Tigers Win Double-OT Thriller
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style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Tigers Survive in Double-OT Thriller:
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115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In the regular season finale for both teams, the Oscar
Smith Tigers and King's Fork Bulldogs gave fans in Chesapeake at
Beard-DeLong-Easley Field a memorable close to the Southeastern District
schedule as each team gears up for the start of the postseason.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Extending their Southeastern District winning streak to
55 games, Oscar Smith outlasted King's Fork 42-35 in double-overtime.
style=> Oscar Smith rallied from a 20-7 deficit in
the third quarter and put together a 97-yard scoring drive in 1:56 late in the
fourth quarter to tie the game, converting a pair of third downs and a fourth
down on its way to sending the game to overtime.
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"'>That
felt like a State Playoff game right there.
That went down to the wire and the last play.
style=> We finally listened to Coach and stopped
playing our own game," said Oscar Smith senior receiver and linebacker
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Melvin Vaughn, an ODU commit who caught
the winning touchdown pass from QB
normal'>Dashawn Blow on
third-and-goal in the second overtime session.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Once we battled back got it to overtime, it felt like
an equal opportunity because we were no longer down.
style=> It was basically 0-0 and a chance to start
over at that point. We need more games
like this, especially going into the playoffs.
But we've got to play way harder, execute better and get rid of those
penalties."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Coach Rich
Morgan of the Tigers wasn't pleased with some of the mistakes his team
made, but is still very confident his team can defend its Group AAA Division 6
State Championship as long as they perform at the level they did down the
stretch.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I wasn't really happy with the way we played most of
the night. To go that far in about a
minute and something, that was pretty special.
Those are the things we work on in practice and you get to use them once
or twice a year. We came through when we
had to, and I think we played at a little bit higher level than we had all
night in overtime," Morgan commented.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I saw this coming.
style=> We practiced terrible all week.
style=> I knew King's Fork was going to be ready,
focused, and sometimes you can't convince teenagers how much you know and how
much they don't know. I think we got
that across tonight."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>King's Fork out-gained Oscar Smith 277-238 for the game
and ran 12 more plays overall. The Bulldogs
also won the turnover margin, +2 with three takeaways compared to only one
giveaway.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>For an Oscar Smith that has now won 55 in a row in the
league, it was only the fifth time during that streak a team played them within
20 points and third time within single-digits.
This kind of challenge going into the playoffs, while it showed some
things have to improve on, could end up making the Tigers a better team in the
long run.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It's good to be tested.
style=> The kids were put in a pressure situation,
which is good," believes Morgan. "With
the exception of the Byrnes game, we hadn't had a game within 29 points all
year. To get that pressure under your
belt and prove you can do things under pressure, I think that's beneficial."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
mso-highlight:yellow'>Blow & Co. Execute Two-Minute Drill:
style=> Although he got intercepted in the fourth
quarter by King's Fork DB
normal'>JaQuon Diggs and
had less than 100 yards passing before his team's final offensive possession in
regulation, Blow came through when it mattered most in crunch time.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Blow completed 5 of 6 passes for 80 yards, hitting four
different receivers on the game-tying drive with under two minutes to go in regulation.
style=> All coming through with catches on that
series were Vaughn, Monty
class=SpellE>Fenner, Tristan
Cahill and Jaylen
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Bradshaw, who hauled in the tying
touchdown from 39 yards out.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Blow is a beast," his teammate and go-to guy Vaughn
said. "He threw an interception, but he
did not let up and forgot about that play."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Going into the regular season finale, Blow had
completed 62% of his passes for 1726 yards with 26 touchdowns and just four
interceptions.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Pistol Option Proves to be
Pain:
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> Out
of their Pistol-style look, King's Fork was able to run its option fairly
effectively against an Oscar Smith defensive front that is one of the better
around.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Junior Bulldogs QB Uriah
Adams had one of his finer outings of the year operating the team's attack
as he completed 13 of 24 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown, plus two rushing
scores as well as a key two-point conversion run that pushed their lead to 13
late in the third period.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We were doing a good job of shutting down the run, but
sometimes we lost contain on the option.
Anyone who runs their offense well is going to give you some issues,"
Morgan pointed out.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"They played very well and fought hard.
style=> I wouldn't be surprised to see them win a
playoff game because they're a good team.
