Maury and Norview came into their annual matchup Friday with both teams at 2-1 overall, each needing a win desperately to stay in the race for one of the four playoff spots in Region 5A.
Norview jumped out to an early lead on a 60-yard Ahmad Ashby touchdown run within the first three minutes. However, after that, it was all Maury, cruising to the 41-14 victory. Coach Dyrri McCain's Commodores rattled off 41 unanswered points in the win.
Maury applied pressure as Demonte Dunlap had the game of his life, breaking free for 237 yards on the night along with 3 scores. Known for their air attack, the Commodores
At the end of the day, Maury ran for 312 yards rushing on the Pilots defense. Maury's swiss army knife, Ahmarian Granger also ran for three scores on 52 yards rushing.
Neither side could get much going in the passing game on a windy night, as the two teams combined to go 14-21 for 120 yards on the night.
Maury moves to 3-1, with their playoff hopes intact. The Commodores know they can't get caught up in scoreboard watching what other teams do and rather just control what they can control.
"We gotta win. We've just gotta win," McCain said regarding his team's outlook beyond the regular season. "I think we talked about that before the season. That's anybody in any boat. I don't think about a specific win. We just have to win every game that we play. Everybody has to do that, including us. We are in that boat. We have to win every game and we got it done today."
Inside the Numbers:
Maury Stats:
QB Eric Gibson: 3-4, 11yds, int, 23yds rush
RB Demonte Dunlap: 237yds, 3 TD
WR Ahmarian Granger: 32yds rush, 1 rec, 5yds, 3-3 passing, 18yds passing
Norview Stats:
QB Taquan Trotman: 5-10, 46yds
RB Ahmad Ashby: 120yds, TD
WR MarQeese Dietz: 3yds rush, 2 rec, 7yds, 2-4 passing, 45 passing yds, pass TD
What's Next?
Maury will host winless Wilson this week in a game scheduled for Saturday, March 27th, at Powhatan Field in Norfolk. Then it's a critical matchup with Churchland - which is currently 3-0 before it's showdown with Lake Taylor - to end the regular season.
Norview, now at 2-2, will host Booker T. Washington, led by Pitt signee Rodney Hammond, this week before ending their season at home versus Lake Taylor.
