depth look like?

 

[Chilwar25]

VA Preps has George Wythe at Number 1 in the preseason poll. I think that is a good call. GW has a lot
Of talent returning from a 11-2 squad last year. No argument here as to who should be the favorite
To win the A1 title.

 

[Chilwar25]

George Wythe should win the Hogo with little trouble. PH with be a good team with that very good RB, but just
Will not have the horses to keep up with GW. RR will again be tough, even though they lost a lot and have a new
Head Coach. Marion will be improved with a lot of skill players returning, but their line will be inexperienced.
Northwood lost a lot off of last year's team, and Chilhowie is still rebuilding after seasons of 1-9 and 2-8. To
Say the natives are restless in Chilhowie is a understatement. Holston may surprise some folks and win some
Close games. That is my Hogo preview.

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

The Warriors have a lot of youth do they not Chilwar? And I know from experience having Joey Russell as coach is a huge bonus for a young kid.

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

That last bit might seem random but he will help the kids a ton.

 

[Chilwar25]

Hey Blaster, looks like another banner year for GW. Best of luck with your Maroons this year,
And the same goes for Bland and BCBACKER. I don't know what to expect from the Warriors
This year. They should have a good senior class and an excellent sophomore class. The sophomores
Were undefeated as Middle Schoolers and beat All the district schools, and Abingdon and Gate City.
Folkes down here are not used to losing to much, and these back to back 1-9 & 2-8 seasons are
Hard to shallow for us old guys. We are blessed with good Coaches, and Robinson and the Russells
Are an asset to to our program. We need to get the old Pride back in the huddle and in the halls.
Once that occurs, Chilhowie will be tough to handle. Maybe this is the year it starts.
May God Bless all our Coaches and Student Athletes in SWVA and keep them safe from injury.

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

Chilwar nice to talk to you again my friend. And we definitely have everything we need to be a good bit better this season. This is one of the most exciting GW teams I've ever seen. The kids just need to show up and we will be at least a final 4 team again. And if anyone has been paying attention they'll know the Warriors are storied program. I've been paying attention lol and know what type of talent you guys have and the potential in those young players. This season holds a lot of good for us as fans. Good luck to the Warriors this season and everyone else playing.

 

[Delantie]

What's the line play and depth look like?

It's a mix of young and old players some has been there from last year and some came from jv

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

Fair enough I've never seen them play but if they are anything like a few years ago things are going to get interesting.

 

[Chilwar25]

Blaster, how do you see the Hogo shaking out, other then GW being at the top. I really like that
Patrick Henry team. That RB ( Humprery) is the real deal. And what do you see RR and Marion
Having this year?

 

[BCBbacker]

Chilwar we've had some very rough seasons here in bland so if you need someone who can relate just holler me. Best of luck and maybe one day we'll see bland and chilhowie play (don't recall if that has ever happened).

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

Yeah PH has the potential to do a lot of good this season. Humphrey is a monster and if PH can put enough around him to keep threatening teams honest I can see them making a run. They can beat everyone in the HOGOHEEGEE including my beloved MAROONS. IF! they can keep us out of the box and backfield. As for RR they are always a threat if they get the turnout they need. Coach B is helping the D now that's a dangerous thing lol. My shake is...
1.GW 10-0 or 9-1
2.PH 8-2 or 9-1 schedule is perfect for them
3.RR 7-3 maybe 6-4
4.Chilhowie 5-5 or 6-4
And then the rest of the HOGO will be a toss up with maybe Holston winning a few more games than expected.

 

[Chilwar25]

MaxPreps has George Wythe's partial roster with these lineman sizes listed:
6-3 270, 6-4 280, 6-1 276, 6-0 220, 6-5 240, 5-9 230, 6-5 250, & 6-2 265.
WOW ! There is a lot of beef on that squad my friends!

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

The ones not listed are in that size range. We are going to be huge on both sides of the ball. And on D we should have an amazing LB core we got a kid back this year Landon Thompson and he is a monster. He will probably only play D at middle LB. And like always GW will have the subs to rest kids.

 

[Chilwar25]

I just don't see anyone in the district matching up with GW, or anyone on their schedule
For that matter. I think a team like Galax will have to use technique in the line to execute
Their offense. In other words, it will be coaching that determines if a team can say with
GW through 3 quarters and put themselves in a position to pull it out in the 4th quarter.
Galax, Radford, Honaker, and PH will have their hands full with GW. Just dog gone good
football in SWVA my friends!

