style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>

font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> For

the season, Granby has 20 takeaways, seven of them coming in a victory over

class=SpellE>Churchland two weeks ago.

Seemingly, the only way to stop Lake Taylor is have the Titans stop

themselves. So far, the Titans have six

lost fumbles, which isn't a whole lot.

But if Lake Taylor in their split-veer attack puts the ball on the

carpet multiple times, that gets their high-octane offense off the field and allows

Granby to churn out yards with its rushing attack.

style=> The Comets want to shorten the game, and

their best way to do that is by having the football.

style=> At least two takeaways are needed in my

opinion for this game to be close and Granby to have a realistic shot at

winning.

style=>

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Whether

it's third down and long, third down and short or third down and medium, Granby

must convert some of these plays. For

the season, Lake Taylor's opponents are 6 of 77 on third downs.

style=> It's no wonder the Titans have won every game

they've played thus far by a minimum of 21 points.

style=> That means on average opponents are faced

with third down 11 times and converting less than one of them.

style=> This is a defense getting three-and-outs time

after time. Even if you don't score a

touchdown or field goal, move the chains on third down so that field position

is in your favor.

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>That's

offensively and defensively. When the

Titans get there, you have to be able to come up with stops to hold them to

field goals (better to allow 3 instead of 7 of course), and make them decide to

go for it on fourth down or not. On the

other side of the ball, the Comets can't get great field position and not

capitalize or put together a nice drive and see it stall.

style=> A lot of this effort will fall on the

offensive line and Smith to be a judicious decision maker, not force anything

in the red zone like he did a week ago when Norcom's

class=SpellE>Triquan Holman picked him off because they probably won't

have a 14-point cushion like they did a week ago.

style=>

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Granby

has had a wonderful season and been the surprise story in the region.

style=> Beating Lake Taylor is a tall task, and if

they won this game, it would stun many people, yours truly included.

style=> It has to be a perfect storm for the Comets,

which means a bunch of penalties, turnovers and self-inflicted mistakes by the

Titans for this game to be tight by half-time and have a shot to win.

style=> That's asking a lot, particularly for a

Granby team that doesn't really have a deep receiving core or secondary.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Part of Lake Taylor's transformation from a good team

to an elite title contender is the expansion of the passing game on

offense. Williams has throw nine

touchdowns over the last two games, and they're attacking defenses without any

interceptions so far. The Titans have a

bevvy of weapons on the ground or by air, so it'll be difficult to contain them,

even for a Granby defense that is one of the better around like Lake Taylor's

tough unit. Both defensive lines are

more than capable of winning the matchup up front.

style=> However, Lake Taylor has more flexibility and

versatility with what they can do on either side of the ball.

style=> Plus, the Titans are used to playing in games

with Championship implications like this, so anything less than a top-notch

showing would be surprising.

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The

Oscar Smith players will be taking the field with heavy hearts following the

unfortunate death of a J.V. football player, JheVontae

Davis, at practice on Wednesday. Against

Deep Creek, Oscar Smith has pitched four consecutive shutouts.

style=> Don't be the least bit surprised if it's five

by the end of Friday night. The Tigers

have a devastating defensive front with BCS-level prospect Andrew Brown, ODU

commit Kanyia Anderson, Shedrick

Oliver and Darren Flowers, who has arguably been their best defensive player

through seven games this year. Melvin

Vaughn, another ODU commit, and Troye Harris combined

for 27 tackles in last week's rout of Western Branch.

style=> Offensively, Dashawn

Blow has thrown 21 touchdowns this year and hasn't been picked off in September

or October, and UVA commit Zack Jones is now healthy at wide receiver off a

splendid performance last week. While

Deep Creek has a couple of sophomores to watch out for in the near future in QB

Terrence Shambry and RB Armond

Askew, their defense may not be able to make Oscar Smith have to punt.

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Ten

years ago when these two schools met, it was in the regular season finale for

the Beach District title. Both teams

made it to the playoffs and were very evenly matched.

style=> Things have changed dramatically since that

point. The Dolphins have only gotten

better to where they now feel they can challenge for a regional and state

title, whereas Kempsville has fallen on hard times,

making the playoffs only once since that season.

style=> While the Chiefs beat Green Run last week 7-6

behind Chris Robinson's 130 yards rushing and a touchdown as well as

class=SpellE>Kyron Speller's clutch blocked extra point, their defense

is overmatched against the Ocean Lakes offense.

