On November 14, 2014, there was not much excitement surrounding the Graham football program.
Gate City had just crushed the G-Men 70-0 in the first round of the VHSL playoffs. Graham had not won a playoff game since 2009. The raisin on top of it all may have been the near two-hour bus ride to marinate on the biggest loss in school history.
“When [coach Tony Palmer] took over … Gate City had just thumped the G-Men in the playoffs,” said Matt Dixon, a teacher at Graham High School who was a part of Palmer’s first coaching staff in 2015. “Morale was down.”
If you asked many people if they thought Graham would play in four state championship contests over the next decade, they would have thought that was a pipe dream. However, a longtime assistant coach would have told anyone on that bus ride back from Gate City that all he needed was a chance.
“I knew that if I had the opportunity to coach this team that I would do what I thought was best for our program, what was best for our community, what was best for just our team period,” said Palmer, who is in his 10th season as Graham’s head coach. “The confidence to be able to change start[ed] with the kids believing. In order for them to believe, they would have to believe in me. I firmly believed that we were going to be respected and that we were going to have the success that we have now. [T]o be a champion, you have to believe you are a champion.”
For Palmer to get his kids to buy in, he had to change the culture of the program. It is safe to say, the G-Men bought in a decade ago and have believed ever since. 
“The culture around the program is that they expect to win,” said Erik Robinson, the Eastern District representative on the Tazewell County School Board, who also is a commentator on the Graham radio broadcast. “That has changed from years ago [when] it was ‘we hope to win.’”
Ten years into the Palmer era at Graham (14-0), a championship culture is as permanent as U.S. 460 running through Bluefield. The Cardinal and Gold makes its third trip to Salem in four years on Saturday when it faces Strasburg (13-1) for the VHSL Class 2 state championship. Graham looks to win their sixth football state title in school history.
For Palmer and the G-Men, it will be business as usual.
“It is great that we get to play on the biggest stage. As far as being nerve-racking, the game itself, none of that has changed for us,” said Palmer, who played on Graham’s 1989 state championship team under Glynn Carlock. “We understand we have a job to do as coaches to prepare ourselves and prepare the kids to put them in the best positions to win.”
That blue-collar mentality is what helped Palmer and the G-Men win two state championships in the past seven seasons. They are 112-18 during Palmer’s tenure.
“Coach Palmer has taken this program back to the Coach Carlock roots of discipline and hard-nose[d] work,” said Chris Stacy, the superintendent of Tazewell County Public Schools. “He has surrounded himself with good coaches and they have truly created an atmosphere of success.”
That lunch pail approach has been something the Graham defense has put on display in 2024. The unit has allowed an average of 7.07 points per game this year — the fewest since 1989 — while holding six opponents scoreless. Anchors on the defense like Omarri Hill, Chaun Dowell, Chris Edwards and Yubernal Isabelle have paved Graham’s road back to Salem.
“This defense has been one of a kind,” said Hill, who is a two-time all-state selection. “[It] has been outstanding all year. It is because we go out and play physical and smart and rally to the ball to make plays. It has been awesome having a dominant season like this. Seeing [our hard work] is paying off is a great feeling.” 
The 2024 G-Men defense is one that will go down in folklore in Tazewell County.
“We have the best defense I have ever seen at Graham,” said Chuck Presley, a 2002 Graham graduate who represents the Eastern District on the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors. “This year, we have some dogs that want to run you over.”
Meanwhile, the Graham offense has used a balanced attack this season with Dalton Roberts, Gabe Lilly, Gage Palmer and Blake Graham to average 34.4 points a contest.
In past seasons, the G-Men had one member of their offense stand out above the rest. On the 2022 state championship team, it was current Virginia Tech tailback Ty’Drez Clements. In 2018, it was former Purdue Boilermaker and former Denver Bronco Cam Allen. This year, the G-Men offense found its identity as a unit.
“[This year’s team has] been running a two-quarterback offense. They have found ways to capitalize in an offense where other teams may have struggled,” said John Gunter, a 1994 Graham graduate. “I think what I have enjoyed the most is watching a team that [people doubted]. But here they are, proving the doubters wrong and going to a championship game as an undefeated team.”
Bluefield, Virginia, hopes it feels like 1962, 1989, 1995, 2018 and 2022 on Saturday night when the G-Men return home from Salem. The town’s support has not gone unnoticed by its gridiron gang.
“Bluefield, Virginia, has always loved our football program,” Palmer said. “During this time of year, it seems like they show us even more support. We are thankful for the Town of Bluefield, Virginia. Our kids understand that they are playing for more than themselves when they play football and … put that helmet with that G-star on it. They know they are playing for their community. For a school the size of ours, [playing for a state championship] does a lot for the community. We just want to give [them] something to be proud of.”
Giving the community something to be proud of may be an understatement.
“What Coach Palmer and his coaching staff have done for the community and the program is truly special,” said Ron Holt, who served on the Bluefield Town Council from 2016 to 2022. “[T]he family dynamic they create for those young men … is more remarkable than the state championships and the district titles. It ultimately manifests as success for the team.”
For Graham to win state championship number six, Palmer knows the G-Men must play all 48 minutes on Saturday.
“We have to have a very good performance defensively. We have to realize that this is going to be a fight, and we have to be in it for the long haul,” Palmer said. “We have to stay together, deal with adversity, do not turn the football over and execute the game plan the best we can.”
Regardless of the result Saturday evening in Salem, Palmer will be proud of his team.
“It is just a great situation to be in and I am very thankful for the opportunity for us to be playing in another state title game. I am very proud of this team and very proud of the way they have fought,” he said. “It is something for the kids to be proud of.”
See also:
- Summaries of all six VHSL title games
- Class 3: He was adopted from Ghana. Now he’s led Liberty Christian to a state title game.
- Class 1: Knee surgery, a broken leg, a broken thumb, a ruptured kidney. One Grayson County player has overcome all those to play in school’s first state championship football game.
