RICHLANDS BACK ON TRACK
Thanks goes to Andrea Horn who reproduced this article for the UNOFFICIAL BLUE TORNADO FOOTBALL HOMEPAGE!!!
Following is a reprint of an article by MIKE CONNOLLY
in the Bristol Herald Courier on Sept. 26, 2003
RICHLANDS: In 90 minutes, the Richlands football players and coaches decided
they had to turn the season around.
Trudging off the bus following a 12-10 loss to rival Tazewell on Sept. 5,
Head Coach Greg Mance said his 0-2 team was “dead.” A four turnover,
penalty-filled loss in which Richlands generated just 177 yards of total
offense had left his team devastated.
“We went to Tazewell and stunk it up,” he said. “I didn’t do a good job
calling plays. We didn’t play well. From the coaches to the players, we
didn’t get he job done.”
After the game, Mance said the team sat in the locker room for an hour and
a half and vowed to fight their way back into the race for the Southwest
District title.
“We challenged our kids,” said Mance. “We told the kids that if we win
out, we can still win the district, but we can’t afford another loss.”
The Blue Tornado rolled back on the practice field the next Monday with a
new attitude and a new offense. To get the ball in the hands of running
back Cain Ringstaff more often, Mance switched the offense to an
I-formation. That switch also simplified the blocking assignments for a
young offensive line that had struggled in the first two games.
Against Grundy, Richlands tore though the Golden Wave for 218 yards rushing
and a 13-7 upset win. The win was no fluke, however. Last week Richlands
smashed previously undefeated Abingdon 37-14.
Mance said the new scheme also took some of the pressure off quarterback
Timmy Brown. By establishing a running game, Brown didn’t have to try to
win the game himself with his passing.
“The first couple games, they knew what we were going to do,” said Brown,
who has 323 yards passing and three touchdowns in the last two games. “I
wasn’t really getting time back there. Now that the line has stepped up and
the running game is opening things up, they aren’t concentrating as much on
the pass.”
Junior wide receiver Travis Tatum has been the biggest benefactor of
Brown’s increased time in the pocket. Last week against Abingdon, he set a
new school record with 198 yards receiving.
“He sees the whole field,” Tatum said about Brown. “When he looks short to
long, he can always find the open man. He just has a feel for where
everybody is.”
Tonight, Richlands faces its most important test of the season when running
back Ahmad Bradshaw and the Graham G-Men roll into town. Graham has also
overcome a slow start to even its record at 2-2.
“He just keeps getting stronger and faster,” Mance said about Bradshaw.
“We’ll try to contain him but I don’t know if we can stop him. He is going
to get his yards but we can’t let him get the big plays.”
Two weeks after that loss to Tazewell, Richlands certainly isn’t dead
anymore. The Blue Tornado is once again blowing up a storm in the
Southwest.
“It’s a credit to our football players,” Mance said. “There is no quit in
them. We take a lot of pride in that.”
