We are 2 day's away from the Region D football finals and nobodys talking about it. We have 2 games with the number 1 and number 2 seeds in both. These are 2 huge games here, and the gate city fans are all ready complaning on the Clinch Mountain District forum about the seating for the visitors at Uva. Wise. Here's a write up from a paper i found on their site. By the way Kingsport has all seven panelist picking Burton in a sweep and 4 picked Gate City with 3 picking Powell Valley.


By Allen Godsey
November 21, 2007

GATE CITY, Va. ? Gate City (8-3) and Powell Valley (8-3) will play Saturday afternoon at the UVA College at Wise for the Division 2 Region D Football championship. The game will take place 90 minutes after the conclusion of the Clintwood and J. I. Burton game, which begins at 12:30 .

"We are one of eight schools left in the State of Virginia in our Division, we know our opponent and they know us,"? said Gate City coach Nick Colobro. "We've got to stop their spread offense. Also, we've got to do a lot better job against their defense than we have before.

"We'll stay with what we've been doing for the most part, maybe a wrinkle or two. Healthwise, we've got a few nicks. We are about as healthy as you could expect for this time of the year."?

Gate City should not have any trouble "getting up"? for this game. None of the Gate City team members have ever played in a victory over Powell Valley . The Vikings have defeated Gate City six straight times. The last Gate City win came in 2003. Powell Valley Defeated Gate City 38-14 on Oct. 19 in a regular-season game.

Leading the Gate City offense is senior Tailback Tyler Parks and junior quarterback Tihlee Anderson. Parks has gained 1,380 yards rushing and scored 20-touchdowns. Anderson has accounted for 17 touchdowns -- 11 on the ground and 6 through the air.

Anderson 's targets are tight end Eric Hutchins, end Jesse Broadwater, flanker Logan Byrd, and running back Dustin Jones. Senior running back Peyton Jenkins has come on strong. Jenkins gained 111 yards in the Devils' 31-22 victory over Lebanon. Jenkins had a 63-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that put Gate City ahead to stay.

Gate City has averaged 295 yards a game on offense while giving up 233 yards. The Blue Devils have scored 292 points this season and allowed 179 points.

Powell Valley is led by senior quarterback Cedrick Mitchell. The Viking signal caller has passed for 1250 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Mitchell is also a special teams threat. He returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown in a 33-28 Powell Valley win over Honaker last Saturday at a crucial time.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same,"? said Powell Valley coach Phil Robbins, "We are not in the same district with Gate City any more but low and behold we are right back playing for the region championship."?

Quarterback Mitchell's primary receivers are Delmas Lawson, who has 33 catches and four touchdowns; Terrell Turner, who has 32 receptions and three scores; and Andrew Meador, who has four touchdown receptions.

Brothers Myron and Malcolm Pinkston are the leading rushers for the Vikings. Myron has run the ball for 962 yards and scored 10 touchdowns.

The gates to the UVA-WISE Complex will open at 10:30 Saturday morning. The admission price for both games is $7.

Gate City 's probable starting line-up:

OFFENSE:
LG 65 Brad Brown 232 Sr
LT 63 Ryan Pope 167 Sr
C 50 Seth Musick 208 Sr
RG 53 Aaron Stokes 265 So
RT 77 Ty Frazier 269 Jr
TE 43 Eric Hutchins 192 Jr
E 21 Jesse Broadwater 157 Sr
QB 12 Tihlee Anderson 152 Sr
HB 4 Peyton Jenkins 166 Sr
TB 20 Tyler Parks 176 Sr
FB 8 Dustin Jones 165 Jr
PK 10 Ked Byrd 143 Jr

DEFENSE:
E 52 Tyler Tiller 193 Jr
E 55 AJ Johnson 224 Jr
T 62 Josh Powers 223 Sr
T 58 Owen Franklin 157 Jr
LB 20 Tyler Parks 176 Sr
LB 71 Jason Begley 210 Jr
LB 15 Dustin Clark 165 Fr
CB 8 Dustin Jones 165 Jr
CB 10 Ked Byrd 143 Jr
S 24 Trey Clark 164 So
S 43 Eric Hutchins 192 Jr
P 8 Dustin Jones 165 Jr