Eastern Region Rewind - Quarterfinals
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The quarterfinal round of playoff action in the Eastern
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Region didn't disappoint. While there
was a 50-plus point shutout and five of the games saw teams win by double-figures
without any seeded upsets (unless you
want to count a #5 seed beating a #4 seed with the same record going in),
there was some drama. To go with some
key injuries all around that had games up in the air, three were decided by a
touchdown or less, and only two of the games were totally lopsided at
half-time.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Let's take a look back at what transpired and a small
peek ahead to what the matchups will be in the semifinals with the field
shrinking . . .
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Division 5 Quarterfinals:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#1
Lake Taylor 51, #8 Maury 0:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Grabbing
a 28-0 lead before the end of the first quarter, the Lake Taylor Titans pounced
on the Maury Commodores immediately in a 51-point drubbing.
style=> The Titans got 129 yards rushing and two
touchdowns from tailback Brandon 'Pork
Chop' Moore, who scored a third touchdown on a 15-yard reception from
class=SpellE>Delmon
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Williams.
style=> Moore's backfield mate,
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Daquan
normal'> Davis, added 114 yards rushing and 3TD's on five attempts.
style=> Maury's season closes out at 5-6 overall.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#2
Phoebus 35, #7 Heritage 7:
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The four-time reigning Division 5 State Champion Phoebus Phantoms
grabbed their 21st consecutive playoff win by scoring 35 unanswered points to
beat the Heritage Hurricanes. Tailback
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tony Pittman ran for 154 yards and two
touchdowns, while freshman quarterback Terrell
Toliver threw for 95 yards and a pair of scores,
both to ODU commit Riche
class=SpellE>Staton. Heritage,
which saw PD Offensive Player of the Year Khalid
Abdullah held to 52 yards rushing on 12 attempts, ends its season at 6-5
overall.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#3
Hampton 34, #6 Norcom 6:
style=>
line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The Crabbers beat
class=SpellE>Norcom for a second time this season, jumping out to a 28-0
lead by half-time to firmly establish control in their quarterfinal
matchup. Quarterback and Virginia Tech
commit Deon Newsome rushed for 109
yards and a pair of touchdowns to go with 86 yards passing and 2TD's - - one
each to ODU commit Daquin
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Moore and
normal'>Umar Muhammad-Wyatt.
class=SpellE>Norcom finishes with a record of 6-5 overall.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#4
Lakeland 16, #5 King's Fork 15:
line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> Improving to 8-3 overall, the Lakeland
Cavaliers advanced thanks to a 31-yard touchdown pass from
normal'>Zach Super to Mike
class=SpellE>Piersawl, followed by a successful extra point try from
Austin Brown, with 10 seconds
remaining to edge their Suffolk rival.
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Antonio Jefferson helped set up the
winning play with a 42 yard kickoff return.
Jefferson was a threat at receiver with eight catches for 93 yards.
style=> For the second week in a row, King's Fork
lost a game in which led with under a minute to play in regulation.
style=> The Bulldogs end its best year in school
history at 7-4 overall.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Division 6 Quarterfinals:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#1
Ocean Lakes 34, #8 Granby 3:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Despite
watching star quarterback Corwin Cutler go
down to injury trailing 3-0 at the end of one quarter, the Ocean Lakes Dolphins
went on to score 34 straight points and push their record to 11-0 overall.
style=> The trio of
normal'>Brandon Simmons, Jordan
class=SpellE>Bobo and
normal'>Jaason Lewis combined
for 177 yards rushing and 2TD's, while
normal'>Myke Knox led the
defensive effort with a pick six.
style=> Granby finishes the 2012 campaign with a
9-2 mark, both of their losses coming to teams who are currently undefeated.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#2
Oscar Smith 35, #7 Bayside 12:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>After
a rocky start where QB Dashawn
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Blow got intercepted three times and
they trailed 6-0 in the closing moments of the second quarter, the Oscar Smith
Tigers got the spark they needed just before the half on Blow's 20-yard
touchdown pass to Deshawn
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Hatten to
give them a 7-6 lead going into the locker room.
style=> Oscar Smith then got touchdowns in the second
half from Lakwon
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Chapel on an interception return,
class=SpellE>Jaylen
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Bradshaw on a pass reception and
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Marcus Smith on a run to roll past
Bayside, which saw its season end at 8-3 overall in the final games of
record-setting performers
normal'>Taquan 'Smoke'
class=SpellE>Mizzell at running back and QB
normal'>Deion Stitt.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#3
Salem 18, #6 Grassfield 13:
style=>
line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Trailing 13-12 late in the
fourth quarter, the Salem SunDevils took the lead on
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Andre Toran
style='font-weight:normal'>'s 1-yard run and then buckled
down in the red zone down the stretch to keep Grassfield
out of the end zone to preserve a hard-fought victory without injured star quarterback
Bucky Hodges.
