(HS) Football games - Strangest atmosphere(s)?

[SWVA-Football]

I had a tough time getting the thread title just right and I realize that it's not really all that clear, so I'll tell you what this thread is about:

What do you think are some of the strangest/most magnificent atmospheric high school football games that you've personally attended?

If you can, please give the names of the teams, the year, and where the game was played..

Here is my list:
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1997 - Appalachia @ Powell Valley [Season game]
This is the most exciting high school football game I've ever seen in my life. I was only about 7 or 8 years old at the time but I remember it was pretty cold outside and it seems like there was even a slight drizzle (but I may be wrong.)

I remember the amount of effort on both sides was just phenomenal and I'd never seen anything like it. There were so many people there yelling and cheering both teams on, it felt like I'd landed in another world. It's hard to believe that such an exciting night could unfold at a place like Bullitt Park.

That was back when Appalachia and Powell Valley were absolutely unstoppable. Both of them won the state championship that year, and you could tell by watching them that it was like putting two monsters in a cage only to watch them shred one another to pieces.

Though Powell Valley held out and won the game, both teams were winners that evening.

It wasn't just a high school football game - it was a historical event and perhaps one of the greatest football games ever played in the state of Virginia.


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2002 - J.I. Burton @ Appalachia [Playoff game]
It was freezing in Appalachia and the 'Dawgs' had come into the playoffs after a very successful season. However, there was a very big problem for this game: Poor field conditions.

If I remember correctly, it had been raining for a few days and the field was soaking wet. Add a football game to a wet, muddy field and what do you get? A mud-bath.

Because of the field conditions, neither team could execute all that well. It was strange watching Appalachia struggle so badly against a team that they'd beaten (29-18) earlier that year, but what made it even stranger was listening to the announcers struggling to identify players due to their mud-covered jerseys. The numbers were literally covered in mud and you couldn't tell who was who - sometimes it was even tough telling what team you were looking at.

The game certainly wasn't just a freak show, either. Both teams tried very hard and it actually went into overtime, making matters that much worse. Would such a strong Appalachia team with such players as Josh Mabe, Stephen Grimes, and even Jeremy Price fall to the Raiders in one of their best seasons in many years??

In the end, Appalachia squeezed out with a 6-14 overtime win.

The low score shows just how close this game was and helps to exemplify just how much bad field conditions can affect a football team.
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2006 - Coeburn @ Powell Valley [Season game]
This one isn't notable because it was a nail-biter (anything but, actually), but because it was played on such an "empty," unenthusiastic and eerie evening.

It was on a Saturday due to bad weather conditions rain/snow(?) the day before and I had just arrived from the Clintwood/Burton game which was played earlier that day.

When I got there, the first thing I noticed was just how damned windy it was. I kid you not - leaves were flying everywhere, signs along the fences were flying off and all over the track, trash cans were turning over and rolling all over the place, and overall it just made it that much harder to comprehend what was going on.

The game started and Powell Valley just started annihilating from the first few plays of the game until the end. Coeburn didn't seem like the same team for some odd reason .. granted, they weren't having a good season in the first place, but something still just didn't seem right.

Everything was odd about the game - the crowds on both sides were mostly quiet and pretty empty when compared to your average Friday night football game. The wind continued to blow and the trees over in the park were almost leaf-less. The cold air sent chills down my spine and reinforced the atmosphere.

We left at half-time and Powell Valley's score was up in the 30s or 40s while Coeburn still had 0.

Not only was it one of the most one-sided football games I've ever seen, but it was also one of the strangest games I've ever been to. It didn't even feel like a football game.. it was like I was living a dream, or even nightmare.

I hope I never have to watch football on a day like that ever again. It was frighteningly sickening.



Well, that's all for now. I don't feel like typing anything else, but I do have a few more games I can mention if anyone wants me to.

I look forward to your input and I hope that some of you have experienced other football games in which the atmosphere was magnificent or just downright strange.