UVA commit Corwin Cutler has thrown 17 touchdowns compared to only two

interceptions, WR Andre Dessenberg (Delaware commit)

is trying to win the region receiving crown, and RB's Brandon Simmons and

Jordan Bobo move the chains behind an effective offensive

line, keyed by tackle Alex Skidmore. Up

front, d-tackles Derrick Nnadi and

class=SpellE>Demetri McGill clog the run effectively, so the Chiefs may

be forced to throw more than they'd like.

10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Last year, Woodside

beat Phoebus 14-9 to end the Phantoms' VHSL-record 52-game winning streak.

style=> It was Woodside's first win over Phoebus

since 2004. While Phoebus has had some

off the field turmoil with a coaching change during the season and star RB Tony

Pittman being suspended two games earlier in the year, on the field they have

been their usually dominant selves.

Pittman comes in just 37 yards away from 1000, freshman QB Terrell

class=SpellE>Toliver has yet to thrown an interception, the offensive

line is massive with Jamal Earls paving the way, and the d-line is very

disruptive with ODU commit Mark Wilson making a case for Defensive Player of

the Year honors in the PD.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Woodside has shown the ability to be balanced on

offense with QB Darius Howell and RB Tyris Walker at

the forefront of their attack, seeing the passing game progress from game one

to now. Trey Reed, a virtual unknown

going into the season, leads the PD with 20 receptions.

style=> Tim Flood is the catalyst for the Woodside

defense. The senior linebacker has three

defensive touchdowns over the last two games, both wins for the Wolverines.

style=> In order to spring the upset, Woodside must

be able to contain Phoebus' ground attack, and convert third downs, something

that is extremely difficult to do consistently the Phantoms' defense.

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Each

of the last two years, the Salem SunDevils have shutout

the Kellam Knights.

This Kellam team is much more dangerous

offensively than they've been in recent years though with the threat to pass

behind QB Pat Kagel, who'll also run and gives them

three rushing options along with Cole Bava (110Car.

656Yds. 10TD's) and Mike Rawls. As

improved as the Kellam offense is, averaging 29 points

per game on the season, their defense struggles with teams that possess

explosive firepower. For example, take

their meeting with Bayside two weeks ago, where they

scored 42, but gave up 62 points and gave up 621 yards of offense to a Marlins

team that has had protection problems in spotlight games.

style=> DE Nick Edwards, a JMU commit, and Mitch

class=SpellE>Gerdau have to collapse the pocket and not allow Salem QB

Bucky Hodges, a Virginia Tech commit who'll hurt you with his arm or his feet,

to beat them with back-breaking plays.

Furthermore, corner E.J. Woodhouse has to contain Kwamane

Bowens (28Rec. 596Yds. 4TD's) on the outside, and the Knights have to be

careful not to have a linebacker get caught one-on-one with any of the

class=SpellE>SunDevils' other dangerous wide receivers.

class=SpellE>Grassfield

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>

has won four straight meetings in this series after King's Fork won the inaugural

meeting 22-9 back in 2007. The Grizzlies

enter this matchup trying to get to 8-0 to set up a first place showdown in the

Southeastern District with Oscar Smith, which has eliminated them in the

regional semifinals twice in the past three years.

style=> Grassfield has two

home-run hitters in the backfield in Vincent Lowe and Isaiah Harper, who has

seven plays of 60+ yards with six of them resulting in touchdowns.

style=> Defensively, the Grizz

don't like the bend, but don't break philosophy.

style=> However, they were like that in last week's

27-22 win over Lakeland. King's Fork is

starting to sprinkle in the passing attack with Uriah Adams better to go with

their strong running game, featuring Virginia Tech commit Charles Clark and

freshman Deshaun Wethington.

style=> The better tackling team and team able to

execute its offense in crucial situations (i.e. backed up in its own end, third

downs, etc.) should win. Right now, that

looks to be the Grizzlies. With Lowe,

Harper and Paris Smith, they have three players who can score at any moment.

