AAA ’04 Playoff Preview

Well, we’re heading into round two of the 2004 state playoffs. There were some serious surprises in the first round action. Some of those surprises were upsets and the biggest surprise was some of the big victory margins in some of the games.

The stunning big margins were in some of the most anticipated match ups like defending Eastern region champ and state runner up in division six Landstown torching always powerful Deep Creek. Deep Creek came into the game 9-1 from a tough, respected district. The Hornets featured a big 275 pound per man offensive line and two excellent running backs. Landstown is known for its speed and wide open passing oriented attack. The game was supposed to be a battle of land versus air with both teams having great speed and athleticism.

It never happened, Landstown jumped all over Deep Creek early, took a 27-0 lead and won 48-13.

Another anticipated great match up was defending state champ in d-6 Westfield taking on their nemesis 9-1 traditional power Oakton. The two teams had already played a great game. Oakton defeated Westfield 24-20 with an inspired halftime comeback. No such excitement this time as Oakton pounded Westfield 33-0 to take their third victory over the Bulldogs in the last three years. The Cougars are the only team to defeat Westfield in that time and two of the wins have been in first round playoff matchups.

The other shocker was W T Woodson pounding Langley 32-7. Woodson won with an unlikely last minute comeback during the regular season but they needed no late heroics this time.

The upset can’t really be classified as an upset. LC Bird knocked off state number one Varina 28-25 for the third straight year. Some would say 9-2 Bird shocked Varina but is it really shocking or upsetting if it happens three straight times. The Skyhawks just match up well with the Blue Devils. Everybody has a nemesis team, just ask Westfield about Oakton.

Division 5

North west Region

9-2 Massaponax vs. 11-0 North Stafford

North Stafford continued to show off their state championship level power up front. The Wolverines used their giant offensive line featuring three Division I-A commitments in 6-5 280 Tony North, 6-5 290 Patrick Slebonick and 6-3 315 Cadarrow Thompson to get a come back 14-7 win over a Potomac team that beat both d-6 finalists CD Hylton and Stonewall Jackson. Bi g 6-1 220 fullback Mark Kratzer gained 166 yards.

Massaponax is the defending region champ and the Panthers lost a bunch of great players but they are still right back in the region finals. Jason Lovett and strong defense keyed a 28-0 win over district rival Colonial Forge.

North Stafford has the type of talent to win the whole thing but the Massaponax players have been here before and they know how to do it at this level. This should be a good bruising battle.

Central Region

10-1 Meadowbrook vs. 10-1 Hopewell

Ah, so we meet again and again and again. These Central district rivals have already met this year in a 14-13 war won by Hopewell on a blocked extra point in the last minutes. They also met in the region final last year with Hopewell winning on the way to a state title in division 5. Meadowbrook however gave Hopewell its only loss in the regular season last year.

The two teams took very different paths into this game last week. Hopewell scraped by Henrico 14-13 with another blocked PAT late. Meadowbrook on the other hand destroyed a pretty good Mataoca team 34-14. That Mataoca team defeated Massaponax early in the season . It was the second time that Meadowbrook has soundly defeated Mataoca.

These teams who are only a couple miles apart off of route 10 really know each other. Hopewell has some veterans who know how to get rings in 6-0 225 fullback/linebacker Michael Pigram , qb-db Victor Mazzei and speedsters Eric and Bryan Cunningham. Meadowbrook has some talented veterans who have been down this road before as well. I-AA recruits running backs Roy Haliburton and Teorn Whitlock along with quarterback John Walker and receiver/defensive back Andy Peterkin all played in last year’s region final game. Also returning from last year is the state’s top junior lineman John Graves, a 6-4 255 pound dominator.

This game should be another great neighborhood showdown for big time stakes.

Eastern Region

9-2 Phoebus at 11-0 Hampton

Haven’t we met before? Oh yes, many, many times. It’s Hampton versus Phoebus for the Eastern region title again. It is the traditional battle of the two great titans of Hampton city. Hampton is of course Hampton and the Crabbers have 28 state titles but none since the four in a row from ’95 to ’98. Meanwhile Phoebus went back to back in 2001 and 2002.

