Comets Stay Unbeaten: On Saturday afternoon at Harbor Park, home of the Norfolk Tides, High School Football took center stage with a key Eastern District clash between the undefeated Granby Comets, who are off to their best start since the State Championship winning season of 1966, and a Norcom Greyhounds team that came in riding a three-game winning streak. It was the first football game played at the baseball park since Phoebus shutout Lake Taylor 14-0 in the 2008 Eastern Region Division 5 Championship.

Granby was able to end a four-game losing streak to Norcom with a 14-0 shutout, marking the third shutout in four games for the Comets. That puts the Comets at 7-0 overall, 4-0 Eastern District, tied atop the league standings with Lake Taylor before their showdown. The Granby defense completely baffled the Greyhounds' offense, limiting them to 103 total yards on 40 plays.

"Every one of those guys knows how to play defense," said Granby Head Football Coach Curt Brown of his Comets. "Coach [Dennis] McCall, who's our defensive coordinator, has done an incredible job with those kids. He actually keeps me calm and says let's do what we do. That's our motto."

Not only did Granby keep Norcom out of the end zone, but they also forced a pair of turnovers on interceptions by Lawrence Harris and Terrence Horsford, a couple of seniors that suffered through losing seasons each of the last three years. Two more wins and the Comets will earn a playoff berth in Division 6.

"We stayed focused and practiced hard all week. We had to stay humble, disciplined and that's just a testament to the team. Norcom came out to play and we had to fight back with them," said Harris, who sparked the running game with 18 attempts for 98 yards and both touchdowns.

"Our objective is to try to score every time we get the ball, but sometimes it's football and it doesn't work like that. We've just got to pound and pound. Sometimes you get two or there yards here, four or five yards there, maybe 10 yards, and we had more positive plays than negative at the end of the day."

Click Here for Full Recap with More Analysis
Postgame Audio with Granby Coach Curt Brown

Stats:

Granby 14:
William Smith - - 5-12 for 49Yds. 0-1TD/Int. ratio; 9Car. 14Yds.
Lawrence Harris - - 18Car. 98Yds. 2TD's; Defensive INT
Caleb Wilson - - 5Car. 17Yds; 6 Tackles, 2TFL
Tommy Spencer - - 5Car. 16Yds; 5 Tackles
Sidney Fulford - - 2Rec. 22Yds; 2Car. 10Yds.
Sherrod Ryland - - 8 Tackles, 4TFL, 2 Sacks
Tashad Charity - - 5 Tackles, 3TFL, QBH
Terrence Horsford - - 5 Tackles, Defensive INT

Norcom 0:
Darron Downing - - 10-16 for 107Yds. 0-2TD/Int. ratio
Traquan Martin - - 14Car. 59Yds. (7Car. 40Yds. in 1st Half)
Kenneth Wilder Jr. - - 4Rec. 37Yds.
Kevin Jones - - 3Rec. 29Yds.
Aaron Parker - - 2Rec. 13Yds; 2Car. 12Yds.
Triquan Holman - - 6 Tackles, TFL, Defensive INT
Marquell Saunders - - 5 Tackles, 2TFL

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Matthew Hatfield has covered Eastern Region Football & Basketball since 2004 for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network. Check out Hatfield's Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don't forget to listen to him on High School Sports Talk from 10AM to Noon on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.