In Thursday's high school football action, Hampton, led by coach Mike Smith, won its 800th game as a program, shutting out Denbigh 38-0. With the win, the Crabbers become only the 10th American high school team to reach the 800-win plateau. Here's the link to the game summary, as provided by Kate Yanchulis of the Daily Press.
In the game previewed here yesterday, Tabb managed to keep up with Hopewell for three quarters, before the Blue Devils ran away with a 49-20 victory. Here's Marty O'Brien's story.
I'm covering a pair of games for the DP at Todd Stadium tonight. Here's a preview that I wrote for recruit757.com.
Heritage (0-1) vs. Warwick (1-0), 5 p.m.
Heritage Coach George Massenburg hopes for a better result this Friday (Photo: Andy Hilton/recruit757)
In the first game, Warwick will play host to the Heritage Hurricanes.
For Heritage, fresh off an 11-2 season, a collective short memory may be their best remedy after a 54-0 drubbing at the hands of last year’s 4A state champion Lake Taylor. Few things went right for the Hurricanes last Friday. The team was outgained 370-68 in total yardage, while completing only two of 16 passes. The offense was further stalled with four turnovers (two interceptions and two fumbles).
However, Heritage retained many of its key players from last season, and will remain a force within the Peninsula District. Junior quarterback Jeremiah Boyd begins his third year as the starter, and he has help in the backfield, namely in the form of last year’s leading rusher Tra’Sean Shackleford (103 carries, 709 yards, 6.8 avg., 4 TD’s). Omar Martin (86 carries, 525 yards, 6.1 avg.) is also back, and Boyd is known for possessing fleet feet, giving the Canes a triple threat on the run.
Tyquan Baucom, a transfer from New Bern, NC, has been playing middle linebacker and should help to shore up a defense that will get better as the season progresses.
Nevertheless, the Raiders (2-8 in 2014) look to be better than the team that lost 43-6 to Heritage last year, a fact that was evidenced in their 27-18 win over Granby last week. In that game, Warwick overcame 11 penalties to build up a 21-6 lead in the fourth quarter.
Demonte Good led the ground attack for Warwick, tallying 147 yards on 23 carries, with a pair of touchdowns. Not bad for a converted wide receiver. On the defensive side, end Malik Harris will lead a team that returns eight starters, but will have to continue a speedy maturation process to avoid giving up over 30 points per game like it did in ’14.
Coach Corey Hairston has other reasons to be pleased with the progress of his team. While young last season, many of his players gained valuable experience from playing a full schedule and will reap the benefits this year.
Heritage will be hungry for a week after last week’s devastation, but this year’s margin of victory will probably be nowhere near the 37-point spread from 2014. Something along the lines of 35-21 in favor of Heritage looks more reasonable.
Woodside (0-1) vs. Menchville (0-1), 8 p.m.
In the second game, Woodside (7-4 in 2014) will face Menchville, a team coming off successive 1-9 seasons, and now coached by Ray Savage.
Woodside should win the fictitious award for toughest Week 1 test among Peninsula teams. The Wolverines opened their season with a six ½-hour bus ride to Rock Hill, SC, where they clashed with 2013 state champion Northwestern. Although Woodside “hung around” and were only trailing 26-17 in the third quarter, the hosts pulled away for a 47-23 victory.
After the game, Coach Danny Dodson told a South Carolina newspaper, “We played our tails off and got beat by a real good football team. That’s why we wanted to play them.”
There were positive signs for Woodside, such as converting 22 first downs, eight more than their opponent. Looking ahead to this season, Dodson brings back key members of a high-powered offense that averaged 33.3 points a game last year.
With L.J. Taylor’s transfer to Denbigh, Tyhier Tyler regains his spot as the starting quarterback, a role he played for the first nine games of 2014 before a season-ending injury put him on the sidelines. Tyler ran for 119 yards and two TD’s against Northwestern. Tamir Walker, a 1,000-yard rusher in 2014 added 99 yards of rushing against Northwestern and will compliment an offensive trifecta that includes Demetri Banks. Last year, Woodside could score early and often, as shown against Gloucester when they scored touchdowns on each of their first three offensive plays.
The Monarchs had a tough time in their opener, scoring the initial touchdown against Nansemond River, but then giving up 53 unanswered points en route to a rough loss. However, looking toward the future, Savage is trying to lay the groundwork for a team that has not enjoyed postseason success for 22 years.
For this year, he needs to look no further than his living room to see the key to his defense. Ray Savage Jr., a 6-2, 206 lb. linebacker, who has been drawing college interest, will lead the Monarchs. On offense, Savage can rely on returning QB A.J. Wyatt, as well as senior running back Malik Dixon, who led the team with 488 rushing yards last year.
Woodside won this game 49-0 last year, and the only difference on Friday could be a score or two from the Monarchs.
No comments:
Post a Comment