Mike Smith’s 3-0 Hampton Crabbers and Jeremy Blunt’s 1-1 Phoebus Phantoms clashed at Darling in their annual matchup on Saturday, and it was one-sided, to put it lightly.
Phoebus jumped out to a 21-6 lead at the half, on the back of RB Anthony Turner and QB Chris Daniels on offense, along with stellar play by LB Corey Wilson on defense. It just continued from there with six sacks and three sacks.
In the end, it was a 42-6 win for the Phantoms, the defending Peninsula District Champs. The makes for 14 wins over Hampton in the last 17 meetings between the cross-town rivals, considered by some to be the best rivalry in the state.
“It’s always good when you can come out and play a tough team,” Blunt said. “We tell the boys this is one of those games growing up that when they were kids, this was the marquee game they all wanted to come and attend. At some point it's cool when you can look back, myself included, and remember what it was like to come to Darling and watch Hampton and Phoebus play.”
Phoebus also got scores from RB Jaylen White, a Navy commit who scored towards the end of the half to put the Phantoms up 21-6 after Hampton scored their lone touchdown. The Crabbers hit paydirt when Teddy Watson found Khalil Gunn on a 51-yard pass on 4th & 4 with 8:02 left in the second period. The Crabbers would fail on their two-point conversion.
White found the end zone again in the fourth to put Phoebus up 35-6. He had 92 yards on 14 touches from scrimmage to complement the 97 yards on 14 touches by Turner.
“We worked hard, there is no doubt about it,” remarked White, almost in matter-of-fact fashion. “The coaching is really amazing. It started in practice and we just worked hard from there. That’s how we got this done.”
The proximity of the two schools makes this an even bigger game, Phoebus and Hampton are located just a 12-minute drive down Settlers Landing Road from each other.
“This (the rivalry) starts in rec league, but it carries up to High School,” White explained. “We are just good friends that play some good football against each other. Everybody comes to watch us and it’s amazing.”
On defense for the Phantoms, senior LB Corey Wilson came up big with nine tackles, including seven solo tackles and a pass broken up as the Phoebus defense only let one big play get past them, the Crabbers only score.
“We had a great week at practice,” Wilson exclaimed. “Coach Blunt prepared us well and we came out here and executed.
"The nine tackles today came from me at practice just working on tackling drills, evaluating my play from last week. I didn’t like the way I was getting to the ball, so I made sure to get to the ball and making tackles in the run game.”
Inside the Numbers:
Phoebus Stats:
QB Chris Daniels - 5-11 for 78Yds. 0-1 TD/Int. ratio; 6Car. 28Yds. TD
RB Anthony Turner - 14Car. 97Yds. 2TD's
RB Jaylen White - 13Car. 80Yds. 2TD's; 1Rec. 12Yds.
RB Calvin Bunch - 2Car. 34Yds.
WR Kimani Jacobs-Robinson - 5Car. 28Yds. TD
WR Devontae White - 2Rec. 32Yds.
WR Kymari Gray - 1Rec. 21Yds.
WR Zion Porter-Ervin - 1Rec. 13Yds.
LB Corey Wilson - 9 Tackles (7 Solo), PBU
LB/DL Kyrell McKinney - 5 Tackles (4 Solo), 2.5 Sacks, Forced Fumble
CB Jachai Gray - 3 Pass Breakups
Hampton Stats:
QB Teddy Watson - 4-13 for 76Yds. 1-1 TD/Int. ratio; 12Car. 31Yds.
WR Khalil Gunn - 1Rec. 51Yds. TD; 5 Tackles (4 Solo)
QB/WR Max Pietrykowski - 2Rec. 17Yds; 0-1 passing; 8Car. Minus 4Yds.
WR Kalvin Bryant - 1Rec. 8Yds; 3 Tackles (2 Solo)
LB Sean Hassell - 6 Tackles (3 Solo), INT, Fumble Recovery; 1Car. 0Yds.
LB Julian Williams - 6 Tackles (3 Solo), 1.5TFL
CB Kyrie Scott - 5 Solo Tackles
S Michael Davis - 5 Tackles (3 Solo)
Postgame Video with Phoebus Coach Jeremy Blunt:
Phoebus Head Football Coach Jeremy Blunt chats with VirginiaPreps.com's Reese Becker and Matthew Hatfield following his team's 42-6 victory over the Hampton Crabbers at Darling Stadium on Saturday, September 21, 2019.
Coach Blunt's Phantoms are now 2-1 overall as they out-gained the Crabbers 354-97 on the afternoon, registering six sacks and forcing three turnovers. Phoebus has won 13 of the past 16 head-to-head meetings with the Crabbers, including three in a row.
Next up for Phoebus is a September 27th date with Bethel, which has won three straight since its season-opening loss to Maury.
Postgame Video with Phoebus LB Corey Wilson:
Phoebus LB Corey Wilson chats with VirginiaPreps.com's Reese Becker following a 42-6 win over Hampton on Saturday, September 21, 2019 at Darling Stadium.
Wilson recorded 9 tackles (7 solo) as the Phantoms beat the Crabbers for the third straight year and 13th time in 16 meetings.
Phoebus improved to 2-1 overall before a matchup against city rival Bethel at Darling Stadium.
Postgame Video with Phoebus RB Jaylen White:
Phoebus running back Jaylen White chats with VirginiaPreps.com's Reese Becker after his team's 42-6 win over Hampton at Darling Stadium on Saturday, September 21, 2019.
Committed to the Naval Academy, White rushed for 80 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 13 attempts as the Phantoms defeated Hampton for a third consecutive year. They now have won 13 of the past 16 meetings.
Phoebus sits at 2-1 overall before their take on Bethel (3-1) at Darling Stadium on September 27th.
