Update on Leigh Bradley

After meeting with Leigh Bradley he has decided to take a Medical Redshirt for the 2010 season. The best decision was to wait and have him come back in 2011 with a full season of participation. He has the ability to be an impact player at this level. This choice will allow him to heal fully before participating and he was involved in a change of majors a couple of years ago and he is scheduled to graduate in December of 2011 so it matched his academic track also.

We will miss him now, but he and Ryan Richmond are great additions to the recruiting class of next season.

MC

Showdown in Salem on Thursday

I wanted to set the story straight on how the Thursday night game this season came about. Lebanon Valley College in PA was scheduled to replace Lycoming in our week five slot on the schedule. Last March, they backed out on the signed two-year contract. It is a scramble to find games on short notice unless you are willing to fly to Texas or Wisconsin. Southern VA had an open date that week, but because of a national conference in the Church of Latter Day Saints on Saturday they needed to play a game on a weeknight. We were looking for a one year fill-in game and I offered to contact the people in Salem to see if they would provide the venue for us to play. The Salem group is a first class operation and although we agreed to manage the game and take on the costs, we felt we were dealing with a great host and facility in Salem.

We have partnered with Feeding America Southwest VA and plan on donating any profits from the game to them as they bring their September “Go Orange” campaign to a close this month. September is hunger awareness month and orange is the color of hunger. We are working with contacts in the Roanoke Valley to generate some publicity for the event and hopefully our friends, fans, and families will take the trek on Thursday to Salem Stadium. Although the ultimate goal is to play there in December, I hope a Thursday night game will give our kids the charge they need to try to go out and play a complete game in the pre-season finale.

Formidable foes await us in ODAC action, and although we are grateful to be 3-0, playing a complete game has eluded us so far. We will need to be able to do that reach our long term goals. Southern VA has beaten Ferrum and has played several fully funded scholarship Division II schools who have beaten them, so they will be used to playing kids who are bigger and faster than we are. It is a test we need.

MC

Tough Ferrum Team Coming to Town

We will get an angry Ferrum team in here this weekend. They were the polar opposite on tape in their Southern VA game upset than the team we watched the week before versus Emory & Henry. I know Coach Davis is an old school guy who will not take that performance lightly and we have prepped our kids for the intensity they will bring to the field on Saturday. We need to be an improved football team for sure and this game has as much to do about us as it does Ferrum. We beat the flu in the Open week, and will have to beat an athletic team on Saturday. We will look forward to a good parent’s day crowd and with the dedication of the Bowman Alumni Plaza it should be a great BC Saturday. Hope to see you there. MC