The Result/Story: ?Extending their overall winning streak to 23 games and grabbing their 30^th consecutive victory against a Peninsula District opponent, the Phoebus Phantoms continued their dominance with a 17-0 shutout of their rival, the Hampton Crabbers.? In the head-to-head series of the game that is regarded to be the one of the top if not the best rivalry game in the state, Phoebus has beaten Hampton four straight times by a combined total of 104-12.

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"We had to take care of business from the beginning," noted Phoebus quarterback Paul Morant, who helped the Phantoms race out to a 17-0 half-time lead and never looked back.? "The line did what they had to do.? Coach had them prepared for this game.? Our defense came out and played as a team.? We played good and we played together."

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Hampton entered averaging 35.1 points per game, fifth most in the Eastern Region.? The Crabbers never reached the red zone until midway through the fourth quarter, when they were stopped on 4^th & 14 from the 11-yard line after burning two time-outs.

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"It's a big effort," Phoebus senior linebacker Chaz Robinson said of the defense's performance.? "We had some young guys step up tonight and I know that tonight was a big night, so I'm proud of the guys."?

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Robinson moved from his original starting position of outside linebacker to middle linebacker when junior Caleb Taylor sprained his MCL in his right knee against Churchland.? The results for Robinson on Friday night were good, finishing with a game-high nine tackles, several of which came in the second half to keep the Crabbers' offense grounded.?

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"We're never satisfied with what kind of score we have.? We keep playing 100% of the time.? We're not really worried about the score.? We're just worried about the win," said Robinson, who came through with a key 29-yard touchdown reception from Morant less than a minute before intermission to make it a three-possession lead for the Phantoms.

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"We had gotten a first down earlier and then we had gotten a holding penalty.? Then we were in the third and long situation.? Paul had seen that, they had brought the outside linebacker which had left the flats open.? I knew they were going to bring the outside linebacker blitz; that's one of their favorite things to do.? I knew if we could get the fullback into the flats and get just a second to throw the ball, he was going to be open," Phoebus Head Coach Stan Sexton said.? "I didn't realize he was going to take it to the house.? That was an incredible play on Chaz's part.? That was huge going into half."

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And for Phoebus, their longest play of the night couldn't have come at a better time with Hampton getting the ball first in the second half.? It capped an eight-play, 57-yard scoring drive that chewed up 3:42, just when the Crabbers thought they could keep them to a field goal try and still a two-possession game.

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"It was big because we went in with momentum and we came out with momentum," Robinson admitted.? "We wish we would've had more points, though.? We were really hoping for more."

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Special Teams Impact:? One of the Phoebus strengths for years that sometimes go unnoticed by casual observers is the play of their special teams unit.? Sophomore kicker Eric Enderson, who drilled three field goals and the game-winner earlier this season against Woodside, connected on his eighth field goal of the 2009 campaign following an interception by Deshawn Arnold that gave the Phantoms good field position.?

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Handling the punting duties, Morant aided that field position with punts of 46, 55 and 35 yards, pinning the Crabbers deep in their own territory on each occasion.? Last but not least, the Phantoms executed a squib kick wonderfully after the successful Enderson field goal, and the loose ball was recovered by Tyree Lee.

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"They had us deep one time we had to punt and we end up getting a 45-50 yard punt.? All of the sudden that changes momentum the other team had gained.? The squib kick was huge," Sexton said. ?"We always aim for one of those front guys.? We watch tape and see who's the slowest guy up there and try to aim for that guy.? Hopefully we can get a bounce like that, and this is two weeks in a row we've got the bounce."

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Stuffing The Run & Crabber Mystique:? Hampton came in averaging 124.7 rushing yards per game and 4.3 yards per carry.? Their previous season-low rushing output was 69 yards on 24 attempts against Woodside.? Against the Phantoms, they were held to 72 yards rushing on 17 carries, marking the fifth time they finished with less than 100 yards on the ground, and showing just how much they miss Tron Martinez in their backfield.

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"We wanted to make sure they couldn't run the ball.? The other thing too is we wanted to make them have to throw quick," Sexton commented.? "We wanted to get pressure on [David] Watford and be able to force him to throw quick, force him to make quick reads.? I felt like we did a good job of that.? I felt like we got some hits on him tonight.? He's a real good quarterback.? He's improved so much, and I felt like we did a real good job to shut him down."

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While the Crabbers' biggest weapon, Dion Futch, who has scored 12 touchdowns five different ways this year, did catch six passes for 62 yards, he never broke off a play longer than 26 yards the entire night.? He was held in check, and the offense threw two interceptions, the second being nabbed by Phoebus defensive back and starting running back Colby Goodwyn.

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"We knew that they had a whole lot of weapons in the backfield, so we wanted to key in on their draws and screens a lot.? It was a good night for that," Robinson said.? "We all want to get better at running to the ball and focusing on the little things that we have to do.? It's a stepping stone for us."

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For Mike Smith, the longtime Head Coach of the Crabbers with 12 state titles, most in VHSL history, this hasn't been a season for the ages by any stretch.? In fact, this year marks the first time since 1976 that Hampton won't win at least eight regular season games.? A big reason clearly has been their youth and lack of returning experience as they have only 11 seniors on the roster.

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More Donuts On The Way For Phantoms:? A longtime Phoebus tradition, which began under former Head Coach Bill Dee and continued, is that the players are rewarded with Krispy Kreame glazed donuts for every shutout that they record.? In their last 29 games, the Phantoms have pitched 18 shutouts.? There soon could be a donut shortage in the city of Hampton if they maintain their current pace.

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Donuts or not, shutouts aside, Sexton is pleased where the team is at the moment, even though he knows there's plenty of work still to be done before the postseason begins.

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"Any time you're 8-0 I guess we're really where we want to be.? To me, we've still got two tough games.? We've got Denbigh and Bethel.? Our goal right now, haven't talked to these guys about it until this week, [is] to win a district Championship to catapult us into the playoffs," Sexton says.?

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"There's a lot of good teams out there still to play.? We have to pick our level of play up.? I felt at times we kind of looked sluggish.? At times I felt we looked really good.? We've just got to be more consistent in tough games."

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Stats:

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Phoebus 17:

Colby Goodwyn - 22Car. 77Yds; 3 Tackles, INT

Paul Morant - 5-10 for 71Yds. 1-1TD/Int. ratio; 8Car. 16Yds. TD

Chaz Robinson - 8Car. 41Yds; 2Rec. 39Yds. TD; 9 Tackles

Andre Griffin - 2Rec. 23Yds.

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Hampton 0:

David Watford - 12-23 for 102Yds. 0-2TD/Int. ratio; 7Car. 58Yds.

Dion Futch - 6Rec. 62Yds; 2Car. 4Yds; 4 Tackles

Tyrell Miller - 9 Tackles

Terrance Mack - 8 Tackles

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Matthew Hatfield has covered Eastern Region Basketball & Football since 2004 for VirginiaPreps.com - the #1 High School Sports Site on the Rivals Network.? Check out Hatfield's website - www.matthewhatfield.com - for more on the pro and college sports scene.? To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and catch him every Saturday during High School Sports Talk on ESPN Radio 94.1.