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>

style=> The Crabbers come in with one of the stingiest

defenses around. On the year, Hampton is

giving up only 7.1 points per game and they have pitched three straight

shutouts. In comes a Menchville

offense that ranks near the bottom of the region in scoring and got blanked

44-0 by Heritage last week. Furthermore,

Hampton has shutout the Monarchs eight times since 1999.

style=> It'll be ten after this one, unless

class=SpellE>Menchville can establish both the run and pass.

style=> Ray Jones (18 catches) and

class=SpellE>Joron Foster are two of their most reliable

playmakers. One-dimensional attacks don't

work against the Crabbers, who have gotten great play by Joemel

Redd, Daunte Wilson,

class=SpellE>Quan Henry, Daquin Moore and Trey

Pressley on the defensive side of the ball.

Menchville's defense will have its hands full

trying to slow down the 1-2 punch of Deon Newsome and Marshawn

Williams, a tandem that has together rushed for 1448 yards and 22 touchdowns.

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Over

the last three years, Bayside has outscored Princess Anne 153-19.

style=> PA's last win in the head-to-head series came

in 2005. The Cavaliers put forth a much

better effort than expected in losing to Cox only 21-14 a week ago.

style=> Quarterback Sheldon Beale accounted for 156

total yards and two touchdowns, connecting with Javen

Fiesta for a 56-yard score in that narrow defeat.

style=> Linebacker Aaron Glover, a junior, headlines

the defense with over 70 tackles on the year.

Slowing down Bayside's offense, which is

averaging over 45 points per game in the last four, will be no easy task.

style=> Quarterback Deion Stitt

continues to climb the VHSL career passing yardage list.

style=> Both RB Taquan 'Smoke'

Mizzell, a UVA commit, and WR Quin

Blanding are closing in on 1000 yards rushing and receiving respectively.

style=> Smoke is 189 away and Blanding is 172

shy. Concentrate on then, and WR

class=SpellE>Devante Batey (3TD's vs.

class=SpellE>Kellam) will burn you.

The Marlins have too many weapons for PA to make this one tight on the

road in my opinion.

line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The Bruins are clearly one

of the surprise teams in the Peninsula District and the Eastern Region this

year. After losing 51-0 to Lake Taylor,

this looked to be a re-building year, but since the team has responded

exceedingly well with an upset win over Hampton and narrow two-point loss to

four-time defending Division 5 State Champion Phoebus.

style=> Bethel is going for its fifth win in six

games, and they've done a nice job of running the ball with Jihad Hudson and

Demetrius Dinkins, plus QB Trey Jackson had 4TD's total last week (2 rushing, 2

passing). They've gone from being a

spread out team last year with a dynamic receiving core to more ball-control,

methodical style this season. Warwick

has been injury-plagued all year and will be without RB Cardon

Johnson again. To spring the upset, they

need grand efforts from QB Josh Butler, WR Demetree

Harris and DE/TE David Smith. Bethel is

getting solid play on defense from d-lineman Ricky Walker, who got offered by

Penn State this week, as well as Javon King and Casey

Pretlow, who has two defensive touchdowns over the

past two games.

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>After

losing to Western Branch 40-0 in 2010, Nansemond River bounced back with a last

minute victory over the Bruins 37-30 a season ago.

style=> Nansemond River comes in riding high with

three straight wins, while Western Branch has lost two in a row to

class=SpellE>Grassfield and Oscar Smith following a fabulous 5-0

start. Momentum is on the side of the

Warriors, but can they stop the vaunted option rush attack of the Bruins?

style=> The Tigers have the best defense in the

Southeastern District, and even they up 246 yards rushing.

style=> If Nansemond River's defense with

class=SpellE>Damario Valentine, Nate Wyche and

Marvin Branch leading the way linebacker can get a hat on recent UCONN commit

Josh Marriner (1101 yards, 11TD's) and the Bruins' backs,

then Western Branch will be forced to make things happen through the air.

style=> Western Branch QB C.J. Thomas was 13 of 19

just two weeks ago against Grassfield, so they can do

it when needed. The question will be if

Nansemond River RB Latrell 'Vegas'

class=SpellE>Sandifer (995 yards rushing, 10TD's) doesn't move the

chains, are the Warriors able to score enough in this one?

