G-Men got transfer losses to crosstown rival Bluefield. Lost at least 3 top players and a coach to Bluefield, WV. Gmen will be good, but no state title or region champ threat. Union and Ridgeview now easy favorites to win D. We will start out 0-4 with losses to Bluefield, Princeton, Heritage, and Union and win the last 6. Will win first game of playoffs, then will be done in game 2. We had the talent and real shot at a state title this year before what has happened in the last couple of weeks.
GMen predictions 2026
- Thread starter Hales Bottom
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It’s an interesting dynamic ,, the bluefield area kids just bounce around to whoever is good , between Princeton bluefield and Graham . Daniel Jennings (Penn state commit) left Graham and Graham won the ‘ship the next year. As far as kids leaving , Deion cooper wasn’t going to play at Graham anyway , the Isabelle kid had a decent freshman year so that transfer was shocking. Losing Dowell was a shock but he gets stats bc he plays next to Jysir Williamson mostly , but still a big loss. Graham hasn’t had a transfer come in for a few years even tho people act like they get all these transfers .. Graham hasn’t had a jv team in 4 years either . They prob won’t have but 30 kids this year either . The dominance is about to be over I believe .
Only kid that is not replaceable is Dowell. Isabelle is a sophomore and will be good but isnt there yet. Cooper would be lost in the shuffle of athletes graham has at skill positions. In my opinion theyre just stealing a ring because Bluefield is winning WV AA with or without those kids.
The GMen will still be solid. Plays ridiculous schedule and in a tough region. They still have enough in the tank to give a Union or Ridgeview trouble in the region playoffs, but it takes a special team to win a state title and those 3 losses are too big of a hit. I wouldn't count out Graham in the future. Been good for decades and 3 or 5 or 10 years is a long way from now and odds are, they will still be year in and year out a deep playoff contender in Class 2, but this year, probably not happening
The lack of kids coming out is baffling. The Dowell kid is a big hit, the other 2 are replaceable and Graham has kids that will step up and replace those guys. The line will have no depth. Graham only had 35 last season and will have around the 30 to 35 players this season. The Lane brothers , Cecil and the younger Bradshaw kid will step up and fill the roles left by Isabelle and Cooper. I don't think there will be a dropoff there. The depth on the Line of scrimmage for them will be their biggest issue. They have some quality starters but will lack any depth and can't afford injuries. If Im the coaches, Im talking to some of the athletes that may play other sports and trying to get them to come out for football. Practice hasn't started yet. You may be surprised who shows up.
Look for the freshman Williams to contribute immediately on the lines. I've heard hes the strongest freshman graham has had in quite a while. I've heard hes benching 270. That is Jysir's Williamson 's little brother.
I'm hearing good things about him too. Graham has had some freshmen start for them in the not too distant past. Even though, they have had 3 transfer, I still like the nucleus of players coming back. A lot of talent at the skill positions, very good talent on the line, but a lack of depth. If they can find 3 or 4 linemen that can come in and out to spell the starters, I think they should be a contender again. Surely, there's a couple of big boys that can be recruited out of the hallways of Graham High School. Also, I look for the older Williamson to have a spectacular year. He has looked really impressive at camps.
That was greatly exaggerated. 2 or 3 kids somehow ballooned to a dozen due to the local gossip bags that sit at Hardees every morning... Heck, they only had 9 freshmen come out last year.... The enrollment this year should be right around 480, they will probably be able to re-classify as 1A in the near future, but I doubt they do it. Graham has always played up to a higher classification, despite low enrollment numbers.