We close out the month of September with a set of games across the Tidewater area, two of the big ones coming on Saturday as Southeastern District heavyweights from Chesapeake collide when Indian River plays host to Oscar Smith, while Hampton tries to bounce back from their first loss when they take on unbeaten Woodside at Todd Stadium in Newport News.

The fearless forecasters - yours truly Matthew Hatfield, my Saturday morning ESPN Radio 94.1 co-hort Coach Ed Young and the computer simulator VHSL-Reference.com - are back to give you our selections on who comes out on top this week. We emphasize these picks are for entertainment purposes purely...

2019 Tidewater Predictions Battle:

Matthew Hatfield - 79-14 Overall; 20-5 last week
VHSL-Reference.com - 76-15 Overall; 21-4 last week
Coach Ed Young - 76-17 Overall; 20-5 last week

Menchville (1-2) at Denbigh (0-4) . . . From 2012-16, Denbigh won every meeting with Menchville, scoring no fewer than 21 points in any of those encounters. But it has been Menchville winning the last two matchups by shutouts and a combined margin of 41-0. There are close losses on the ledger for Denbigh this year to Grafton by a 21-18 count on a Monday night and most recently 20-12 to Newport News rival Heritage. Yet, will their defense be able to slow Menchville 2021 RB Javoni Hales?

Matt Says: Menchville 27-12
VHSL-Reference.com Says: Menchville 27-14
Coach Young Says: Menchville 22-14

Gloucester (2-2) at Kecoughtan (0-4) . . . When Gloucester walloped Kecoughtan 49-0 in the 2016 opener, it ended a nine-winning streak in the series for the Warriors. The Dukes won again 29-10 during the 2017 campaign, but Kecoughtan prevailed 28-20 a year ago. This Warriors team is really struggling to move the ball offensively. They didn’t find the end zone at all against Hampton or Phoebus. To further illustrate that, one of their touchdowns in a 27-14 loss to Bethel was a 90-yard kickoff return by Darrell Cone.

Gloucester has a veteran QB in Isaiah Lester, also the team’s kicker. Seldom does he make major mistakes, plus the defense seems to be improving slowly, but surely. Safety Kaleb Spencer, younger brother of ODU’s Isaiah Spencer, is developing into a bona-fide playmaker on the back end.

Matt Says: Gloucester 22-15
VHSL-Reference.com Says: Gloucester 23-20
Coach Young Says: Gloucester 26-21

Smithfield (2-1) at Warhill (3-0) . . . Things have not gone Warhill’s way lately in this series. In fact, the Lions have lost five in a row to Smithfield, the tightest of them coming last October when the Packers won 30-27. The matchup to watch in this one will be how the Smithfield defense does in terms of making plays in the backfield as well as stopping Warhill ball carrier Michael Akpan, a Second Team All-Region performer a season ago.

Akpan ran for 264 yards last week and his team’s first two touchdowns in a 36-6 rout of New Kent that certainly opened some eyes of folks around Region 4A. Smithfield has done better its last two weeks against the run – wins of 27-13 over Jamestown and 9-3 over Class 5 Norview – following their 24-7 loss to King’s Fork in the opener. The key for them will be to contain the run so that it forces Warhill to pass, where Sean Williams and Caelan Brownbill, who have six sacks apiece, can be factors.

Matt Says: Warhill 26-24
VHSL-Reference.com Says: Warhill 21-20
Coach Young Says: Warhill 19-14

Landstown (2-2) at Bayside (1-2) . . .

Since Bayside’s five straight victories over Landstown from 2012-16, the Eagles have won each of the past two years by counts of 15-10 during their unbeaten regular season of 2017 and 21-7 in 2018.

Matt Says: Landstown 19-14 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Landstown 24-20 Coach Young Says: Landstown 20-18

Green Run (1-2) at First Colonial (0-4) . . . Though they’ve been scoreless each of the past three weeks – getting shut out by the likes of Bayside, Princess Anne and Cox – the First Colonial Patriots have had reasonable success against Green Run. They’ve won three of the past four meetings with Green Run, which includes a 24-0 shutout last year and a zany 43-40 triumph back in 2017.

Matt Says: Green Run 26-24 VHSL-Reference.com Says: First Colonial 28-27 Coach Young Says: Green Run 30-12

Princess Anne (3-1) at Kellam (2-1) . . . Fresh off a double-overtime win over Ocean Lakes, the Princess Anne Cavaliers are enjoying their best start since a 3-1 mark to open the 2000 campaign. First-year Head Coach James Yeager will try to lead the Cavaliers to their first win over Kellam in 19 years. Chris DeWitt’s Knights have won 18 straight in the series, even piling up 63 points on the board last year following overtime victories over the Cavs in both 2016 and 2017.

Matt Says: Princess Anne 40-36 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Kellam 35-34 Coach Young Says: Kellam 28-26

Salem-VB (4-0) at Kempsville (0-4) . . .

