Sep. 2—BLUEFIELD, Va. — The postponed Bluefield-Graham game, which was originally supposed to kick off the 2021 fall season on August 28, has been officially rescheduled to be played on October 8.
While this is good news for all parties involved, a more immediate football challenge is facing the G-Men.
The Graham football season finally gets under on Friday night when the G-Men play Tazewell in a Southwest District clash at Mitchell Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The Bulldogs (0-1) opened with a 37-14 loss to Virginia High at Gene Malcolm Stadium in Bristol, Va. The G-Men were sidelined entirely for a week as part of a school-wide shutdown of all athletic activities as of Aug. 24 due to coronavirus protocols at Graham High School.
“We started practice [on Tuesday] and today will be our second day of practice. We’ll get to do a walk-through tomorrow, then we’ll get to play on Friday,” said G-Men head coach Tony Palmer, whose players were allowed to engage in conditioning individually during the hiatus but could not otherwise participate in any group activities or drills.
During the VHSL spring season back in March, Graham held off Tazewell 20-19 in one of the most mutually-competitive games between the two programs in recent years. The Bulldogs’ recent lopsided loss to the talented Bearcats may appear to strip some of the gloss from the upcoming rematch with the G-Men. Some statistics from that game, however, indicate that the Bulldogs — while young — still boast a great deal of offensive potential.
Tazewell quarterback Carter Creasy completed 26-of-38 pass attempts for 307 yards and two touchdowns, including a 20-yard scoring reception by Chase Noel and a 31-yard TD catch by Jared Mullins. Cassius Harris led Bulldogs receivers with nine catches for 148 yards.
“Virginia High has a very good football team. A few catastrophic plays happened to us that put us behind and put us behind the eight-ball right off the bat and we had to become a little one-dimensional on offense. We moved the ball … we just couldn’t put it in the end zone,” said Tazewell head football coach J’me Harris.
The Bulldogs, who were reconfiguring after losing 12 seniors from this past spring, lost veteran skill performer Mike Jones in the Chilhowie scrimmage. Jones will miss his entire senior season due to another torn ACL. Some consolation for that tough loss is the confirmation of what Creasy brings to the Bulldogs offense in the long run.
“We had confidence in him going into that game. The way he played just showed that our belief [is justified] and the ball is in good hands with him. He gives us the versatility to push the ball down the field and gives us a threat in the passing game, which we haven’t really had around here in a couple of years,” Harris said.
Historically speaking, Graham remains the favorite in this rivals series. But Palmer believes Tazewell enjoys a significant tactical advantage headed into this one.
“At least they’ve had the opportunity to play … we haven’t played. Yesterday marked only the third time in probably three week’s we got to practice. So we’re cramming for the test right now. Hopefully our conditioning holds up,” said Palmer, who has yet to announce his starting quarterback for the game.
“We want them to have to guess a little bit. Everyone will know Friday,” quipped Palmer, who figures that rapid adaptation in the face of new variables has simply become the norm for high school football in the present era.
“It’s a situation where we’ve got to prepare regardless of the circumstances. You don’t know what’s going to happen and things are out of your control. You’ve just got to be ready when your number’s called,” Palmer said.
Harris observed that the G-Men coaches and players became adept at surfing the chaos during the spring season. He certainly doesn’t expect to encounter Graham in anything approaching panic mode. They’re made of pretty stern stuff.
“As well-coached as they are, I expect them to be totally prepared and ready to go on Friday,” Harris said.