Starting UP!!!

Fall sports take Center Stage as BHS begins a new school year.
​By: Ben Elliott

The 2025 football and volleyball teams look to get off to a strong fall season starts!
The time has finally come once and for all, spring has sprung away, the summer is (not so) slowly fading into the ether, to be remembered fondly on a date to be named later. The Inner Harbor Orioles are long out of the pennant race, these various details can only mean one thing...

Garfield was right. That's what this all means. No, I’m not referring to James Garfield’s short lived months long presidency in the recent decade of the 1880s, no, I am referring to 2022 WHSV student athlete of the week winner, Iron Gobbler recipient, football alumnus Bryant Gage Kile’s favorite Sunday funnies comic character, Garfield. 

Garfield is notorious for enjoying the simpler things in life at his own pace. In other words, for being lazy, and therefore, hating Mondays. The summertime is all about being lazy. Whether that be by the beach, lake, or my personal favorite, inside under the watchful eye of the glorious 1902 Willis Haviland Carrier invention, the air conditioning unit. I love nothing more than sitting on my couch and reading a good book, physical, audio or comic variety. Or watching my favorite baseball team raise season ticket prices despite being 15 games out of first place and long buried in the depths of under .500 baseball. 
This is paradise. Something I wish could last forever and ever. Nothing I love more than being lazy, free of no responsibilities, albeit to the chagrin of Gobbler Sports Networks very own, Jeff Elliott.
 
But you know how it is. Paradise always comes to an end. The time for being lazy is over. Back to my life full of responsibilities once again, to my own chagrin. 
Other than my own personal gripes and shortcomings, the start of the school year means the start of the 2025 fall sports season here at BHS! Now that I’m out of breath and in turn done with my filibuster, it’s time to get into your 2025 volleyball and football season preview!!

Starting with our 2025 volleyball Lady Gobblers!

The Volleyball Team is coming off of yet another playoff run, which included a home playoff win over Staunton, which was awesome to be working courtside for, truly electric. Their season ended in Lynchburg however, it doesn’t take away from how impressive yet another playoff run is. Like we’ve discussed on this broadcast before, winning in any sort of competition isn’t easy, if that was the case, as the saying goes, everyone would do it. 

This season, the torch is being picked up by first year head coach Sydney Coffman, who is taking over for friend of the blog, Colton Frey, as he takes over the helm for the very first ever Bridgewater College men's volleyball team! Although the BC Eagles (Not the ones that play on Chestnut Hill) are big rivals of my beloved EMU Royals, I will put on my best fake cheering voice when the Eagles come to Yoder Arena this spring, to support our dear friend! We here at Gobbler Sports Network wish coach Frey the best of luck!

My incessant ramblings aside for now, coach Coffman had a wonderful track record of success as the JV head coach of the program here at BHS the past handful of seasons. That continuity is oh so important when taking over a varsity program. Although the role and its responsibility are brand new, the person behind it isn’t. The trust and rapport is already established with the team, which puts you on or even ahead of schedule than you would normally be with a fresh face. I know when coach Grogg took over the varsity football program in 2019, that was the case. There was no need for a huge introduction that summer, we as David Lee Roth likes to say, hit the ground running. It made the transition seamless, I expect much of the same for the volleyball program this year. The roster brings back a great mix of upperclassmen and experienced underclassmen who saw playing time very early on in their careers. That is, of course, a coach's dream. To have freshmen who you can plug in right away, so by the time their junior year rolls around, they’re playing a year ahead of schedule, especially mentally. Which is the most important part. After watching my father announce volleyball games at EMU for most of my life, I’ve learned it carries different intricacies than other sports do. Lots of chants, jeerings and hollars. Makes for a much more difficult environment, more so, when the crowd is into it. A spectacle is created that makes seemingly easy plays seem harder than they normally are, and serves come with a lot more pressure attached to them. But when you have these athletes who’ve been through it before, you get to a place of clarity mentally, which makes you a better clutch time performer. The roster is full of many such cases. 

Our district opponents remain the same as in year's past, minus Rockbridge. Despite the overwhelming hospitality we’re met with every time we play in Lexington, I can’t honestly say I’ll miss the long bus rides. (I get motion sickness). Fort Defiance and Stuarts Draft will meet us for a home and home, along with tournament play at Fluvanna and Central!
Despite new faces all around the program, I expect much of the same from the volleyball program. The layout is already in place for success, I cannot wait to bear witness to the excitement this year! We’re beyond grateful to be a part of it! 

​Now for our football Gobblers!  

Hard to believe Coach Danny Grogg has been at the helm for the football program since 2019. Feels like a lifetime ago, I’m sure he’d agree with that sentiment. You’ve heard the story before, the first season in ‘19 was rough, but since then, the team has pretty consistently been in the playoff hunt, near the top of the valley district standings. That’s a testament to Coach Grogg and his wonderful staff, building continuity, that of a winning tradition. 

This year schedule wise, will look a little different. Normally due to the number of games, having a much shorter season than other sports, you play every team on your schedule once in the regular season. But due to a once in a lifetime reshuffling from other districts, we’re going to play Spotswood twice this year. Once at home, once on the road. Meaning we only have 4 home games. And if you know anything about this program, you know every home game is special. We always play home games in honor of a cause. Whether it be childhood cancer awareness, breast cancer awareness, teacher appreciation, youth night or the finale at the end of every regular season, Soldier Tribute. Every single one of those games is very important to the program. Everyone knows someone in any one of those groups in this town or beyond, making it easier to feel the weight of the cause. It’s a wonderful motivating tool for the players. I know I always took pride as a student/coach in playing for the community. Echoing the old adage about playing for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back. 

The out of district schedule looks like a bout with the Wing-T courtesy of Buffalo Gap, something that I admittedly don’t miss game planning for as a D-line guy. Then comes the pair of Strasburg and Central. Two stalwart programs of their times. With nose bleed inducing running games, like OC Charlie Garber would say, the football Gods would want the game to be played that way. I’d have to agree. 

District teams are the normal opponents with the addition of Rocktown, and subtraction of Rockbridge. Plus the extra Spotswood contest of course. 

This year's team holds a lot to be excited about headed into this year. A healthy QB, with a talented group of skill players. With the definition of consistency heading the defense, Mr. Brandon Mays. Surrounded by vets, or shall I say all time greats, Muy Ung and Willie Tinnel, two of the greatest minds I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Not to mention my dear friend, Trip, leading the JV squad, focusing on development of his players and overall love of the game. That’s where winning starts. 

Overall, I am over the moon excited for every game this season. High expectations for the group, but, what year haven’t there been high expectations? It’s something every team becomes accustomed to facing at the beginning of every fall. What I am most looking forward to, is the pre-game commencements that’ll take place this year. Childhood cancer awareness night on August 29th against Gap, youth night against Spotswood on October 3rd, pinkout in addition to homecoming against Monroe on October 17th and soldier tribute on November 7th against Harrisonburg to close out the regular season. Side note, the team will road warriors for a little under a month this year. A challenge that isn’t insignificant. Playing on the road isn’t easy one time, let alone doing it for a month straight. 

As I say every year, if you can come experience a home game this year, please do so. It’s an unbelievable atmosphere, speared by the causes we play for. As my sports hero Roberto Clemente said “Any time you have a chance to make a difference in this world and you don’t, you are wasting your time on Earth,”. 

To me, that’s what those games mean to me. Making a difference in your community, one day at a time.

There is nothing like a Football Friday at Broadway High School! Photo by: Micah Morris