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

The easiest way for me to sum up this year's GW team. We are bigger, faster, deeper and much more experienced. I think the game with Galax will be a war they are the best coached team in 1A well let me add RH to that #1 coaching spot. Radford lost a lot and will be very young at spots and not even close to our size. Honaker worries me a bit they have tons of potential and are very well coached and they to will be a lot more experienced. And the only thing GW will have to deal with in PH is that monster running the ball that kid can change a game on his own but it helps that he plays both ways that 4th Q sneaks up quick when depth is an issue.

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

And yes we as fans have a lot to be excited about this season SWVA is going to be hard to handle we have a few title contenders.

 

[Arnsparger]

The easiest way for me to sum up this year's GW team. We are bigger, faster, deeper and much more experienced. I think the game with Galax will be a war they are the best coached team in 1A well let me add RH to that #1 coaching spot. Radford lost a lot and will be very young at spots and not even close to our size. Honaker worries me a bit they have tons of potential and are very well coached and they to will be a lot more experienced. And the only thing GW will have to deal with in PH is that monster running the ball that kid can change a game on his own but it helps that he plays both ways that 4th Q sneaks up quick when depth is an issue.

I agree....That size wears on you after a couple of quarters. Depth at the single A level is a huge advantage. GW is loaded but they do have to replace a few starters on D. By the time they see PH and Humphrey, their D should be seasoned.

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

Very well said and yes we have to replace a few on D but we have the replacements waiting. We should be hard to deal with this season.

 

[mmqp]

Okay time to shake the dust off and get reacquainted with the board.

Lacrosse season is all but over, my Bayhawks choked in the last two games (big shock!). And Navy made a surprising mini-run during the NCAA playoffs. And hey hey, Robinson beat the tar out of James River to win their third straight 6A title. Lacrosse is great, watch it and you'll never have a desire to watch yawnball (baseball..) again.

Anyway.. top 4 will be Riverheads, Essex, GW, and Galax. No particular order but I think Riverheads will win the state in my humble opinion.

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

Mmqp glad to have you back man. And a fair assessment as always.

 

[mmqp]

I'm glad to be back as well my friend. Looking forward to some good ol small school football!

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

Indeed I can't wait to see those lights lol.

 

[riversportsfan]

I am wondering how good Sussex might be this season. I am pretty sure they returned most of their players from last years' team. Also don't forget about Essex just yet...they have a lot of experience going deep in the playoffs, and they returned a lot of skilled players. With their new dual threat at QB, they could give some teams a fit.

 

[valleyes]

I know Riverheads always has a good system and are tough. Did the Diehl kid graduate for them in the backfield? Who do they have coming back running the ball?

Would also like to know who Galax will line up at QB?

Thanks for any info.

 

[Essex Trojan1]

Sussex should be in the mix. Like riversportsfan said, they are returning most of their team. I personally think Essex and Sussex have been ranked to low in this poll. Top 5 yes, but not 4 & 5. Time will tell. As for Essex, teams better have on their track shoes. We took a hit along the line but still have some beef with a 6'3" 378lbs (Sr.), a 6'3" 267lbs. (So.) who was a starter as a (Fr.) last year and another (So.)6'0" 392lbs. that can move for his size. More size is there. Just have not been to a practice yet to see who's filling in. WR core will be solid. The D still will be solid. QB (So.) 6'2" 245ish. Gonna miss Martin, Monroe, Nelson and those hogs we had but I think we reloaded nicely. This summer a few of the starters have hit up camps such as JMU, VA Tech and Florida St. to better their game. Looking forward to seeing the improvements.

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

Galax will probably have Orton as the QB to start the season. I could be very wrong with that prediction but it would be my guess he is 6'3 200.

 

[longtimerhsfan]

I won't drop any names since in any given football season you can never tell who might have decided not to come out for the team or who might have transferred in or out, but in the case of Riverheads, Coach Casto always seems to come up with a whole stable full of running backs, since the ground game is RHS' specialty. So I doubt if this year will be any different for them. And who knows, they might even THROW the ball once in a while! Another interesting question will be the place kicking game.Tristan Robson was outstanding the last two years but graduated, so will we have someone else ready to step into those kicking shoes???

One thing is for sure........The annual Jamboree is coming up on August 20th, and Appomattox is among the invited guests. So assuming that the Gladiators will scrimmage them that day, we should learn a LOT about both teams from that experience.

 

[Essex Trojan1]

Longtimerhsfan....What time is the Jamboree on the 20th?

 

[valleyes]

I figured as much with Riverheafs, just didn't know if there was another big name con bg up in the ranks. The Diehl kid could roll.

G Master, I thought Orton graduated. He has been around for a while. Am I wrong?

 

[G MASTER BLASTER W]

He is listed as a Sr. this season but he very well may have. If he did then I'm not sure but coach Dixon will have an answer.