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In

the head-to-head series, First Colonial has won three straight over

class=SpellE>Tallwood, which includes a 34-13 triumph a year ago.

style=> The Lions feel they found their quarterback

of the future in sophomore Reggie Rudolph, who has thrown for 669 yards in five

games as a starter, but got intercepted three times by Bayside's

Quin Blanding last week in a 44-0 loss to the Marlins.

style=> That was a Saturday game, and FC played on a

Friday in a 27-17 loss to Kellam, giving the Patriots

an extra day to rest up for this one. First

Colonial was dealt a serious blow though when it lost Dornell

Collins for the rest of the season with a torn ACL a few weeks ago.

style=> Without him, the ball carrying

responsibilities have fallen to Raven Greene and Rayshawn

Steverson, a duo that combined for 198 yards on the

ground and 2TD's in their victory over Landstown.

style=> Joey Brown is starting to get comfortable at

QB after that preseason ankle injury as well.

The major difference is on defense, where the Patriots are doing a

better job of limiting the big play.

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Quite

frankly, these are two sputtering offenses trying to grab a win and stop the

bleeding. Green Run has scored only 27

points over their past five games, dropping six in a row since a season-opening

comeback win over Princess Anne. Losses

to First Colonial and Kempsville just a week ago were

by a total of four points, otherwise they're 3-4, clinging to slim playoff

hopes. Meanwhile, Landstown

is on a four-game losing skid with 19 points over that stretch.

style=> Whichever offensive line gets a better push

for their running backs should hold the upper hand in this one.

style=> Junior Anthony Scott, who has an offer from

West Virginia, is playing at less than 100% for Green Run in recent weeks since

running wild in the opener. The Eagles

have a pair of backs in Trevon Byron and

class=SpellE>Shyheim Swinson that have gone

over 1000 yards on the year. My pick is

class=SpellE>Landstown, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the

Stallions win. This might be the hardest

game to call of the week.

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>

class=SpellE>Churchland (1-6) . . . Churchland

had owned this series with consecutive victories until Booker T. Washington's

13-0 shutout of the Truckers in 2011.

Booker T. has really only had two very productive offensive outings and

they were in a 24-21 overtime win over Warwick and a 32-30 loss to Norview.

style=> Both Warwick and Norview are teams with lackluster

defenses, something that could be said about the Truckers given that they have

allowed 36+ points on four separate occasions this year.

style=> Churchland might

have the most dynamic player on the field in Robert Boyd, who scored three

touchdowns three different ways in their win over Wilson.

style=> Booker T. has to get some of their top

players to counter like Zain Upshur in the

trenches. The Bookers are without Steven

Whitley and Rodney Johnson for the rest of the year due to injury.

style=> Much like Landstown/Green

Run, here's another game that could go either way.

style=> The momentum is with Churchland

coming off a win, but the Truckers might be a bit more mistake-prone and not

have as much speed and size at multiple positions as the Bookers do.

line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The Wilson Presidents have

their hands full containing Maury's two terrific versatile athletes in

class=SpellE>Davion Taylor (13TD's total) and Anthony Smith, who has 12

touchdowns either by run or pass. Kudos

to the Maury defense last week for holding Booker T. Washington to just 187

total yards of offense and without an offensive touchdown.

style=> As great as the Maury offense has been at

times by averaging 32.1 points per game on the year, they need to see that

defense continue to improve because they're giving up 30PPG and could get

torched by a good team in the first round of the playoffs if they get there.

style=> Derek Wilder, a sophomore and son of ODU

Football Coach Bobby Wilder, made big plays for them on defense last week, and

they'll need that again to contain Wilson dual-threat signal caller

class=SpellE>Derwounte Greene. Maury

is chasing a playoff berth, and although Wilson played spirited football a few

weeks back in coming up just short against the Commodores' nearby rival Granby,

21-20, I'd be stunned if the Presidents pulled the upset in this spot.

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Currently,

Norcom is the #8 seed for the Eastern Region Division

5 playoffs, which is somewhat of a surprise since last year they made it to the

regional title game against Phoebus. Norview

actually has the better passing attack of these two teams, believe it or

not. Quarterback Erwin 'E.J.' Faison is

a promising sophomore that leads the district with 1250 yards through, though

has as many interceptions (10) as touchdowns.

Norcom is vastly superior in two significant areas,

though. That's defensively and running

the football, led by the combo of Traquan Martin

(106Att. 696Yds. 6TD's) and Aaron Parker.

