Lake Taylor Responds with Rout of Western Branch
Lake Taylor Responds, Beats Western Branch 31-6:
When the Lake Taylor Titans lost at home last week to the Heritage Hurricanes - a team they beat 54-0 one year ago - by a count of 35-21, some questioned whether or not they would get up off the mat successfully with a tough schedule ahead.
Following Heritage, the Norfolk program hit the road to Chesapeake to take on the Western Branch Bruins, a playoff fixture in recent years at the 6A level, at the Art Brandriff Sports Complex.
Western Branch returned 16 starters from last season's team that reached the postseason, beat 5A-South Region finalist Indian River and nearly upset 6A State runner-up Oscar Smith. But the Titans were not going to go through their first 0-2 start since 1991 as the visitors came through with the proper response to defeat, rolling to a convincing 31-6 victory of the Bruins.
"There was a sense of urgency and we preached that all week," said Lake Taylor Head Football Coach Hank Sawyer. "With our goals and what we're trying to do, there was a sense of urgency for the whole program and everybody."
By night's end, the numbers bared out the type of dominance enjoyed by Lake Taylor, which has played in the State Championship game three times over the past four years with two rings. The Titans out-gained Western Branch 287-84 and played some suffocating defense for much of the evening, particularly in the second half.
Over the game's final two quarters, the Bruins finished with minus-15 yards as two negative plays on fourth down punt attempts resulted in safeties. Not only did Western Branch go backwards and give up four points on those plays, but it tilted field position in the opposition's favor as well. Also helping was Rashard Russell with four returns - three on kickoffs and another off a punt - measuring over 20 yards.
Russell caught the game's first touchdown pass on the game's opening series when quarterback Tyrek Hughey found him on a 34-yard aerial strike where he beat his defender over the top.
"It wasn't perfect, but we jumped out to a better start," said Hughey, who threw for 135 yards on six completions. "I felt loose and the offense was ready to go from the start."
Western Branch, which had a size advantage up front led by William & Mary commit Clint Marshall on the offensive line, finished with only 70 yards rushing on 40 carries. Only one run the whole night went for longer than 11 yards.
"We knew they wanted to use those backs and we knew we had to fill those lanes. It was a real difficult week because we didn't know if they would come out in double-tight, double-wing [or] spread. We felt like they were going to come out with some stuff Heritage did and they did somewhat. We just practiced all of it," Sawyer commented.
"Actually, the kids grew up this week because they were able to look at four or five different offenses this week and be able to adjust to them. We made some mistakes. We had three penalties, two 15-yard penalties on that drive they were able to score before the half. I thought that hurt us a little bit and I challenged them at the half."
Meanwhile, the Titans rushed for 152 yards on 40 carries with Raeshawn Griffin pacing their ground attack with 60 yards on 18 rushes.
"They were bigger, but our little guys aren't scared," pointed out Titans senior linebacker Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey. "We wanted to play Lake Taylor football. No matter what, we're going to run it and we're going to hit you."
Tucker-Dorsey Makes His Presence Felt:
There were quite a few talented players on the field on Friday night in Chesapeake for both Lake Taylor and Western Branch. None is a bigger name than lineman Darnell Ewell, a four-star prospect according to Rivals.com who has been chosen First Team All-State on both sides of the ball each of the past two years. Ewell is committed to play his College Football at Notre Dame.
On the Western Branch side of things, the aforementioned Marshall is a scholarship player and likewise for senior safety Zavion Hunt (offer from Army) and junior defensive lineman Jalen Alexander (offer from ODU).
Yet, none of them had a bigger impact on the game than Tucker-Dorsey. His scoop-and-score - a fumble he recovered and returned 42 yards to the house - with 3:34 remaining in the first half gave Lake Taylor a comfortable 21-0 cushion.
"I just wanted to make a play for my team," Tucker-Dorsey remarked. "We got a lot of momentum off of that play that there. We took a hard loss last week and really felt like we shouldn't have lost that game, but it happened. We definitely needed this and it was a confidence boost."
Prior to that play and beyond it, the James Madison University commit was flying all over the field. Besides his defensive touchdown, Tucker-Dorsey recorded 10 total tackles, eight of the solo variety, and was a major reason why the Western Branch running game didn't break off some of the long runs they've been known for during the Greg Gibson era.
"He's a run-stopper. He wants to lead this team and this is his time to lead it," Sawyer said of Tucker-Dorsey. "He's a student of the game and coach out there on the field. He came through for us."
Unsung Names Step Up:
In addition to the four lost fumbles and 12 penalties in their season-opening loss, Lake Taylor heard quite a bit about the 180 yards passing Heritage had, plus 14 incomplete passes of their own and just 89 yard through the air on eight completions. Much of it was attributed to the key graduation losses of Gatorade State Player of the Year Wayne Davis (Ohio State), Keyvone Bruton (Temple) and J.T. Wahee (Norfolk State).
However, those numbers were drastically better, even in the rainy elements, this time around.
"The chemistry is getting better every day," Hughey noted. "Since we've got this bye week, we're going to work on it more every day in practice."
New faces stepping up on the offensive side included Jeremy Frazier and fellow senior Greg Barnes. Frazier netted 59 yards on three receptions, while Barnes' lone grab went for 33 yards.
Defensively, the Titans limited Western Branch to 1-of-11 passing for 14 yards with senior DB Daiquan Richardson intercepting Bruins sophomore signal caller Dominique Brooks. In fact, Lake Taylor had five pass breakups from four different guys. Senior and new starting defensive back Terique Minor had a pair of those deflections, plus made a tackle for loss.
From game one against Heritage to game two versus Western Branch, the Titans showed improvement in the secondary.
"They did," Sawyer agreed. "The coaches said we've got to coach these kids. They haven't been there. They were on the team, but haven't been there."
By November, they hope to be clicking on all cylinders.
"We haven't put it all together yet. We're mixing the ingredients," added Sawyer. "You don't have to be good today, but you've got to win enough to get in the playoffs. And in the playoffs, you've got to do some things."
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Final Stats:
Lake Taylor Titans 31: (1-1 Overall)
Tyrek Hughey - 6-11 for 135Yds. 1-2TD/Int. ratio; 11Car. 23Yds. TD
Raeshawn Griffin - 18Car. 60Yds. TD; 1Rec. 9Yds; 4 Tackles, 0.5TFL
Deon Smith - 8Car. 43Yds.
Rashard Russell - 1Rec. 34Yds. TD
Jeremy Frazier - 3Rec. 59Yds; 4 Tackles, 0.5TFL, FF
Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey - 3Car. 26Yds; 10 Tackles (8 Solo), Fumble Return TD
Roman Bond - 6 Tackles (4 Solo), Sack
Tavion Copeland - 3TFL
Western Branch Bruins 6: (0-1 Overall)
Cassmeir Hutchinson - 13Car. 52Yds.
Keith Bryant - 5Car. 48Yds.
Brandon Byrd - 13Car. 27Yds.
Dominique Brooks - 1-11 for 14Yds. 0-1TD/Int. ratio
Jermaine Vaughan - 1Rec. 14Yds; 4 Tackles, 0.5TFL, 2INT's, PBU
DeShaan Dixon - 7 Tackles (4 Solo), FF
Jalen Alexander - 6 Tackles (3 Solo), TFL
Matthew Hatfield has covered football and basketball since 2004 for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. 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 every Saturday at 10 AM on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.