Maryland Powerhouse Cages Tigers
Perennial Virginia power Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake ushered in a new regime on a steamy Friday night when the Tigers played host to the DeMatha Stags.
Things did not go quite as well as the Tigers had hoped to begin the Bill Dee era as DeMatha broke open a 21-7 game at the break and rolled to a 42-7 running clock victory over the Southeastern District favorite that began the season ranked #1 in the state in Group 6A.
Three years ago, DeMatha came down to the Hampton Roads area and only beat Phoebus - who Dee led to four state titles before moving on to the college ranks after the 2008 season - by a count of 24-20. That didn't sit well with the Stags as they prepared for another battle with one of the top programs from around the '757' area code.
"I don't think we played as well as we wanted to a couple years ago. We really wanted to have a good showing," admitted DeMatha Head Football Coach Elijah Brooks, who played his College Football nearby at William & Mary.
"That was a very good Oscar Smith team. Coach Dee will get that program on the right foot and they'll be playing for a State Championship in December. Our guys came out and made the plays they needed to make. Towards the end of the game, we saw the impact of our tempo. We're extremely happy to come away with a win."
With the temperature at 93 degrees at kick-off and the heat index above 100, DeMatha's pace of play helped set the tone for them for the evening. Several Oscar Smith defenders - LB Keshon Artis, DB Branden Delbridge, linemen Kyle Thomas and Nidavion Toxey among others - cramped up during the contest, a couple of which did not return.
Oscar Smith would come up with a takeaway courtesy of Delbridge's fumble recovery on the game's first drive. The Tigers would go on to convert a pair of fourth downs on their opening offensive possession, but came away empty as a 28-yard field goal would be no good.
That missed opportunity would prove costly for Oscar Smith, which watched DeMatha get on the board first when senior quarterback Beau English found Dominic Lyles for a 39-yard touchdown pass with 3:12 remaining in the opening quarter.
“It was hot out here and a lot of guys felt it,” English said. “We had a couple cramps and their side had a lot of cramps. We were able to weather the storm, got through it and got the win.”
Not long after that first scoring strike, just two minutes into the second period in fact, DeMatha was on the board again on Khory Spruill's nine-yard touchdown run. Spruill had 112 yards rushing and two scores on 16 attempts in the game.
Meanwhile, Oscar Smith couldn't quite sustain much on the ground, despite moving the ball well in spots through the air. The Tigers managed just 66 yards rushing on 20 attempts. They opened the second half with a drive that moved all the way down to the DeMatha eight-yard line, only to see three straight incomplete passes result in a turnover on downs.
Perfection Through the Air:
Topping the efficiency rating of English would've been hard to do even in the Madden 17 video game on Xbox. He completed every one of his ten pass attempts for 140 yards and displayed the type of poise you'd expect to see out of a three-year starting quarterback.
Plenty of humility afterwards, too.
“I just have to thank my line for giving me time and my receivers were catching everything I threw at them. My teammates helped me out a lot," stated English.
"The coaches told us to respect what they do because they’re a great team and they showed that tonight, but we felt we just had to play our game because if we’re hitting on all cylinders it’ll be hard for any team to stop us."
Besides having a firm command of the offense and spreading the ball around to several different targets - six different Stags caught a pass - English used his feet and smarts to his advantage as well. He ran the ball four times for 62 yards, scoring twice on touchdowns.
His first touchdown run came on a strange play where he took the snap immediately once he got under center, then darted 41 yards to paydirt. It occurred before the Tigers could get set in time defensively.
His backup, junior Tyler Lenhart, isn't too shabby either. The 6-foot-3 triggerman completed both of his passes for 43 yards and probably provides his starter good competition in practice.
Defining Drive:
Some wondered coming in how effective the DeMatha running game would be without four-star recruit Anthony McFarland, the team's leading returning rusher from a year ago who suffered a leg injury in the preseason.
The Stags ended up rushing for 298 yards on 39 attempts, using seven different ball carriers. Their ability to pound the rock was best exemplified in the third period when they put together a 15-play, 92-yard drive that took six minutes off the clock, capped by English's two-yard touchdown run.
"Kudos to our offensive line. They worked so hard in camp and really showed their dominance at times," remarked Brooks. "I'm really proud of all those guys up front."
That left the score 28-7 in favor of DeMatha with 2:04 to play and Oscar Smith never recovered from there.
“The main goal was to run. We wanted to dominate the line of scrimmage. We didn’t plan on passing, but we saw it was open for us and we took the shots," commented DeMatha senior left tackle Marcus Minor, a four-star recruit and the anchor for the Stags up front on the o-line.
“We were just trying to come out hard, make our mark for the first game. We’re playing for Anthony, one of our soldiers that went down, so we’re just trying to do it for him."
Mitchell Bright Spot in Defeat:
The seven points scored by Oscar Smith marked their fewest in a game since the 2013 loss to Centreville in the State Championship, so offensively it wasn't exactly a thing of beauty for the Tigers. That being said, it's hard to pin blame on QB Shon Mitchell.
Entering the season in pursuit of VHSL career passing records for yardage and touchdowns held by Oscar Smith alum Phillip Sims, Mitchell completed 24 of 39 passes for 236 yards. There wasn't a touchdown, nor was there an interception.
“Shon couldn’t have done much more," Dee said afterwards. "We just didn’t capitalize when we had it down there in the red zone.”
Mitchell also didn't have the services of his top pass catchers from a season ago, Larry Chapel. Not listed on the team's current roster and regulated to spectator, Chapel had 1620 yards receiving on 85 catches last year to rank second in program history in each category.
Without Chapel, senior Khalik Perry hauled in nine balls for 119 yards. His 53-yard snag set up their lone touchdown of the night, a one-yard scoring plunge by Jahmeek Jones.
Back to the Drawing Board:
The 35-point loss was the worst for Oscar Smith from a margin standpoint since losing to Booker T. Washington out of Florida by a count of 57-21 in the 2014 opener. Like Booker T. Washington was then, DeMatha is nationally ranked, listed ninth by USA Today.
“We never stopped them. You’re not winning the game when you give up 300 yards rushing," Dee noted. "It didn’t help that we didn’t put it in [the end zone] either. It just was not a good night. We had a lot of guys going down with cramps and little nicks.”
As the Tigers move forward, they don't want to see their 82-game Southeastern District regular season winning streak come to an end when they travel to Nansemond River - a 63-0 victor over Menchville in its opener - on Friday.
“We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to get tougher mentally, physically," Dee added. "Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, that’s for sure. They’ll be licking their chops for us.”
Photos + Video Interview Links:
Final Stats:
DeMatha Stags (MD) 42:
Beau English - 10-10 for 140Yds. 1-0TD/Int. ratio; 4Car. 62Yds. 2TD's
Khory Spruill - 16Car. 112Yds. 2TD's
Myles Miree - 8Car. 55Yds.
Dominic Lyles - 3Rec. 68Yds. TD
Delante Hellams - 3Rec. 51Yds.
Grant Donaldson - 7 Tackles (4 Solo)
Joseph Towns - 6 Tackles (5 Solo)
Oscar Smith Tigers (VA) 7:
Shon Mitchell - 24-39 for 236Yds. 0-0TD/Int. ratio
Khalik Perry - 9Rec. 119Yds.
Deangelo White - 5Car. 42Yds.
Dekireon Turner - 9 Tackles (7 Solo)
Jahmeek Jones - 7 Tackles, TFL; TD rushing
Keshon Artis - 5 Tackles, FF
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.