Oscar Smith Edges Salem 35-34
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style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Tigers Escape 35-34, Grab Eastern
Region Title:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The saying that defense
wins Championships is often used in sports.
In this case, it preserved a title when it looked like one might be slipping
away.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In a game that featured two of the best offenses the
entire state of Virginia has to offer, a crucial defensive stop by an offensive
standout on a two-point conversion play late in the fourth quarter proved to be
the difference between Oscar Smith and Salem in Friday night's Eastern Region
Division 6 Championship held in front of a raucous crowd at the Virginia Beach
class=SpellE>Sportsplex.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>With 1:42 left to play in regulation, Salem scored
their fourth touchdown of the second half and had rung up 27 unanswered points,
making a once 35-7 Oscar Smith lead at intermission nearly evaporate.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Coming through in the clutch though was Tigers
senior Sequan
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Gooding, known best for his skills at
the wide receiver position, where he's committed to play his College Football
for Western Michigan next fall.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Gooding made the biggest play of his life and most
important of Oscar Smith's season when he stopped Salem running back
class=SpellE>Divante
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Walker, also a senior and one of the
top performers in the area this year with 30 total touchdowns, short of a
game-winning two-point conversion.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I just wanted to make a play for my team and make the
tackle. That's all I wanted to do.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Being a senior coming back this year, I had
to do something for my team," said Gooding, also the recipient of two touchdown
passes from quarterback J.J. Williamson in
the first half.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I saw the pitch and the wing blocker tried to block
me. I shed the block like I was taught
to in practice, and went and made the tackle.
It feels good. I was kind of
worried, my heart was beating real fast and I didn't want to go through what we
did last year."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Last year, the Tigers lost in a shoot-out at the
class=SpellE>Sportsplex to Bayside, 42-40, in the Eastern Region title
game, seeing an 11-game win streak end to the Beach District Champions.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> This time, they eliminated the Beach District
Champs, surviving for a 35-34 victory that earns them a spot in next Saturday's
Group AAA State Semifinals against either Battlefield or C.D.
class=SpellE>Hylton from the Northwest Region.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Last year, this same place we lost.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> For us to come out this year and win it, it's
unbelievable. We redeemed ourselves,"
remarked Williamson, who played one of the finest games of his career, throwing
for 294 yards on 20 of 24 with three touchdowns.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "This means a lot for us with the hard work
and dedication over the summer, the coaching staff believing in us and our team
coming together."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>It was fitting that the Tigers, who saw their defense
torched for 51 points in a season-opening loss to Gilman out of Maryland, held
off a furious Salem rally by making a play on that side of the ball to win the
game. The win marked the fourth Eastern
Region Division 6 Championship for Oscar Smith since 2007.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I've never had a team grow as much as this one.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We've never had a team start off so un-Oscar
Smith like in Week One, and then grow to where they've become now," stated
Oscar Smith Head Coach Rich Morgan afterwards.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
"The first half was as good as Oscar Smith
has played probably ever in the first half.
We've done it with the smallest line in Virginia, offense and
defense. We've done it with new
starters, and this team has come a long, long way, and I'm very proud of them.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We're still playing, and I'm just glad we got
a chance to fix things on Monday."
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Gamble Backfires:
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Salem Head Football Coach
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Robert Jackson wanted it bad, for his
seniors and all his players that fought back from a 28-point deficit.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> But in the end, his two-point conversion
attempt that could've brought the SunDevils its first
regional title since 2006 when they last beat the Tigers failed, and a bid to complete
a comeback for the ages was over.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Anything was possible.
We had a chance to win, and Oscar Smith stepped up and made a great
play," said Jackson, who explained the thinking behind his decision.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We were just going to go for the win.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I don't believe in overtimes.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> That call was on me.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If it worked, we win the football game or we
have a chance to win, but it didn't, so whatever blame there is for it, I take
it all. We thought we had the momentum,
had a good play called and it just didn't happen.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We were inches away and this is a game of
inches."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Jackson noted afterwards that the play was not run as
they had hoped. Salem called for a toss
pass option, giving Walker, the ball carrier, the option to run it throw it, but
the receiver never went out and instead stayed in to block rather than go to
the back of the end zone. That forced it
to be a run.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I'm proud of my kids.
They could've come out here and just laid down,
but they didn't. The Salem program, we've
got a bright future ahead of us. We're
not ashamed of anything here tonight."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
mso-highlight:yellow'>J.J. is Dynamite:
Even though he threw for 224 yards and four touchdowns in the fourth
quarter alone of last year's region title game, Williamson left that night
thinking what could've been. That wasn't
the case this time around as he got in a groove from the get go, completing on
16 of 18 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> His ball distribution was outstanding, finding
five different receivers for completions.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Considering the spotlight, Williamson couldn't have
shined any brighter.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I felt like this was probably one of my best first
halves ever in my life," he said. "We
executed the game-plan perfectly, and I felt like we capitalized on what we
wanted to do. The offense is starting to
click, and we're definitely in our zone now."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Maybe most impressive was his ability to extend plays
with his feet in the pocket in facing a fierce Salem pass rush that routinely
sacks and harasses opposing quarterbacks.