style=> Starting for Salem was ninth grader
class=SpellE>Jarrel
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Lightbody,
who completed 8 of 12 passes for 120 yards, while standout receiver
class=SpellE>Kwamane
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Bowens played a versatile role by
accounting for 222 yards on offense and scoring on a 46-yard run.
style=> The Grizzlies finish at 8-3 overall.
href="http://virginiapreps.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1434939&PT=4&PR=2">Game
Recap
Coach Robert Jackson
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#5
Western Branch 23, #4 Bethel 21:
line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> In a battle between teams nicknamed the
Bruins, Western Branch pulled it out with under a minute to go on
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Brady Schomburg
style='font-weight:normal'>'s game-winning 30-yard field
goal. Once again, Western Branch rode
the legs of UCONN commit and standout tailback
normal'>Josh Marriner, who racked up 173 yards on
the ground and a touchdown on 30 attempts.
Quarterback C.J. Thomas helped
the Bruins convert all three of their fourth down opportunities, hitting
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>T.J. Boothe and
Brandon Addison through the
air. Despite being out-gained on the
year, Bethel had an impressive year that concludes at 8-3 overall.
href="http://virginiapreps.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1435469">Game Recap
Coach Greg Gibson
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style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Division
5 Semifinals:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#4
Lakeland (8-3) at #1 Lake Taylor (11-0)
Storyline:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The
Lakeland Cavaliers became the first Suffolk school to reach the semifinals of
the regional semifinals at the Group AAA level by beating King's Fork in last
week's quarterfinals. They've yet to
play Lake Taylor in the postseason, and the Titans are two wins away from
winning their first regional title since 1982.
Lake Taylor has fallen in either the regional semis or title game in
three of the last four years, losing each time to Phoebus.
style=> QB
normal'>Delmon Williams of
the Titans has still yet to thrown an interception in 11 games.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#3
Hampton (9-2) at #2 Phoebus (11-0)
Storyline:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>For
the second time in three weeks, these two Division 5 giants with numerous
Championships in their trophy case square off with the stakes much higher this
time as the winner gets to the regional title game the day after Thanksgiving,
while the loser is done. It was tied at
21 all with three minutes to play in the regular season finale when
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tony Pittman broke off a long touchdown
run, and Richie Staton
returned an interception for a score to put it out of reach.
style=> The Crabbers actually had more total yards in
a loss.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Division
6 Semifinals:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#4
Western Branch (9-2) vs. #1 Ocean Lakes (11-0) at Va. Beach Sportsplex
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Storyline:
style=> The Dolphins will be without starting QB
and UVA commit Corwin Cutler, who
tore his ACL in his knee in their playoff win over Granby.
style=> Without him,
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Churchie
normal'> Harold makes his first career start under center.
style=> Ocean Lakes brings in the top-rated scoring
defense in the region against Western Branch's
normal'>Josh Marriner, the leading rusher in the
rushing.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#3
Salem (10-1) at #2 Oscar Smith (10-1)
Storyline:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Where
do you begin? There are so many.
style=> For starters, will Salem have QB and Virginia
Tech commit Bucky Hodges at their
disposal? He sat out last week's playoff
win over Grassfield due to a hand injury.
style=> Oscar Smith, which has been dealing with
injuries of their own to star wideout
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Zach Jones and junior defensive lineman
Andrew Brown, has ended Salem's
season each of the past two years in the playoffs, including in a thrilling
35-34 Eastern Region Division 6 Championship last November, won when they
stopped a two-point conversion.
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. . . Be sure to check back for Predictions of those four games, plus you'll
want to see our Q&A with Lakeland Head Football Coach
normal'>Glenwood Ferebee later this week!
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none;text-underline:
none'>Matthew Hatfield
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>
has covered Eastern Region Football & Basketball since 2004 for
VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network.
href="http://www.twitter.com/hatfieldsports">
normal'>
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Hatfield's Twitter page
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> for more sports related updates,
href="http://www.suffolknewsherald.com">
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Suffolk News Herald
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>.
href="mailto:hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com">
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>, and don't forget to listen to him
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none;text-underline:
none'>ESPN Radio 94.1
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none;text-underline:
none'>Cox 11 Sports Report
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>.
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>
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