We've reached the final week of the regular season and as you will see from

some of the scores, the kids were playing their hearts out especially in the

Indian River/Lake Taylor, Kellam/Tallwood, Lakeland/Norview, and Oscar

Smith/Booker T. Washington games -- all of which were closely played games.

The stars that had been shining continued as Jerod Mayo, Elan Lewis, Ryan

Pond, and TJ Mitchell, among others, put exclamation points on their seasons as

did some of the top teams like Hampton, Western Branch, Phoebus and Deep Creek.

For the last time in 2003, let's check out the entire schedule...

In game one of a two-week series where the second game means a whole lot more

than the first, the Indian River Braves bested Lake Taylor in overtime by an

extra point. The two teams will meet again on Friday in the first round of the

playoffs. While the Braves can ride the confidence of the win, the Titans did

out gain them 228 to 152 so their confidence shouldn't be damaged much. With

Indian River's Brandon Ore (pictured) on the bench, the Braves rushing attack struggled,

gaining only 33 yards while Lake Taylor's Purnell Sturdivant gained 121 yards on

33 carries. To borrow a quote from former Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks,

"Let's play two!".

Ocean Lakes threw for 0 yards passing in the game but, when you are running

the ball as effectively as they were, why throw it? Ocean Lakes [do they call

themselves the O.L. after that new show on Fox, the O.C.?] ran for 299 yards on

42 carries led by Scotty McGee's 164 yards and Cam Patterson's 78 in the win.

McGee scored 4 TDs while Joe Baptiste added a 73-yard interception return for

the Dolphins fifth TD.

The Cox Falcons entered new territory as they came into this game with

playoff hopes alive. While the playoff dream ended, it was by no fault of their

own. Cox scored the game's first 23 points and used a punishing running game to

secure the win. The Falcons ran on all 53 of their plays, gaining 247 yards, led

by Andre Boone who carried 22 times for 106 yards as he finished the season as

the Beach District's leading rusher.

With 28 points in the first quarter, the Landstown Eagles secured their 10th

victory of the season early in this contest and by running for 130 yards and

throwing for 212, Landstown showed the type of balance that other playoff teams

will have to fear. QB Terry Mitchell threw four TDs and completed 14 of his 19

passes for 205 yards. Mike Mayers and Jeremy Gilchrist caught 10 passes between

them for 143 yards and 2 TDs and RB Arlo Pugh rushed for 82 yards and a TD.

Tallwood was able to out gain Kellam 240 to 156 but it was the Knights who

won the scoring battle connecting on two field goals and scoring a touchdown on

a Brandon Bunn 76-yard interception return. Justin Gibbs led Kellam's offense

with 69 yards rushing on 11 carries but it was the Knight defense that won the

game with their TD and limiting Tallwood to only one score. Lions QB Rodney

Landers ran for that TD while also throwing for 109 yards and running for

another 75.

Princess Anne's Evan Taylor ran for two TDs and QB Jeremy White threw for two

leading the Cavaliers to the victory in the season finale. Taylor accounted for

159 of Princess Anne's 219 rushing yards while White complemented the rushing

with 123 passing yards.

The Nansemond River Warriors saved the best for last as they rushed for a

season-high 344 yards and their defense surrendered a season-low 34 yards

offense as the Warriors won their finale. RB Trayce McPherson led the way with

280 yards rushing on 30 carries and scored both of the Warrior TDs. Churchland

was limited to only 7 yards rushing and 27 yards passing.

Granby scored the game's first three touchdowns as Bobby Rome connected on

two TD passes and ran for another leading the Comets attack. Rome finished 10 of

23 for 138 yards, ran 10 times for 51 yards, and got help from WR Randolph

Kirklan who caught 4 passes for 82 yards and a TD. The Granby defense held Great

Bridge to 30 yards rushing and only 155 total in the win.

Hickory jumped out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter then added another 14 in

the second to take a commanding 28-0 lead at the half. The Hawks running game

dominated this match up as they totaled 319 yards rushing on 41 carries as the

win gave Hickory their first winning season in school history.

With their playoff hopes riding in the balance, Deep Creek show no signs of

being jittery, as they jumped out to a 34-0 halftime lead on the strength of

their running game. Kishaun Jones rushed for 142 yards and scored 4 TDs for the

Hornets who totaled 331 yards rushing in the game. Norcom's Louis Freeman ran

for 104 yards to pace the Greyhounds attack against the strong Hornet defense. I

was thinking of going with 'buzzing' Hornet defense there but I think that after

the horrible puns in the last preview column, adding more would be torturous.

In a defensive battle, it was the Lakeland D that provided the game's biggest

play as they recovered a fumble in the Norview end zone in the fourth quarter to

even the score at 6, then RB Tyrone Parker scored on a 4-yard run in overtime

for the win. Cavalier Chase Nelson accounted for 50 yards on 5 rushes on offense

but his biggest contribution was his three fumble recoveries including the

game-tying one.