This looks on paper to be a match up of the Crabber air attack featuring quarterback Tyrod Taylor throwing to highly recruited 5-11 1170 speedster Todd Nolen against the vaunted Phoebus ground attack with its 270 per man o-line and Virginia Tech commit 5-10 215 Elan Lewis. Lewis is rated as one of the top five backs in the nation.

Well Hampton can definitely pass and Phoebus can surely run but the wildcard in the match up could be Hampton’s Trayce McPherson. McPherson, a Nansemond River transfer, is one of the best sleepers in the state, and 5-9 205 pounder has over 1600 yards including 206 last week in the 47-12 win over Booker T Washington. With a large line led by 6-4 285 Herb Broughton, Hampton has a team that can win it all. The Crabbers can run, they can pass and they can defend but if Phoebus can Lewis going for one of those 250 to 300 yard nights it is hard to win no matter how good your offense is.

Hampton smoked Booker T. in the first round last week. Phoebus avenged an early season loss to Woodside with a 70-34 woodshed affair. Lewis rushed for 302 yards and six TD’s.

Both teams would like to carry the Peninsula district banner of redemption into the state semifinals. At times, the division 5 state title seems to be the personal possession of the Peninsula district as district teams have won all the d-5 titles since 1993 except for three. Last season, the district did not win the region or the state.

Northern Region

9-2 Edison at 10-1 W T Woodson

Las t week, both teams won district rematches. Edison fought off district rival Jefferson 35-26 in an exciting, close, back and forth match up. Woodson crushed their district rival Langley 32-7.

This will be a battle of the run versus the run. Edison gets it done with multiple speedy ball carriers out of a triple option offense. They feature Kevin Clark, Mike Roberts, speedy quarterback Anthony Robinson and speedy receiver Justin Smith. Woodson goes with a straight power wing T attack featuring 2000 yard rusher Matt Nickerson and halfback Nick Olivero along with quarterback Chris Collins.

This game will be a rematch of an early season game won handily by Woodson 28-0. Both teams have been in the region playoffs many times over the last few years but they are both looking for their first region titles. Woodson lost in overtime in the region title game in 2002.

Division 6

Northwest Region

9-2 Stone wall Jackson at CD Hylton

Both teams had good solid wins last week. Stonewall dominated GW Danville 44-23. Stonewall has been very hot lately with big wins over Potomac and then last week. Hylton got back on track with an exciting rubber match win over rival Woodbridge. The Bulldogs used a furious second half comeback to get the 35-20 win.

Stonewall, which is coached by former Virginia Tech star Loren Johnson was 0-10, two years ago but they have a sort of swagger about them that makes them very dangerous. They also have the speed to be very dangerous. Senior 5-8 190 running back Chris Garrett has over 1000 yards and he ran a 4.4 at the Nike combine and they have freshman Chris Williams who is just as fast and he is close to 1000 yards.

Hylton was struggling a couple of weeks ago but the win over a talented Woodbridge team may have been the tonic to get them back on track. The Bulldogs got running back Courtney Anderson back for last week’s game. They also have veteran 1600 yard passing qb Tristen Simmons. Hylton is looking for its 8th straight region title.

Central Region

9-2 LC Bird at 11-0 Hermitage

The talk of the region may be Bird because of their upset of top seeded Varina. Sometimes such big, emotional upset wins drain a team but it won’t happen to Bird because the defending regional champ Skyhawks probably don’t believe it was an upset. They won’t be shocked to be there and they won’t be all giddy either.

Hermitage used a couple of goal line stops to hold off national recruit Macho Harris and Highland Springs 13-6. UVA commit Jameel Sewell passed for 161 yards for the Panthers. One key difference in Hermitage and Varina this year may be the fact that Hermitage has been tested some. A close game may not be such a shock to the Panthers.

This game has some interesting side lights, Bird coach David Bedwell won a region title at Hermitage neighbor school Henrico. Hermitage coach Patrick Kane was a member of Bedwell’s staff at Bird in 2000.

