11/05/2025
π£π Playoff Throwback - 2002 - Year of the Tiger ππ£
Flashback to 2002...the Xbox and GameCube was just released, the top song was Nelly's 'Hot in Herre' and LeBron was still playing high school basketball. The other big story of that year, was the boys in Blue Ridge were about to make the best run ever in the playoffs. Coach Hannon's bunch had finished off the regular season hot winning 5 of their last 7 to make the 16-team upper state bracket.
The Tigers would be headed to Liberty to start the AA playoffs. And much like the slow start to the season, this game started the same way. The Red Devils jumped out to an early 13-0 lead. But thats when something sparked for the Tigers, and Rusty Stevens connected with Davan Abney for a 55 yard TD to cut the lead to 13-7. Brandon Durham then added a 49 yard TD run and later a 3 yard TD pass from Josh Brown to Cole West to give the Tigers the 21-13 halftime lead! Blue Ridge never looked back and added two more scores in the 2nd half to go on the road and get the 34-13 road win, which was the Tigers first ever playoff road win! Brandon Durham led the offense with 27 carries for 177 yards and 2 TDs. Defensively the Tigers were led by Cole West with 10 solo tackles, 5 assists, and a fumble recovery.
On to round 2 and probably the hottest team in the state at that moment, the Swansea Tigers, who entered the contest on a 7-game winning streak. The boys from Blue Ridge were looking to make history again, and get the school's only 2nd round win. A true defensive struggle ensued and both teams were held scoreless through the 1st quarter. Swansea broke the tie early in the 2nd to take the early 7-0 lead, but much like the prior week, that's when the Tigers offense woke up. Rusty Stevens found Davan Abney for the long 67 yard TD and we entered the half all tied up 7-7. The defense rose up in the 3rd and Brandon Durham intercepted a pass and returned it 55 yards to the house to put the Tigers up 13-7 thru three quarters. Stevens and Abney would connect twice in the 4th quarter (17 & 24 yard TDs) to seal the game. The Tigers had made history again, and got to enjoy the 2-hour bus ride home with a 26-20 win.
It was truly the Year of the Tiger. These boys had went on the road back-to-back weeks and come away victorious and made it to the quarterfinals for the first and only time ever in school history . Their next trip was down to Abbeville and those boys from Blue Ridge gave the heavily-favored Panthers all they could handle for 45 minutes. A couple early turnovers were just too much to overcome as Abbeville (the eventual upper-state champs) ended the Tigers season with a 28-7 win but no one can ever take away from that magical run back in the fall of 2002!
Blue Ridge High School
Blue Ridge Fighting Tigers
Blue Ridge High Booster Club