Matt Says: Salem-VB 49-14 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Salem-VB 42-6 Coach Young Says: Salem 46-0

Tallwood (1-2) at Ocean Lakes (3-1) . . .

Matt Says: Ocean Lakes 42-7 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Ocean Lakes 32-12 Coach Young Says: Ocean Lakes 34-14

Lake Taylor (3-1) at Booker T. Washington (2-2) . . . Two of the very best running backs in the Class of 2021 will be on display with Lake Taylor’s Malik Newton and Booker T. Washington’s Rodney Hammond, both of whom have more than a dozen scholarship offers to date and are multi-sport standouts.

The Bookers are looking for their first victory over the Titans since 2004 when they prevailed 32-20. During that stretch, the Titans have topped 35 points on nine occasions against the Booker T. Washington defense, which will have its hands full trying to stop Newton, QB Jeff Foster and the twin-veer attack.

Matt Says: Lake Taylor 44-16 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Lake Taylor 31-13 Coach Young Says: Lake Taylor 38-20

Granby (0-3) at Churchland (3-1) . . . The Truckers ended a three-game winning streak by Granby in the series with last year’s 17-10 victory.

Matt Says: Churchland 38-7 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Churchland 28-14 Coach Young Says: Churchland 30-6

Norview (1-3) at Maury (3-0) . . .

Matt Says: Maury 48-14 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Maury 55-20 Coach Young Says: Maury 42-21

Norcom (2-1) at Wilson (1-3) . . .

Matt Says: Norcom 35-0 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Norcom 46-16 Coach Young Says: Norcom 32-6

Deep Creek (3-0) at Hickory (1-2) . . .

Matt Says: Deep Creek 40-14 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Deep Creek 28-12 Coach Young Says: Deep Creek 35-6

Grassfield (1-2) at Lakeland (0-3) . . .

Matt Says: Grassfield 27-13 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Grassfield 34-16 Coach Young Says: Grassfield 28-21

Great Bridge (1-2) at Nansemond River (2-1) . . .

Matt Says: Nansemond River 56-20 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Nansemond River 42-15 Coach Young Says: Nansemond River 44-12

Western Branch (1-2) at King’s Fork (2-1) . . .

Matt Says: King’s Fork 30-13 VHSL-Reference.com Says: King’s Fork 28-14 Coach Young Says: King’s Fork 33-14

Phoebus (2-1) at Bethel (3-1) . . .

Matt Says: Phoebus 36-12 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Phoebus 26-10 Coach Young Says: Phoebus 32-12

Warwick (1-3) at Heritage-NN (1-3) . . . This is a critical game for these two Class 4 schools out of Newport News jockeying for a spot in the playoffs. Heritage hasn’t lost to Warwick since 2012, although last year’s 19-17 escape could be classified in that ‘too close for comfort’ zone.

Matt Says: Warwick 22-11 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Heritage 23-17 Coach Young Says: Heritage 24-20

Northumberland (3-0) at Bruton (0-3) . . .

Matt Says: Northumberland 40-14 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Northumberland 48-12 Coach Young Says: Northumberland 48-6

York (3-0) at Grafton (1-3) . . .

Matt Says: York 42-6 VHSL-Reference.com Says: York 43-9 Coach Young Says: York 40-12

Tabb (1-2) at Lafayette (2-1) . . .

Matt Says: Lafayette 48-18 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Lafayette 56-16 Coach Young Says: Lafayette 48-0

New Kent (2-1) at Poquoson (1-2) . . . Seldom ever does New Kent score on Poquoson, let alone beat the Islanders. In fact, to find the last Trojans victory in this series, you have to go back to 2006 when they prevailed 20-7. Poquoson has won 12 in a row over the Trojans, blanking New Kent five different times.

Matt Says: Poquoson 23-16 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Poquoson 29-19 Coach Young Says: Poquoson 33-30

Oscar Smith (2-1) at Indian River (2-1) . . . With their 28-16 triumph at Oscar Smith last year, Indian River secured its first win over the Tigers since 1998 when the Braves pitched a 22-0 shutout.

Matt Says: Oscar Smith 20-14 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Indian River 18-16
Coach Young Says: Oscar Smith 22-20

Hampton (3-1) at Woodside (4-0) . . . While Hampton won six in a row over Woodside from 2003-08, the Wolverines have been more than competitive lately in this series. In fact, Woodside is 6-4 against Hampton since 2009, which includes narrow wins the past two years by margins of 14-10 and 31-26.

Matt Says: Woodside 27-13 VHSL-Reference.com Says: Woodside 32-10 Coach Young Says: Woodside 26-22

Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a regular contributor to the ACC Sports Journal. 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 weeknights from 6-7 PM on The 757 at 6 as well as every Saturday at 10 AM to Noon on ESPN Radio 94.1.