FALL 2024 REview & 2024-2025 BHS BAsketball Preview

By: Ben Elliott

Hello my friends, the Fall 2024 season was an unbelievable season for the Gobblers overall here at BHS. From winning a home cheer tournament, winning 16 on the volleyball court for the first time in a long while and most importantly, a state title for the Cross Country team! 


Throughout this long-ish blog, we’ll explore the triumphs of the 2024 Football and Volleyball seasons, and look forward to the 2024 winter season for both Basketball teams. 
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2024 Volleyball Recap
The Volleyball team has experienced a significant turn-around over my (roughly) ten years working in sports at BHS. They went through every part of the cycle that programs undergo along the way. When I got to BHS in 2017, the program was fighting for a playoff spot as a dark horse. Now fast forward all these years and the team has won double digit games in back to back years. An outstanding accomplishment. They had wins over rivals, East Rockingham, Turner Ashby and Spotswood, all victories that meant a lot to the community. They even won a home playoff game against a good Staunton team. In five sets nonetheless, it was one of the more exciting games that I can remember regardless of sport in my time at BHS.  The team's four seniors this season were Wren Wheeler, Ashlyn Spitzer, Brooklyn Spitzer and Skylar Phillips. We thank them for their contributions to the BHS volleyball program. They’ve turned it on the right track, pushing the needle in the right direction towards success. The team returns a great amount of talent for the 2025 fall season, we look forward to covering the volleyball Lady Gobblers next season! 

2024 Football Recap
The Football team went through a rollercoaster of emotions this season. They finished the regular season with a 7-3 mark, which was the most wins in the six years under Head Coach Danny Grogg. This may have you asking, why the rollercoaster of emotions? Their blazing 7-3 barely snuck them into the eighth seed in the playoffs. This highlights just how far the region has moved in talent over the years. During those 10 regular season games, the Gobblers suffered through injuries at key positions, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Yet, they found a way to win when it mattered most. Key two-way contributions from Mason Dellinger, Casey McDonaldson, Zechariah Stuhlmiller and Uriah Rutan, among others show just how versatile the 2024 football squad was this year. Showing a new defensive look proved for entertainment on the most important side of the ball (in my humble opinion). Plenty of bend don’t break moments which allowed them to secure a highly coveted playoff spot. The highlight of the year for me was the road win against Spotswood. That’s one of those games where you know you have to rely on your own positive atmosphere, one of those that you know your back will be against the wall, and boy did the team deliver. Throw the records out for a moment, Spotswood is always a big rivalry game and vice versa for them. Holding them to ten points was a perfect representation of the team at their best this year. The team will see a large senior class depart,, too many to list here and I thank each and every one of those seniors for their aiding in success for the football program over the years. 
Coach Grogg and company will have the boys of fall back in a reloaded direction come fall of 2025! Can’t wait! 

2024 Cross Country Win State Title
The Gobblers Cross Country Team won its first State Title in program history, running to an upset in Blacksburg in November.  See more about the State Title in our previous blog post below.

Now with our fall 2024 accomplishments out of the way, let's turn the page to my personal bias favorite sport, BASKETBALL! 

Starting with our beloved Lady Gobblers. 
We had a heck of a year last year under first year coach Zach Yoder. If I'm not mistaken, our 16-9 record was our best in school history for a non-championship season. Another wild milestone. Looking forward to this year, we have the departure of four seniors who were key to our success last season. We’re looking at a younger roster for this year yet, it’s full of experience. Almost every player on the current roster has played under Coach Yoder at one point or another throughout their career. This made for a smooth first week of practice, not having to re-run offensive sets after mistakes. This sharpened tool of ours will come in handy this year. We’ll have a young team full of experience, which is the most valuable thing one can bring to a team. Tried and true experience, nothing like it.  Our schedule is the same as last year, minus a trip to Page County, in order to account for the addition of Rocktown to our 2024-2025 Valley District schedule. We’ll also play in our annual Christmas tournament in Strasburg, which I always enjoy. Now, if you’ve been to one of those tournaments before, you’re probably saying, “You only enjoy the tournament for the food,”. And my response is, you’re 50 percent correct. Besides the great hospitality, the competition is always top shelf. From the home of the Strasburg Rams, to Sherando and Buffalo Gap to name just a few, the tournament is always full of great talent for us to learn from. The tournament also signifies when you’ve made it to the fast ramp of the season, right at the end of December when district play starts to heat up shortly after. I get chills now thinking about it. 
Overall, our identity this season will consist of relentless defense, outright hustle and patient yet accurate offense. There’s nothing like it, I look forward to being back on the bench for a fourth season! 
If there’s one thing that sticks out the most for the boys basketball program so far in the pre-season, it's numbers, or in fancier terms, turnout. The gym was borderline standing room only for tryouts this year, which signals to me that we’re in for a fun year as fans. The boys roster, just like us, will see some turnover, which is a natural part of the process. This turnover poses an excellent opportunity for the next guard to rise up and be the force, the force for success. Historically, the boys team represents the textbook definition of consistency, making deep playoff runs year in and year out. Like I say every year, I have no doubt that the boys will be in the playoff mix come February. That’s a testament to the coaching staff. Coach Walton and Coach Jameson are known for the great work they do, such passionate yet smart minds that are able to adapt to any situation they find themselves in. I take it that the district will be challenging this season, but in this sport, when isn’t it?  The Valley District is full of good teams that all represent a good challenge, and a chance to compete. Like the Girls team, the BHS Boys will also be playing Rocktown this season on the varsity level, for the first time. I always love going to new schools, I can’t wait for our first matchup. 
No matter the new faces on the court for each team this season, I have the utmost love and trust in each rotation and staff. The love and trust that when it all comes down to it, the green and white will be victorious! 
It was great to catch up with you all once again here at the Behind the Gobbler Call Blog. It was a pleasure to talk with you once again, and I look forward to seeing all of you at a game this winter. Go Gobblers!

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