GALAX MAROON TIDE

The perennial power in Class 1 had an early exit from the 2022 playoffs. They are looking to return to glory this season.

"Being comfortable is just being around guys who push you everyday," Pickett said.

David Espinoza has been a force for the Maroon Tide throughout his HS career.

Tedruhn Tucker rushed for 240 yards and 4 touchdowns in an opening round Region playoff game.

Galax advanced to the Region 1C semifinals.

Galax defeats Giles 28-14.

For the second year in a row, Galax is moving a wideout to quarterback.

Area squads are littered with coach and player of the year honors.

Southwest Virginia proved once again its dominance in spring competition, bringing home seven titles back to the area.

The scene is certainly set for a SW Virginia gold rush of state spring sports medals. No less than a dozen squads have advance to the state finals. Here’s a rundown of our local teams that were in action on State Semifinal Friday.

High school region tournament are nearing conclusions in SW Virginia.

The Riverheads Gladiators won its sixth consecutive title in Saturday’s Class 1 State Championship game against the Galax Maroon Tide at the Salem Stadium.

Galax and Riverheads are familiar state finals foes.

The Maroon Tide will play Riverheads for the third straight year in the Class 1 Championship game.

The Maroon Tide travel to Holston for a Class 1 VHSL State semifinal.

Top region seed Galax used a couple of first half scores and a dynamic defensive effort to win the Region 1C title over Parry McCluer 14-0. Javonte Reeves rushed of a first half score and quarterback Ian Ashworth hit Ayden White for a second quarter touchdown pass to account for the scoring. The Maroon Tide (10-2) bottled up the power ground game led by RB John Snider in check throughout the game. Th Blues finish the season 9-4. Galax moves on to take on Region 1D champion Holston in the state semifinals.

Parry McCluer and Galax are two programs with proud postseason histories, but the Maroon Tide history is more recent.

Friday night’s out-of-district game did not go Galax’s way.

Trailing 20-7 with 3:52 left in the first half, the Galax Maroon Tide climbed back to leave Radford with a victory on Friday night.

Four SW Virginia area squads played for state titles on Saturday. Salem and Appomattox took home state gold, while Lord Botetourt and Galax claimed state silver.

More fans will now be allowed in the stands for the six high school football state title games being played across Virginia on Saturday.

By halftime, Galax was up 21-0 and with no points scored by either team in the second half, that score propelled the Maroon Tide to a Region 1C title.

Galax will be hosting the Region 1C championship next week after beating George Wythe, 41-21, on Friday night.

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WYTHEVILLE, Va. – The Auburn Eagles beat Galax 53-41 on Friday at George Wythe High School to win the Mountain Empire District championship and secure their spot in the Region 1C tournament. Auburn’s Ethan Millirons led the Eagles with 31 points and Galax’s Cole Pickett led the Maroon Tide with 12.

ROANOKE, Va. The Galax Maroon Tide has become a perennial playoff powerhouse over the last decade and they hope to keep riding that wave of success with new head coach Shane Allen. I said, If youre hiring me because you think youre getting another Coach Dixon, youre going to be disappointed and Im going to be fired.' While hes new to the position, Allen is familiar with the recent Galax tradition, having served as an assistant under former Coach Mark Dixon for three years. Coach Dixon did an amazing job of building that program and getting the ingredients to make it successful. We want to be better tomorrow than we were today, we want to be better at game 5 than game 1, game 10 than game 5.

Dublin, Va. Pulaski County has brought in another heavyweight to lead their tradition rich football program. Former UVA and NFL offensive lineman Mark Dixon takes over in Dublin. Dixon comes to the Cougars from Galax, where he compiled a staggering 101-35 mark in his ten years at the helm. Galax won six region championships in ten seasons with Dixon on the sidelines. We feel very fortunate to have a coach the caliber of Mark Dixon.