Wolverines Handle Gloucester 51-0 (VIDEO)

With the Gloucester Dukes off to their first 2-0 start since 1988, their Peninsula District counterpart on Thursday night had the antenna up, well aware of what their opponent was capable of doing.

Coming off an unimpressive 26-10 win over Menchville one week after losing in Canton, Ohio to GlenOak by a count of 42-17, the Woodside Wolverines were in need of a strong performance, especially with a date against district favorite Hampton looming. Coach Danny Dodson's Wolverines delivered at Todd Stadium in Newport News with a 51-0 shutout of Gloucester.

It marked the 16th straight win in the head-to-head series for Woodside, which hasn't lost to Gloucester since 2000.

"We've been hearing a lot from people about Gloucester and how long it has been since they were 3-0. In all my time that I've been here at Woodside, I've never lost to Gloucester. I wasn't planning on starting my senior year," said Woodside senior D'Angelo Chesson, a standout on both sides of the ball in the shutout.

"We knew they were coming in here with a lot of momentum, so we had to shut that up real quick. D'onte [Chesson] did great and so did Demetri Banks."

Siblings D'Angelo and D'onte Chesson starred in a major way in Woodside's win. Both play outside linebacker on defense and contributed to the team's shutout, their first of Gloucester since 2006. D'Angelo plays the 'Z' position, used to run and catch the football, whereas D'onte is playing halfback.

A senior donning jersey number 14 this year, D'Angelo made one of the most spectacular 39-yard catches you're ever going to see on a jump ball near the end of the half, 5.1 seconds until the break to be exact. One play after quarterback Tyhier Tyler spiked it to stop the clock, D'Angelo took the ball in the end zone on a sweep to provide a margin that would make the clock run for the duration of the second half.

As good as D'Angelo was with two touchdown runs, a sack, interception and pass breakup, little brother D'onte might've been even better. At least running the ball he was.

D'onte, a sophomore wearing jersey number 11, rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries. His emergence has been a real plus for the Wolverines offense that hopes to get Tamir Walker, their leading rusher from 2015, back next week. Walker has been sidelined since sustaining a knee injury in the team's preseason scrimmage against Lake Taylor.

Defenses keying in on Tyler and Banks, who rushed for over 100 yards for the second straight game, has enabled the younger Chesson to shine.

"They know he's going to Army, so they want to prove themselves against him," D'onte said of Tyler. "We've got so many playmakers on offense that they have to watch out for all of us."

One of the things Dodson liked about this team was having several multi-year starters that have been in the program, several of which have been playing for three-plus seasons on the varsity level. Those guys - namely the likes of Chesson, safety Kamari Jackson, linebacker Dominique Sumter and linebacker Kendall Bell - were instrumental in keeping Gloucester out of the end zone.

In fact, the Dukes committed four turnovers, two in the opening quarter, and were held to 88 total yards on 40 plays. Meanwhile, Woodside's offense rolled up 333 yards rushing on 39 carries among ten different individuals.

Bell made an interception to go with his 54-yard punt return for a touchdown, while Sumter had three stops behind the line of scrimmage, including a sack. Avyon Scott and Christian Walker added fumble recoveries.

Jackson, who's committed to play his College Football at Delaware State, made perhaps the hit of the night and acts as the quarterback of the defense.

It was definitely a night to forget for the Dukes, but Class of 2018 quarterback Isaiah Spencer warrants attention for both his size and what he's done to this point in the season.

Through the team's first two wins, Spencer was money in completing 17 of 31 passes for 281 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. The Woodside defense gave him problems as he finished just 4-of-17 for 48 yards with no scores and two interceptions. His receivers dropped a few catchable balls, though, including in the end zone on fourth down that would've been a touchdown.

At 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, Spencer looks like a slender version of Bucky Hodges, who played quarterback at Salem High in Virginia Beach and has now moved to tight end at Virginia Tech, where he's being projected by many to be a first round pick in next year's NFL Draft.

Spencer isn't quite the athlete that Hodges was at this stage, but he should continue to fill out his frame and looks fairly mobile in the pocket. Colleges will probably keep an eye on his development moving forward and see just how much better he gets in the coming months.

Woodside kicker Chad Mitchel isn't known as a household name by any means, but his leg could be a factor in a close game. Heck, it was in a lopsided victory on Thursday.

Mitchell had five touchbacks that made Gloucester's offense, high-powered to start the 2016 campaign, begin at their own 20-yard line. His 28-yard field goal late in the first period also got the Wolverines on the board. Only one of his seven extra points failed to go through and that wasn't because of accuracy, but rather because it was blocked.

If that wasn't enough, Mitchel made a tackle on a kickoff that without could've gotten Gloucester to scoring.

Gloucester/Woodside Photo Album on Flickr
Video Interview with Woodside Coach Danny Dodson

Final Stats:

Woodside Wolverines 51: (2-1 Overall)
Tyhier Tyler - 2-6 for 48Yds; 7Car. 36Yds. 2TD's
D'onte Chesson - 9Car. 124Yds. 2TD's
Demetri Banks - 10Car. 114Yds.
D'Angelo Chesson - 1Rec. 39Yds; 2Car. 19Yds. 2TD's; Sack, INT, PBU
Dominique Sumter - 4 Tackles, 3TFL, Sack
Kendall Bell - 3 Tackles, INT

Gloucester Dukes 0: (2-1 Overall)
Isaiah Spencer - 4-17 for 48Yds. 0-2TD/Int. ratio
Rashad Williams - 7Car. 76Yds.
Lamar Bady - 1Rec. 29Yds.
Justin Simmons - 5 Tackles (all solo), 2TFL

Matthew Hatfield has covered football and basketball since 2004 for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. 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 every Saturday at 10 AM on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.