Oscar

Smith Head Football Coach Rich Morgan

couldn't dream it nor have drawn it up any better.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Led by the aerial fireworks display put on by

junior quarterback Phillip Sims and

senior wide receiver Tim Smith, the

Tigers sprinted out to a 34-0 half-time lead. 

About 20 minutes after that, Oscar Smith celebrated a 54-24 victory in

the Group AAA Division 6 State Championship game, capping an undefeated 15-0

season and becoming the first State Championship team – in any sport – in the

school's history.  Not even snow flurries

could slow down this tremendous Tigers team, which racked up a season-high in

both total yards (506) and passing yards (334) on Saturday in chilly Blacksburg

at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium.

After

five straight Eastern Region Championship game appearances, with a trip to the

State Semifinals last year, the Tigers finally proved the doubters, who felt

they wouldn't win a state title, wrong.

"Sometimes

in football, the breaks don't always go your way, and

finally this year we got the breaks.  The

losses just kill you and stay with you so long," said Morgan, who's now 73-9 in

seven seasons at Oscar Smith.  "In years

past, we've peaked too early.  This year

we talked about making sure we peak at the right time and in the playoffs so

that we played our absolute best tonight."

There was

no question that Sims and Smith played their absolute best as well.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Sims completed 14 of 22 passes for 334 yards,

6 touchdowns and no interceptions.  The

six touchdowns Sims threw were a single game State Playoff record.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  In his career, that now gives him 60%

completions (59 of 98) for 1107 yards and a 10-1TD/Int. ratio in the State Playoffs.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Smith, a University of Virginia commit, also

set some records on Saturday with 6 catches for 224 yards and 4

touchdowns.  The 4 touchdown catches was

also a single game State Playoff record, and he finished the year with 73

receptions for 1681 yards and 29TD's. 

Those 1681 yards receiving are more than any other player in Eastern

Region history during a single season.

"To know

that you've reached that goal, it's hard to explain," said Sims, who didn't

turn the football over once in his team's final four games.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  "They were showing a lot of man-to-man

coverage with a safety in the middle of the field.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  He had a lot of space to work, and if Tim

gets open, I'm going to find him.  I just

made sure I did what I had to do to put my team in the best position to

win.  If that meant not

throwing as many touchdowns or as many yards and hanging onto the football

more, that's what we're going to do. 

It's not about the stats."

"When

teams play Cover 1, I get all happy and jittery because I know I can beat the

person across from me," said Smith, who most will probably remember him from

this game for his catch on a deflected pass that made the score 32-0.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  At that point, everyone knew Oscar Smith was

rolling.  "When I get an opportunity,

I've got to make the most of it."

Leading

the defensive charge and flying to the football was the bone-crunching

linebacker trio of Perry Jones,

class=SpellE>Jerod

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

style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Raysean Richardson.  They combined

for 30 tackles, helping limit Osbourn to 38 yards

rushing on 33 carries.  Jones had himself

a pretty strong game rushing for the Tigers, carrying the ball 23 times for 150

yards and 2TD's.

"They've

got five linemen and two linebackers, so there was going to be a hole

somewhere," Jones noted.  "I knew as long

we got past the first level of the defense that we were going to be fine."

While it

was as ugly a first half as one could have for Osbourn,

the Eagles didn't tank it in the second half and showed pretty good effort,

outscoring the Tigers 24-20 over the final two quarters of play.

"We

started off inconsistent, but we came back with a vengeance.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  We really battled, competed, came together,

learned a lot about ourselves, about each other and the team really became

one.  For us to be underdogs week in and

week out, from week four or five on, win six in a row, beat four undefeated

teams and get to this point is a great accomplishment.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Tonight, we just got beat by a really good

football team," Osbourn Head Football Coach

style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Steve Schultze said.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'> 

"When

you're looking at 20-30 points trying to come back, I think any team is going

to struggle with that.  Their defense is

going to be able to sit back and cover the pass, and when they're as physical

as they are, they're still able to put pressure on us.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  That's what made it so difficult for us;

their secondary did a good job dropping off and not giving us quick

scores.  We are a quick striking team in

our spread, and then we grind it out in our single wing package.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  They did a good job defending that,"

class=SpellE>Schultze added.

At one

point in the season, Osbourn was 3-4, but they

knocked off three straight undefeated teams in the month of November and got

hot down the stretch to reach their second State Championship in three years.

"It's

definitely disappointing to make it this far, want to win that last one and go

out with a bang, but it didn't happen," said Osbourn's

Travis Bruns.

"I am

kind of upset at how the game went, but we had a good season," commented

style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Tyler Brown, who was the Northwest

Region Defensive Player of the Year and made 17 sacks this year.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  "Sometimes I didn't think we'd made it this

far, but my team gave me the confidence to think we could make it this far."

The

journey for Oscar Smith to reaching this point has been far from easy.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Coming off the heart-breaking loss to

Westfield and graduating three senior Division I receivers in Kerry

class=SpellE>Boykins, Jamal Wilson and Todd Harrelson, the Tigers really

suffered a major loss in their family when running back Lonnie Andrews, the

team's leading rusher a season ago as a senior in 2007, was killed.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  It's pretty clear that the Tigers dedicated

their season to him.

"We had

the disappointment of last season and we felt we gave away a State

Championship.  Then we had the death of

our former teammate, and that really added to the motivation," Morgan said.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  "They were not going to be denied."

Stats:

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  *** Courtesy of Mike Whittington and STATVA and

Big Thanks to Kim Black and

style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Mark Black for contributing photos to

this story! ***

Oscar

class=GramE>Smith  54:

Phillip Sims - 14-22

for 334Yds. 6-0TD/Int. ratio; sacked 0 times

Tim

Smith - 6Rec. 224Yds. 4TD

Perry Jones - 23Car.

150Yds. 2TD; 7 Tackles

Jerod

style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Askew - 14 Tackles (10 Tackles in 1^st

Half)

Brandon

Davis - 3Rec. 33Yds.

Josh

Broyles - 2Rec. 28Yds. TD

Matias Parker - 2Rec. 26Yds.

TD

Raysean

style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Richardson - 9 Tackles (8 Solo)

Corey Steward - 5

Tackles, 3 Sacks

Laquan

style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Darden - 4 Tackles, 2 Sacks

 

Osbourn

style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> 24:

Thomas Keith - 15-36

for 161Yds. 2-0TD/Int. ratio; sacked 5 times

Jerrell

style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> McFadden - 10Car. 28Yds; 5 Tackles

Timmy

Keith - 6Rec. 66Yds. TD

Gage

Hughes - 4Rec. 48Yds.

Steve

Slayton - 2Rec. 24Yds.

Damien Waterman - 7

Tackles

Marcus Matthews - 6

class=GramE>Tackles, 2TFL

Melvin

class=SpellE>Salmeron - 5 Tackles, 2TFL

 

 

Matthew Hatfield has

covered Eastern Region Basketball & Football since 2004 for

VirginiaPreps.com – the #1 High School Sports Site on the Rivals Network.

style='mso-spacerun:yes'>  Be sure to visit Hatfield's website –

href="http://www.matthewhatfield.com/">www.matthewhatfield.com – for more

on the pro and college sports scene, and be sure to hear him once a week on the

Tony Mercurio Show on ESPN Radio 1310. 

To contact Matthew, please e-mail

href="mailto:hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com">hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com.