I definitely lean with Norcom in this one

because the Pilots' defense isn't equipped to stop the run, especially without

top tackler Bryce Atkins, who is done for the year due to concussions, and the

Greyhounds want to get that bad taste out of their mouths from a 14-0 shutout

loss to Granby. Norview hasn't beaten

class=SpellE>Norcom since 2001.

10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>For years, Great

Bridge had its way with Lakeland. The

Wildcats every meeting with the Cavaliers from 2002-10, then last year Lakeland

broke through with a 54-41 victory. We

could've seen a shoot-out again, except the Wildcats have struggled to put

together a consistent ground attack to replace the departed Dre

Mayes, and QB Ryan Bottoms has missed one of his key lineman in Garrett Watts,

out for the year due to injury. Bottoms

threw for 131 yards on 11 of 14 completions in the first half versus Nansemond

River last week, but the defense figured him out in the second half when he

went just 2 of 14. Receivers

class=SpellE>Daquan Cuffee and

class=SpellE>Kaleb Underwood are going to have to make plays against

Lakeland's speedy, talented skill position players like Antonio Jefferson

(28Rec. 460Yds. 5TD's), an All-Region candidate on the outside.

style=> Raekwon Johnson has

looked more like the guy that was Southeastern District Player of the Year as a

junior here lately with back-to-back 100-yard performances.

10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>This is one of the

few games on the docket this week that would go in that unpredictable

column. Hickory won last year's game in

resounding fashion, 55-3. They come in

with even records, the Hawks having done better head-to-head lately, and RB

Andy Eaton can chew up yards little by little while milking the clock.

style=> Indian River has shown quite a bit of

potential offensively these past few weeks when they've scored 98 points.

style=> In the four games before that, the Braves

scored only 20, so they've had more than four times the amount in fewer

contests since that point. Daniel Cross

is getting the hang of things at quarterback, Jaque

Sawyer has broken off some long runs, and WR's Kevin Smith and Richie Williams

are getting open against soft coverage more times than not.

style=> As long as DL Tyler Fain and LB's Ronnie

Tennessee and James Spruill keep Eaton in check on first and second down to

force Hickory to throw on third downs, they'll be in good shape, even away from

home.

line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Marcellus Harris' Denbigh

Patriots are looking to avenge a 15-12 loss to Gloucester from a year ago.

style=> Gloucester's only offense in last week's 37-3

loss to Woodside was a Jackson Lowther field

goal. Defensive coordinator Ken

class=SpellE>Hardcastle took over as Head Coach with Sonny Merchant

deciding to step down. All is not lost

for Gloucester, though. While neither of

these two teams will make a playoff push, they want to finish well and get

momentum going into 2013.

class=GramE>Dukes tailback James Scott, a junior that should get some

next-level looks, is 11th in the Eastern Region in rushing yards with 686

yards. That's not too shabby, and he's

one big game in this matchup away from having a realistic shot at 1000 for the

season. Denbigh has had inconsistent

play on offense, both running and passing with the lone game eclipsing 17

points being that 21-12 victory over Menchville.

style=> What gives them the edge if you ask me is

their defense has shown some improvement and can come up with some takeaways to

swing the game.

style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Two

teams enter with identical records, but the playoff outlook for both is very

different. Heritage currently is in the

Division 5 postseason if it started today and could get as high as the #5

seed. Meanwhile, Kecoughtan's

only chance to get to the playoffs would be to win out, which includes a win

over the Hurricanes and Hampton next week.

That's just because Division 6 is so top-heavy.

style=> The two leading rushers in the Peninsula

District square off here with Kecoughtan's Trenton

Cannon, who has 148 attempts for 1138 yards and 15 touchdowns, and Heritage's

Khalid Abdullah (147 carries for 1089 yards, 15TD's).

style=> With two terrific tailbacks on the field

taking center stage and the headlines in this one, what ultimately could decide

the outcome is quarterback play and which defense steps up.

style=> Right now, the Warriors have used two

different signal callers with Nick Carrera and Desmond Savage, while Heritage

seems to be settling on Richard Outlaw.

Also, the Hurricanes pitched a shutout last week of Menchville,

whereas Kecoughtan just gave up 42 to Bethel.

style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif";

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#292727'>

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>