[SunTzu]

For the life of me I can't remember who the opponent was ( maybe Lunenburg ) or the year ( maybe late 80's ) and it was either a playoff or state game at Bullitt Park . Even though my memory fails me the thing that made it memorable was the pre-game .

It was a beautiful fall night at the park and about 10 minutes before the kickoff the whump , whump , whump sound grew louder and louder until off in the distance a helicopter came into view . The chopper from the 101st Airborne Division out of Ft. Campbell Ky. flew in low over the treetops and hovered over the 50 yd. line blowing leaves , trash and tons of debris from the rotor wash . The gunship tossed out rope lines and soldiers repelled down to the ground and delivered the gameball . It was very cool and surreal .

Hopefully some of the older PV alum w/ better memory than me can identify the game .

[sup-rbeast]

That was the night PV played Coeburn in 1986...and yeah that was a slightly surreal experience...PV's first meeting vs. Lee High was a sight to behold as well....I've never see that many people in the Park before or since.

[SWVA-Football]

Thanks for the input guys!

Wow, that helicopter entrance sounds awesome!! Too bad they don't do stuff like that anymore.

When I was a senior a guy on one of those flying go-cart things with the parachute's, flew over our field and dropped the game ball down to the ref. It's not as cool as the helicopter thing, but it's different. They haven't done it again since that game, prolly cause GC kicked the [censored] out of us the time they did do it. LoL

[Ironlung]

Back in 97 or 98 (I think) at Clintwood they had parachutists land on the field and deliver the game ball against PV.

[UTVols2]

I was at the 1997 Appy vs PV game and I have to say that was one of the best atmospheres I have seen at any high school football game. I was standing in the end zone about 5 or 6 rows back

[imported_MoonlightGraham]

Best one I ever played in was at Big Stone by junior year during the regular season, it was the year after we finally beat them. Ton of people there, we showed up 10 minutes before kick off (taking a page from Tom Turner's playbook).
They beat us 14-6 I believe.

[StateChamps92]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: UTVols2</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was at the 1997 Appy vs PV game and I have to say that was one of the best atmospheres I have seen at any high school football game. I was standing in the end zone about 5 or 6 rows back </div></div>
Me and my dad went to that game. It was great, except for the ending, LOL. My dad was an old Dawg and almost came to blows with a PV heckler. It was something else.
The night of the 92 LPD championship game (PV @ Appy) was a very exciting. We were the early season pick for the LPD and state. PV was second, but after we got spanked by GC late in the season all the local papers picked PV to win the game. PV also sent a wreath of black roses to the Dawghouse. After the final whistle and us getting the 16-7 victory, we returned to the Dawghouse and Gary Harris threw the roses at the PV players feet as they went to their locker room. Truely a classic LPD game from our districts history.

[Seventy4]

As an old Raider, I must say that three games stand out in my mind. I was on the field for each of them, but the atmosphere around the game was unbelievable.

1990 Playoff game vs. Pocohontas @ Lawson-Fitchko
First playoff game, Lawson-Fitchko was packed and the endzones were checkerboarded. There was a buzz about the game that I hadn't seen before. The stadium was rocking and everything was buzzing.

1990 Half-State game vs. Perry McClure @ Lawson-Fitchko
Before the game, we watch the opening scene from Patton, the words "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" still ring in my ears 17 years later, wow I am old. Okay...we go out on the field, there are more people in the stands than there are in Norton, they have brought back people from the time of leather helmets to come and talk to us about the game...the game was just a complete blur. It was a fight until the end.

The last one is what the Coalfield called a "Little Black Magic"
1991 vs. Powell Valley @ Bullit Park
First time that Burton beat Powell Valley in a long time. You could just feel the energy coming off the field. I think only a handful of us knew we were getting the black jerseys after we did warmups. We went out in our usual Orange & White for warmups, then came back into the locker room and they were spread out around the locker room. We put them on and went out with more energy than we had combined in the last two seasons.

So those are my three...they are a little biased, I will mention that the year we went to Appy in 1991 that they had the best atmosphere I have ever had to play against, hands down.