To be honest, they probably deserved to win the game.
style=> They out-played us for about 45 minutes."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>To go with Adams' numbers, Virginia Tech commit
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Charles Clark put up 42 yards rushing with
34 of them coming on a reverse run for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
style=> Freshman tailback
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Deshaun
normal'> Wethington grinded out 79 yards on 25
attempts, doing most of his damage in the second half when he gained 48 yards
on his first 11 carries after intermission.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
mso-highlight:yellow'>Vaughn, Flowers Shine in Big Games:
style=> While the 35 points King's Fork put up is
the most any Southeastern District team has scored on Oscar Smith since Western
Branch had 49 versus the Tigers in 2003, they didn't crack 300 yards of offense
for the night. In fact, they actually
finished under their average for rushing yards per game, which comes as no
surprise because of the hard-hitting of Vaughn at linebacker and consistent
hustle of senior defensive end Darren
Flowers.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>To go with his six catches for 48 yards and a touchdown
on the offensive side of the ball, Vaughn gave an All-State type of effort
defensively, too. He finished up with 12
tackles, there for loss and a pair of sacks.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Melvin is one of those guys when it gets to this point
in the year he's just going to make plays," remarked Morgan.
style=> "That's what he does and that's why he's going
to college because you're going to play in high-pressure environments every
week and you've got to be at your best.
I'm glad he's on our team tonight because he really helped us out.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Flowers, who is still seeking his first scholarship
offer. He's tops in the team in tackles
and also has double-digit sacks on the season.
On the night, Flowers recorded 10 stops.
With star junior d-lineman Andrew
Brown suffering an ankle injury during the contest, his play was
indispensable in stopping the run and chasing the quarterback.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I'm not a college coach, but if I was, I probably
would want Darren Flowers on my team," Morgan added.
style=> "But hey, I don't get paid that money.
style=> I think he's a heck of a ballplayer and sure
glad he plays for us."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
mso-highlight:yellow'>Subtle, Yet Successful Adjustment:
style=> At the end of one half of play, King's Fork
led Oscar Smith 12-7. East Carolina
commit Davon
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Grayson sparked the King's Fork offense
from his receiver position, posting 11 receptions for 127 yards and a
touchdown. Eight of those grabs came in
the game's first two quarters, including a terrific leaping touchdown good for
27 yards.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Grayson carved up the Tigers secondary for much of the
first half, but then the Tigers' coaching staff made a move by putting corner
class=SpellE>Lakwon
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Chapel on him and from there on the
Bulldogs' receiver was less of a factor.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Over the final two periods of regulation and the two
overtime sessions, Grayson managed 19 receiving yards.
style=> Keeping him in check made the Bulldogs rely
more on running the ball, thus the Oscar Smith didn't have to worry about the
pass as much.
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Oscar Smith Coach Rich Morgan
href="http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2012/11/03/tigers-bite-kf-in-double-ot/">Suffolk-News
Herald Recap
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Stats: 2OT's
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Oscar
Smith 42:
normal'>
Dashawn Blow - - 17-31 for 171Yds. 3-1TD/Int.
ratio; 10Car. 39Yds. TD
DeShawn McClease - - 12Car.
119Yds. TD
Melvin Vaughn - - 6Rec. 48Yds. TD; 12 Tackles, 3TFL, 2 Sacks
Monty Fenner - - 4Rec. 61Yds.
Jaylen Bradshaw - - 2Rec. 48Yds. TD
Darren Flowers - - 10 Tackles, 3TFL, Sack
Shedrick Oliver & Troye
Harris - - 7 Tackles apiece
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>King's
Fork 35:
normal'>
Uriah Adams - - 13-24 for 141Yds. 1-1TD/Int. ratio; 18Car.
25Yds. 2TD's
Deshaun Wethington - -
24Car. 79Yds. TD
Charles Clark - - 5Car. 42Yds. TD; 1Rec. 12Yds; 4 Tackles, 2PBU
Davon Grayson - - 11Rec. 127Yds. TD; 3 Tackles
Tarrell Lassiter - - 10 Tackles, 2TFL
TC Livingston - - 6 Tackles, TFL, PBU
Deshawn Johnson - - 6 Tackles
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