On Saturday at 1:30 PM, it's the Lake Taylor Titans with a record of 12-1 overall playing host to the Region 4B Champion Eastern View Cyclones (13-0), where the winner will advance to next weekend's Class 4 title game at Liberty University in Lynchburg.

It's the first ever meeting between the Cyclones and Titans on the gridiron. Both took different paths to get here with Eastern View breezing by opening round foe Midlothian 40-3 before rallying in the final seconds to stun last year's State runner-up Louisa, 19-14, on a touchdown pass at the end. The Cyclones then outlasted Dinwiddie 45-35 in a bit of a shoot-out.

As for Lake Taylor, trying to win its third state title since 2012, the Titans avenged last year's playoff loss to Smithfield with a 63-21 rout of the Packers to begin their postseason journey. In the second round, they blanked King's Fork 42-0 before heading to Williamsburg the day following Thanksgiving for a matchup with unbeaten Lafayette. Tied at 14 in the third quarter, Lake Taylor scored the final three touchdowns to pull away for a 35-14 win over the Rams.

With Eastern View averaging 48.4 points per game and Lake Taylor putting up 45.4 points per contest, the expectation is that this will be a high-scoring affair with a lot of big plays.

The Cyclones’ spread option attack is led by senior quarterback Matt Lowry. Lowry rushed for 95 yards and three touchdowns in the region title game against Dinwiddie, and he added 69 yards and a score through the air. He was named the Battlefield District co-offensive player of the year this season.

On the season, Lowry has amassed 1,370 yards and 27 touchdowns on the ground, averaging a whopping 10.1 yards per carry. Through the air, he’s completed 76 of 116 passes (66%) for 1,172 yards with 16 touchdowns and just four interceptions.

Lowry is complemented in the Eastern View backfield by running back Tre Holmes. Holmes ran for 195 yards and a touchdown against Dinwiddie, and the speedy senior has totaled 1,669 yards and 19 touchdowns so far this year. He’s averaging 8.8 yards every time he touches the ball for the Cyclones.

Through the air, Lowry likes to throw the ball to wide receiver Blake Leake. The 6-foot-2 junior scored the game-winning touchdown in Eastern View’s 19-14 region semifinal win over Louisa, snatching a twice-tipped pass out of the air and racing 58 yards to the end zone with just four seconds remaining.

Defensively, the Cyclones are very experienced from front to back, as evidenced by the fact they are allowing just 10.8 points per game this season. Seniors Parris Owen and Avery Sites man the defensive end spots, and classmate Brandon Paz is tough inside at tackle. Junior Jordan Dodson is very disruptive at the other tackle spot.

Senior Zach Brown and junior Drew Shurina anchor the linebacking corps, while Leake and fellow juniors Alex Spangler and Aaron Henson make it difficult for opposing offenses to throw on the Eastern View secondary. All of the aforementioned players garnered either first or second-team all-district honors.

Powering Lake Taylor's usually strong ground game out of the twin-veer is sophomore running back Malik Newton, who comes in with 175 carries for 1801 yards - an average of 10.3 per attempt - and 27 touchdowns. In last week's win over Lafayette, Newton had over 100 yards receiving and two touchdown receptions. To tie the school's single-season rushing record held by Daz Palmer (VMI), Newton would need 172 yards, a total that could be reached in this game or certainly next week should the Titans be able to advance.

While Newton gets most of the attention and understandably so since he was named the Region 4A Offensive Player of the Year, defenses must also account for Dominique McNair (45Car. 562Yds. 11TD's) and the dual-threat abilities of sophomore QB Jeff Foster. On the year, Foster has completed 66 of 131 passes for 1586 yards and a 17-8 TD/Int. ratio, showing improvement with his poise and accuracy in the pocket to go with better than average mobility. Foster also has 828 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns with his feet.

On the offensive line, the Titans had a pair of First Team All-Region selections in Tavion Copeland and Denzel Ewell, younger brother of former Lake Taylor standout and current Notre Dame lineman Darnell Ewell. Second Team All-Region center Patrick McEachin suffered a leg injury in last week's win over Lafayette and is unlikely to return this year.

