All-Region D Teams (football)

**Slobber Knocker** · December 18th, 2011, 09:54 PM

Of course I am biased being related to A.K. but can you really go wrong with either one?? Or even Gavin Meade for that matter..played with a broken leg and bad knee..Im sure the kids from Norton and Central would argue that..haha but seriously I do not think you could go wrong picking either.

**UnIoNfAn** · December 19th, 2011, 10:58 AM

Im proud to see that a lineman got POY! To me that is awesome! Like mentioned earlier, the line usually gets overlooked. They are the true work horses of the game. No credit given but all credit deserved. On the other hand, Graham did break records left and right including Thomas Jones' single game rushing record (I know it was broken earlier by a few kids out on the coast but Graham is the first in SWVA to break it). If Graham had a better line in front of him then maybe he would have won this award. If there is any consolation awards then IMO Graham deserves them. All in all, i dont think they made the wrong choice giving this award to Kelly, this kid is a manchild monster among boys

**red66** · December 19th, 2011, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by UnIoNfAn

If Graham had a better line in front of him then maybe he would have won this award. If there is any consolation awards then IMO Graham deserves them.

What? A kid runs for 2300 yards and you say that he needed a better line in front of him to win the award? What more could he have realistically done? Every team that played Lee knew that Graham was going to get the ball 90% of the time and he still managed to have the most yardage and (I believe) most touchdowns in SWVA/"Region D" through NINE games. IMO even though the linemen are very important to an offense how can you single only one lineman out and give him player of the year for the entire region over the other lineman on the team. That is why I don't believe linemen should win awards like this. One lineman couldn't open up all the holes for a back just like a running back couldn't gain yards without ALL of his linemen. While the kid from Clintwood is a very good lineman and like you say a man among boys, I still feel the award should have went to Graham.

**Gotch** · December 19th, 2011, 12:35 PM

I'm already on record as saying I thought Graham should have won POY. But really he did have some decent blocking. Christian Robbins is very good and Davis was solid too. It's not like he was running behind small untalented blockers. He actually did get decent blocking.

**UnIoNfAn** · December 19th, 2011, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by red66

What? A kid runs for 2300 yards and you say that he needed a better line in front of him to win the award? What more could he have realistically done? Every team that played Lee knew that Graham was going to get the ball 90% of the time and he still managed to have the most yardage and (I believe) most touchdowns in SWVA/"Region D" through NINE games. IMO even though the linemen are very important to an offense how can you single only one lineman out and give him player of the year for the entire region over the other lineman on the team. That is why I don't believe linemen should win awards like this. One lineman couldn't open up all the holes for a back just like a running back couldn't gain yards without ALL of his linemen. While the kid from Clintwood is a very good lineman and like you say a man among boys, I still feel the award should have went to Graham.

I agree 100% with the fact that everyone knew that 90% of the time Graham was getting the ball and he still put up huge numbers that no other back could have done. 2300 yards is one amazing accomplishment. Imagine what Graham could have done behind Clintwood's line! I would feel safe in saying that he would have reached 4000 yards. So many time Graham got caught up in the backfeild and still broke a big run, so if Lee's line were better he would have put up even higher numbers! Im a former lineman and thats why im proud that a lineman finally got this award. Kelly was the workhorse that Clintwood ran behind to beat 3 undefeated teams and win the state championship. IMO thats the reason Kelly won instead of Graham. Arguments can be made for both kids getting this award but the deciding factor for me is Clintwood's sucsess mainly behind Austin Kelly's lead blocks. Clintwood's back put up huge numbers too (not as much as graham) and he done it with the majority of his runs coming right off Kelly's butt cheek. To me thats why Kelly got this award and not Graham. Had Lee High won more games than they did due to Graham's running then he would have won POY. Clintwood's sucsess rested on their O line punishing defenses all across the state and Kelly was the leader of those punishers. I hate the fact that Lee wasnt as sucsessful as they could have been. IMO Graham is the best back in SWVA and one of the best players but due to lack of supporting cast Lee High wasnt sucsessful even with the best back in the area and that is what hurt Graham's odds of winning POY

**beamer_ball** · December 19th, 2011, 04:18 PM

But the job done by Graham and Lee's offense in most cases would have certainly been good enough to make for a very successful season. The performances on the offensive side were plenty good enough, Lee's issues were on the defensive side.

**UnIoNfAn** · December 19th, 2011, 04:30 PM

That is a very true statement beamer_ball. Lee's O did perform very well and it was the D's fault more times than not for Lee's loosing efforts. With that being said though, Clintwood's sucess laid more times than not on key blocks made by Kelly which is why Kelly won the honor of POY. I have to agree that in cases like this its a tough call to make but looking at it from a point of view on game winning plays Kelly led the way for Clintwood's backs more times than not. I can honestly say that in the Union/Clintwood game we all know that Union was up 20 to 7 at the half and in the second half Clintwood came out and ran right off Kelly's hip play after play and ended up winning that game due to his blocking ability. Another factor in the decision making IMO was the fact that Clintwood's offense went up against three undefeated teams in the post season and won, a big part due to Kelly's blocking ability and leadership of the O line. Not trying to beat a dead horse or nothing but Kelly is probably in the top linemen of all time in SWVA. Granted that Graham is also one of the best backs of all time in SWVA and probably numbers wise one of the tops in the state. If the shoe were on the other foot and Graham did win POY would anyone try to make a case for Austin Kelly or would he be another unknown lineman?

**beamer_ball** · December 19th, 2011, 05:52 PM

Like Clintwood's a good deal of Lee's success in rushing came off the left side right behind Robbins also.

**Slobber Knocker** · December 19th, 2011, 08:04 PM

A.K. also was starting defensive tackle and made all-district...not a bad double duty player but for the life of me..since everyone else got a "cookie," wonder why A.K did not get at least 2nd team region? Oh well.