It took the Salem defense a couple quarters to get a handle on the
Tigers' offense, and by then they were playing so far behind that a takeaway or
big hit couldn't change the whole completion of the game but so much.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We work on scramble drill every week, so our kids are
used to breaking off routes when J.J. scrambles and finding openings," said
Morgan. "I think we do some things
offensively that a lot of people don't do, especially at the High School level,
and it paid off tonight."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
mso-highlight:yellow'>Tale of Two Halves:
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Thorough domination would be the way to
best describe Oscar Smith's play in the first half, racking up 224 yards of
offense on 29 plays without a turnover and only one sack allowed.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Salem, meanwhile, had only 24 plays for 101
yards of offense and a couple of turnovers, plus failed to recover an Oscar
Smith squib kick, which meant their offense took the field down 14-0.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In the second half, 6-foot-6 junior quarterback
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Bucky Hodges got the
class=SpellE>SunDevils rolling with his passing and running, connecting
on 9 of 11 passes after half-time for an offense that went on to gain 257 yards
on 33 plays over the game's final two quarters.
Hodges went on to finish with three touchdown runs, and Salem was a
perfect 4-for-4 on third downs, utilizing all their weapons from backs Walker
and Brehon
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Daniels to receivers
class=SpellE>Kwamane
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Bowens, James Church and Darius
Fredrick.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Oscar Smith, which generated just 40 yards on 25 rushes
on the night, then hit a dry spell. The
Tigers ran 20 plays for 110 yards in the second half and 39 of those yards came
on a Williamson completion to Jeff
Woods.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
mso-highlight:yellow'>Used to Classics:
On Friday night, Oscar Smith made its eighth straight appearance in
the Eastern Region Final and evened their record up to 4-4 in these
Championship battles. All of them,
except a loss to Salem by double-figures in 2006, have gone right down to the
wire.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Every one that we've won has been difficult and every
one that we've lost has been a heart-breaker except for one.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Seven of the eight have been decided by a
touchdown or less," pointed out Morgan.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"They've all been close, and they're supposed to be,
right? These are supposed to be the two
best teams, so they're supposed to be close.
Salem moved the ball a little bit in the first half.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It wasn't like it was three-and-out every
time. It isn't like we thought they were
going to go away, and we knew what was going to happen."
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Instant Flashback:
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>So what was going through
the mind of Morgan when Salem lined up to go for a two-point conversion down by
a point that would likely either win or lose the game?
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The same gutsy move Morgan made seven years
ago versus Chris Beatty's Landstown Eagles.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>That night, Oscar Smith was stopped on the play and
lost, 40-39 to the Eagles in 2004 in what was the second highest scoring game
in Eastern Region D-6 Championship history.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"What was going through my head was 2004, us against
class=SpellE>Landstown. I was
thinking the same thing. We had the
momentum, went for it, didn't get it with Greg [Boone] and I was thinking the
same exact thing. I really thought we
were going to stop them if they went for it.
I thought we were in the right position on defense, Sequan
made a great play and the rest will be history.
It doesn't matter how you win as long as you win."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
mso-highlight:yellow'>Closer Look at the Decision:
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> While many will view this battle between
two powerhouses as one that boiled down to a two-point conversion try in the
closing moments, there were several other plays
throughout the course of the game that had significant meaning.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Salem (11-2) had its chances in the first half to draw
closer, such as on the final play of the second quarter when Hodges was
intercepted in the end zone by Oscar Smith safety Josh Townsend. They also
could've stopped the bleeding earlier if they had been able to tackle
Williamson on his 4th-and-goal run to the end zone that pushed the Tigers lead
to 14-0 midway through the opening period.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Nonetheless, a lot of teams, if not most all, would
have signed for a shot to go to overtime by making an extra point if trailing
35-7 earlier in the game. Instead, the
class=SpellE>SunDevils are left wondering what if.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> What if they the two-point conversion was
successful? Or what if they kicked the
extra point, and gone to overtime?
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>We'll never know, but what we do know is Oscar Smith (12-1)
will be headed to the State Playoffs, sitting two wins away from capturing
their second state title in four years.
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Notes Here
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
href="http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/914/1177250.WMA">Postgame Audio with
Oscar Smith Coach Rich Morgan
Oscar Smith QB J.J. Williamson
Oscar Smith WR/DB Sequan Gooding
Salem Coach Robert Jackson
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Stats:
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"'>Oscar
Smith 35:
10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>J.J. Williamson - -
20-24 for 294Yds. 3-1TD/Int. ratio; TD run
Zack Jones - - 7Rec. 76Yds. TD; 3 Tackles, PBU
Sequan Gooding - - 3Rec. 65Yds. 2TD; GW Tackle
Jeff Woods - - 3Rec. 51Yds; 3 Tackles
Melvin Vaughn - - 3Rec. 48Yds; 4 Tackles, PBU
J.C. Coleman - - 18Car. 24Yds; 4Rec. 24Yds.
Brandon Riddick - - 7 Tackles
Rhakeem Stallings - - 6 Tackles, TFL, Fumble Recovery
Kanyia Anderson - - 6 Tackles, 2TFL, Sack
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Salem
34:
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Bucky Hodges - - 16-23 for 155Yds. 0-1TD/Int. ratio; 12Car.
60Yds. 3TD
Divante Walker - - 13Car. 122Yds. TD (9Car. 69Yds. 2nd
Half); TD pass
James Church - - 6Rec. 74Yds. TD
Kwamane Bowens - - 5Rec. 56Yds.
Darius Fredrick - - 4Rec. 42Yds; 2 Tackles, INT
Jeff Stephens - - 7 Tackles
Justin Vinson - - 6 Tackles, 2TFL
Andrew Motu'apuaka - - 5 Tackles, TFL
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"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
href="http://www.virginiapreps.com">
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>VirginiaPreps.com
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>, part of the Rivals.com
Network. Check out
href="http://www.twitter.com/hatfieldsports">
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 info and
updates. To contact Matthew, please
e-mail
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none;text-underline:
none'>hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com,
and don't forget to listen to him on the VirginiaPreps.com Hour every Saturday
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