There shouldn't be a more versatile player on the field than Titans senior Javon Harvey, named First Team All-Region at wide receiver, defensive back and punt returner. Harvey bounced back from a concussion earlier this season he sustained against Norview to lead the team in receiving with 30 catches for 649 yards and 8TD's, plus has a team-high three interceptions on defense to go with 338 yards in the punt return game and a pair of scores. Tight ends Ikeem Wright and Corey Holloway have combined for 20 receptions for 493 yards and 5TD's.

Defensively, the Titans have been hit for 1605 yards through the air, but they have shown significant progress as the season has gone along in adapting to Coach Hank Sawyer's high-risk, high-reward style and schemes. Wright was the Region 4A Defensive Player of the Year, recording 14 stops for loss from his linebacker spot. Holloway leads them in tackles (94), sacks (19) and forced fumbles (10). There are several others that have contributed on defense, such as Copeland, Tyrique Tucker, Ralph Byrd, Dallas Spruill, Raylyn Manley and even Newton with 54 total tackles.

1. Establish Lowry and Holmes Early and Often: Eastern View has many weapons in offense, but it’s entire system flows through Lowry and Holmes. The Cyclones are at their best when the duo is gashing opponents for chunks of yardage on the ground. Against Lake Taylor, linemen Jason Southern, Adam Lillard and Ricky Robinson will need to control the line of scrimmage in order to prevent the athletic Titans and linebacker Ikeem Wright from disrupting Eastern View’s spread option.

2. Stop Lake Taylor From Running the Ball Effectively: The Cyclones have suffocated the running game of opposing offenses all year long, and they’ll need to do the same to the Titans’ Malik Newton if they’re going to advance to the state title game. If they can contain Newton and force Lake Taylor into long-yardage situations, that should play right into the hands of ball hawks Leake and Spangler.

3. Get a Big Return From Keyshawn Butler: The Cyclones’ senior return man is one of the fastest players in Class 4, and he only needs a small crease to create lightning. He helped take the wind out of Dinwiddie’s sails by scooping up a second-quarter kickoff on one hop and racing 82 yards for a score to flip momentum back in Eastern View’s favor at 21-14. Butler also had a 77-yard kick return touchdown that helped break open a close game at Courtland in a 42-13 Cyclones’ victory back on Sept. 21.

1. Get Pressure on Lowry: If Lowry gets time to sit in the pocket, he's accurate enough to pick any defense, Lake Taylor's included, apart. However, the Titans have 46 sacks on the season from 11 different defenders, so it's doubtful he'll be able to get too comfortable back there surveying the defense. The best way for them to create turnovers and get off the field on third down is with heavy pressure, limiting the amount of time he has to find his targets in Leake, Spangler and others.

2. Answer A Score with A Score: The great Notre Dame Head Coach Lou Holtz used to talk about answering a score with a score and the head man of the Titans buys in to that philosophy as well. They were able to do that a week ago when Lafayette opened the third quarter by putting together a touchdown drive that knotted the score at 14-apiece. With Eastern View having the weaponry that they do and a quarterback that can throw the deep ball, it's only natural they hit a couple of big plays. But if the Titans can respond by hitting them with a chunk play of their own and ultimately score, it'll demoralize the visiting squad.

3. Ball Security: This is of great importance every time out for Lake Taylor for a multitude of reasons. For starters, every coaching staff preaches the importance of being fundamentally sound - blocking, tackling, not turning the football over and minimizing penalties and mistakes. In each of their last two wins over King's Fork and Lafayette, the Titans did not turn the ball over once. That enabled them to pile up 408 yards of offense on a very stingy Lafayette defense. As long as they take care of the ball, they're talented and diverse enough on offense to rack up over 400 yards again and score near their average on the Cyclones.

Matt Hatfield Says: Lake Taylor 40, Eastern View 26
VHSL-Reference.com Says: Lake Taylor 27, Eastern View 20
Coach Ed Young Says: Lake Taylor 22, Eastern View 8

Devin Says: Lake Taylor 35, Eastern View 28: From top to bottom, Lake Taylor will be the best team Eastern View has faced this season. The Titans hold a 14-point victory over Class 6 semifinalist Freedom-Woodbridge to their credit, and Coach Hank Sawyer has been there and done that when it comes to state playoff football. I think Lowry and Holmes are able to do some damage for the Cyclones, but I also think Newton and the Titans’ offense presents a stiffer challenge for their defense than Dinwiddie did a week ago. Because of that, I’m going with Lake Taylor in a close one.