Sep. 16—BLUEFIELD, Va. — The Union Bears were the last football team Graham saw during the VHSL’s 2021 spring football season. Needless to say, the G-Men have been looking forward to see them again.
The non-district rivalry between Graham and Union resumes tonight when the G-Men (2-0) take on the Bears (2-0) at Mitchell Stadium tonight. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The playoff meeting this past spring ended with Union winning 30-24 on the last play of the game. The winning touchdown was a 59-yard scoring scramble by Johnny Satterfield — who was then a sophomore.
Satterfield rushed for 84 yards in that game. Zavier Lomax, who was then a junior, rushed for 143 yards and two scores. Malachi Jenkins is a senior now and a playmaker on both sides of the football.
After having exchanged films, Graham head coach Tony Palmer sees a Union squad that is literally a great deal like the one they last encountered.
“It’s pretty much the same team we played last spring with the exception of the linebackers. One of them is different. But it’s pretty much the same team. They’re pretty much like we are in terms of what they lost,” Palmer said.
“They’re a very well-coached football team. They’re going to play hard. They do what they do and it works successfully for them. We’re looking forward to playing them,” he said.
Thus far, Union has beaten Lee High 56-8 and taken down J.I. Burton 50-20.
Area football fans who are weary of all the recent COVID-related game cancellations ought to be looking forward to seeing this one. There are no crowd restrictions in place and Mitchell Stadium’s sprawling confines leaves plenty of room for social distancing.
After the disappointing postponement of the Beaver-Graham opener, the G-Men opened with a 34-6 win over Tazewell. Last week Graham defeated Richlands 35-0. The scores appear similar, Palmer’s assessment of the execution within those respective games is worlds apart.
“We’re making improvements. I think we’ll continue to get better as we move along, if we can stay healthy. The small things, we’ve done a little better and hopefully that’ll carry over to this game,” Palmer said.
In the last meeting between the the two teams, Zach Blevins led the G-Men defense while also playing a support role on offense. This fall Blevins has been taking the snaps at quarterback for Graham while retaining his defensive leadership. That’s a lot of responsibility, and he appears to be handling it well.
“He’s been a good player for us for three years now. So nothing he does surprises us. We know what he’s capable of doing,” Palmer said.
Most everyone knows what Xayvion Turner-Bradshaw is capable of doing if he gets a glimpse of daylight in the open field. He scored three touchdowns against Richlands, his longest play being an explosive 68-yard scoring run.
It’s no secret that the Bears are going to do their utmost to contain that lightning.
“He’s a good player … they have to account for him. Game planning going in, you’re going to try to stop their best player. That’s going to happen a lot,” Palmer acknowledged.
The sudden two-week mass shutdown of Mercer County’s high school athletics is just across the state line from Graham’s school district, but Palmer believes its best for the G-Men to simply stick to their knitting and not get distracted by worrying about what’s happening in neighboring West Virginia right now. The 2020 fall athletic seasons in Virginia and West Virginia took very different paths. There’s no reason to believe they can’t diverge in 2021 — and there’s nothing Palmer can do about it at any rate.
“[West Virginia] was playing last year during the fall when we were sitting. They went on and we plan on doing the same even if they can’t play … God willing,” Palmer said.