Another subplot is the passing game. Hermitage has passed for well over 2000 yards this season. 6-0 185 junior Griff Yancey has over 800 yards receiving but Bird really hurt Varina with its passing game.

Bird is known for its ground and pound attack but it was big plays and speed that got it done for the Skyhawks Friday night. The Skyhawks got a 90 kickoff return TD, a 70 yard TD run and a game winning 45 yard TD pass to close the game. Junior 6-3 190 Bird wr/db Kevin Grayson may not have the stats of some of the other receiver prospects but he is in the top class. His game winning catch was a big time five yard diving catch.

Another subplot in this game is the two teams met in their final scrimmage.

Eastern Region

11-0 Landstown at 11-0 Oscar Smith

The defending region champ sent a clear message with their dominating 48-13 win over Deep Creek. Landstown used its trademark speed and wide open offense to take a 27-0 first quarter lead. Known for their passing game, Landstown stunned Deep Creek with a running game led by Virginia Tech commit Deveon Simmons and their two big play receivers Percy Harvin and Damon McDaniel on “jet” sweeps and reverses.

Harvin and McDaniel combined for 160 yards of receiver rushing.

Oscar Smith held off Granby 20-10. Maybe the biggest story was the health of Oscar Smith all everything quarterback 6-4 255 Greg Boone. The district player of the year and region top recruit sat out much of the second half. The Virginia Pilot reported that Boone is 100 percent for this week and he must be for Coach Richard Morgan’s Tigers to get a region title.

There will be a smorgasbord of talent on the field in this match up. Oscar Smith has Boone, 6-0 180 receiver Tommy Lawrence, junior running back Andre Cook, 335 lineman Julius Macklin while Landstown counters with Simmons, junior receiver Percy Harvin, seniors receiver Damon Mcdaniels and db/wr Ryan Goings and qb Markus Black.

A key question that has to be answered in this game is does Landstown have the number of the powerful Southeastern district teams. The Southeastern district has long dominated division six football in the Eastern region. Teams like Deep Creek and Western Branch and lately Oscar Smith controlled the region playoffs. Great Beach district teams like the CJ Humes CJ Fayton and Kai Parham led Princess Anne teams were crushed by the Southeastern powers. But not Landstown.

Last year, Landstown pounded Oscar Smith 35-6 in round one of the playoffs and then Landstown dominated a powerful Western Branch team that many people thought could have won the state.

Oscar Smith’s star receiver Tommy Lawrence told the Virginia Pilot that the Tigers are more balanced this year and have more experience. It should be fun to find if that is true on Friday.

Northern Region

10-1 Oakton at 11-0 Robinson

Oakton has been rolling down the stretch. The Cougars closed the season with a close win over Centreville . Then stunned Westfield at Westfield and ended the season with a 36-14 smashing of a good Herndon team. Just in case anybody had any doubts about the Cougars, they opened the playoffs with the 33-0 smashing of the defending state champions.

In the past, Oakton was known for defense under then coach Pete Bendorf. Now under former assistant Joe Thompson, the Cougars have plenty of offense. Running backs Keith Payne and Taylor Napella have been impressive each gaining 100 yards last week. Payne is a 6-2 205 junior that recruiters will be keeping an eye on. The Cougars have two productive qb’s in senior Reid Teschner and junior Kevin Houghton who has passed for 300 yards the last two weeks. Cody Grimm at 6-0 190 may not be a linebacker at the next level but he will be something because he is a player maker.

Robinson the top ranked team in the Washington DC area, struggled but prevailed against Centreville 14-9. 5-11 175 senior db/wr Nick Altomare showed why he is a highly thought of recruit as he picked off two passes while dueling area receiving leader Cameron Drohse.

Robinson qb Mike Goff had to take over on offense with 165 yards passing. Centreville was able to shut down speedy junior running back 6-0 180 4.4 Lucas Capparelli and the Robinson running game. The Rams will need to get it going this week.

This game will be a rematch of the week two game which Robinson won 23-17 in a thriller. The Rams won it with a late TD after jumping out to 17-3 lead. This whole setup reminds a lot of people of 2002. Robinson had defeated Oakton early but the Cougars won the region final at Robinson.