The Oscar Smith offense didn't produce its customary 400 yards of offense but

they did get 156 yards rushing and 159 yards passing to help them enter the

playoffs on a four game winning streak. They scored on an Anthony Chapman punt

return to open the scoring then added 20-yard TD pass from Greg Boone to Paul

Roseboro before Boone scored their final TD on a short run. Roseboro caught 5

passes for 92 yards including the touchdown as the Tigers posted the school's

best record in 40 years.

The Western Branch offense served notice that they will be difficult to deal

with in the playoffs as they posted an even 500 yards on the Wilson Presidents,

258 on the ground and 242 through the air. Five players scored for the Bruins

who led 28-0 before Wilson got on the board with a Jamaal Deans run who scored

both Presidents TDs. While Deans provided most of the Wilson offense with 226

yards on 21 carries, Western Branch got big games from QB Ryan Pond [14 of 25

for 242 yards], WR Kien Windley [6 catches for 136 yards] and RB Dominic Scott

[8 carries for 62 yards and 2 TDs].

Hampton busted open a 7-7 halftime score by scoring three touchdowns in the

third quarter before finishing off the Bethel playoff hopes. Hampton got star

efforts from their star players in this game as Derrick Fairley and Andre Shuler

scored two TDs each while Mike Roberts and Charles Robinson added a score each.

The win secured the Peninsula District title for the Crabbers who will move into

the playoffs undefeated and with the # 1 seed in the Region.

Heritage scored twice on the ground, twice through the air and connected on

two extra points while shutting out Denbigh. QB Michael Patrick, along with

throwing for the two TDs, connected on 7 of 12 passes for 83 yards. The Canes

complimented Patrick's day with a rushing attack that gained 265 yards, led by

Antonio Burrell and Richard Willis who ran for 71 and 61 yards, respectively.

After starting the season 0-5, the Hurricanes finished by winning 4 of their

last 5, including the last three straight.

Warwick scored all 40 of their points in the first half taking a 40-7 lead

into the locker room. RB Linwood Richardson accounted for 24 of those points as

he scored on touchdown runs of, 1, 7, and 72 and caught a 40-yard pass for a TD.

Richardson finished with 105 yards rushing on 17 carries. QB Cody Brodus

finished 11 of 19 for 263 yards and 3 TDs as, along with the Richardson catch,

he connected on a 70-yard pass to Josh Hojje and a 9-yarder to Jamaris Sanders

for touchdowns.

There's an old show business adage that you want to leave the audience

wanting more. Someone may have passed that on to Jerod Mayo as he finished his

high school career by rushing for an even 200 yards on 18 carries, five of which

went for touchdowns in the Warrior win. On the other side of the ball, he

spearheaded a defense that held Menchville to -36 yards rushing and 26 yards

total in the shutout. For those in the audience who want more, and that should

be everyone, keep your eyes open for Jerod on Saturday afternoons the next

couple of years.

Phoebus

jumped out to a 21-0 lead on three Elan Lewis touchdown runs before Woodside

closed the gap to 21-14 with two touchdowns -- and that was only in the first

quarter! The Phantoms added another 3 TDs in the second quarter on their way to

a 42-14 halftime lead and their ultimate victory. Lewis finished the night with

279 yards as the Phantoms gained 334 on the ground for the game. Dustin Johnson

matched Lewis' 3-TD effort with one of his own as he caught passes of 28 and 15

yards for TD and returned a punt 52 yards for a third.

Stat of the Week...2,192 The number of yards gained by Phoebus RB Elan

Lewis in the 10 games played thus far making him the first back in Peninsula

District history to top the 2000-yard mark during the regular season.

Quote of the Week...Kecoughtan Coach Tommy Austin discussing football

in general..."It's all going to come down not to the x's and the o's, but

the Jimmy's and the Joe's."

**I've been augmenting all of my high school football watching by

playing some Madden football at home on the X-Box which has fantastic graphics

and is a blast to play but I am terribly bothered by the fact that the 'Classic'

teams do not have the names of the players so when a great play is made by the

'75 Steelers, you hear something like this from the announcers "#12

completes a 12-yard pass to #88 who makes a great catch." Ruins the whole

game for me so much that I will almost never play those teams!

**Speaking of announcers, Public Address Announcer Bill Nettles, whose

voice each of you has heard whether you know him or not, will be announcing his

600th career football game this Friday night as Phoebus meets Hampton. As if

that were not enough, some time during the basketball season, Bill will hit his

700th career basketball game announced. If you want to know a little bit about

the history of the Eastern Region since 1980, Bill is your guy which is exactly

why I hope to be sitting down with him for an in depth interview during

basketball season.

**Now that it is getting cold out, let me tell you about a bad

combination that I discovered recently. Polar fleece and a shedding dog. Trust

me, it's bad.

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