The "Wall's" Peninsula Game of the Week #1 - Warhill Upsets Grafton 17-0 For First Win of Season

JAMES CITY - – The Warhill Lions ran to the left, right and through the center of a stunned Grafton defense to win their first game of the season, with an impressive 17-0 shutout of the favored Clippers.



With the win, Warhill moves to 1-5, while Grafton dropped to 4-3 and at least temporarily lost their fourth seed in the 4A East (Tidewater) rankings, dropping to sixth in the VHSL rankings released on Monday.

It was obvious from the early going that the Lions were going to focus on their two featured backs – Collin Bright and Bryce Koob. On Warhill’s first drive, an 11-play, 75 yard effort, Koob and Bright split eight carries, and Bright finished the drive with a six-yard sweep to the right for a touchdown.

After a pitch by Grafton was dropped and recovered by Warhill, Bright struck again. On the first play, from the Clipper 29, the senior back went right with the jet sweep, and Bright outran the Clipper defenders to the end zone for his second score.

Fletcher Whalen added a 23-yard field goal in the middle of the second quarter, and Warhill took a 17-0 lead into intermission. At the half, the Lions had carried 33 times for 218 yards with Bright (16-121, 2 TD’s) and Koob (14-80) shouldering the load. On defense, Warhill held Grafton to just 12 yards rushing on 12 carries in the first half.

The Lions defensive onslaught continued into the second half. For the game, Grafton rushed for only 35 yards on 21 carries, with a final total of 104 yards. Even the Clippers’ ace kicker, Reed King, had one field goal attempt blocked. For the game, Grafton also only completed three of 16 passes.

On the other side, Warhill ran the ball at will, totaling 362 yards on 66 carries. Bright finished with 176 yards on 29 carries, while Koob tallied 148 on 28.

GRAFTON –  0, 0, 0, 0 -- 0
WARHILL  - 14, 3, 0, 0 -- 17

First quarter
W – Bright 6 run (Whalen kick) 6:28
W – Bright 29 run (Whalen kick) 5:39

Second quarter
W – Whalen 23 FG

                    Gr   War
First downs;    6, 21
Rushes-yards;  21-35, 66-357
Passing yards;   69, 0
Comp-att-int;   3-16-2, 0-3-1
Penalties-yards; 5-58, 7-55
Punts-avg;      3-40, 0-0
Fumbles-lost;   1-1, 0-0







The "Wall's" Peninsula Games of the Week # 2-3: SATURDAY Dog Day Doubleheader at Todd

Bethel (3-4) @ Menchville (0-6), 1 p.m.
Denbigh (4-2) @ Woodside (4-2), 4 p.m.

Bethel is ready for the challenge (Photo: Sam Mizelle/recruit757)
Bethel is ready for the challenge (Photo: Sam Mizelle/recruit757)
The Peninsula District has passed its midway point and teams are now jockeying for district and post-season positions. A key doubleheader in Newport News at Todd Stadium on Saturday afternoon will feature three teams whose playoff seeds for three different classifications (4A, 5A, and 6A) will be affected by a win or loss.
In the opening game, Menchville will play host to the Bethel Bruins.
Menchville has endured a long and trying season, one that began with a 53-7 loss to Nansemond River, and has been followed by five more double-digit losses. For the season, the Monarchs have been outscored 265-50, and with Hampton on the docket for next week, begin a tough two week stretch against teams that give up less than 17 points per game. In last week’s game, Menchville did tally a season-high for points, but lost to Gloucester 35-18.
The Monarchs woes have occurred on both sides of the ball. Prior to the Gloucester game, the offense averaged a mere 100.4 yards per game. In order to gain momentum on Saturday, running backs Malik Dixon and Torrey Guilford will need to have breakout games, which is no small feat against a Bruin defense that gives up a mere 112 yards per contest.
On defense, Menchville does feature Ray Savage at linebacker, but he will need more help from his supporting cast to shore up a unit that has allowed just over 44 points per game.
Bethel looks to rebound after a tough 28-13 loss to Woodside last Saturday. In that contest, the Bruins led 13-7 at halftime, but fell victim to three third quarter turnovers, two of which were returned for touchdowns by Wolverine cornerback D’Angelo Chesson (fumble recovery and interception).
Nevertheless, the Bruins face their own problems on offense. Their starting quarterback situation has not been cemented, and last week, Lekendrell Lowther opened the game behind center, before being relieved by Navarro Price, recreating the “changing of the guard” from previous weeks. The imbalance shows on the stat sheet, as Bethel QB’s have completed less than 35 percent of their 104 passes. DeAndre Gillis leads Bethel with 315 rushing yards. In all, Bethel averages less than 15 points per outing, and only 167 yards a game.
T.C. Chisley has stood out on special teams, setting up one Bethel touchdown with a 67-yard punt return last week.
In short, the team that reaches 21 points should win this game.
And at 4 p.m….
In the late afternoon game, Woodside (4-2) will face Denbigh (4-2), a team that has emerged as a quiet contender in the 4A East (Tidewater) section.
This matchup has an intriguing back-story. Denbigh quarterback L.J. Taylor will square off for the first time against his former Wolverine teammates. Last year, Taylor shared time at QB with Tyhier Tyler, who eventually settled into the starting role.
However, Taylor has been highly effective at QB with his new Patriot teammates. In last week’s 24-0 shutout of Warwick, the senior ran for 105 yards on 11 carries while scoring three times. Passing wise, Taylor was pinpoint accurate, completing 10 of 13 for 122 yards. For the season, Taylor is second in the Peninsula District with 724 passing yards, to go along with six touchdowns against only two interceptions.
Casey Vick is the featured back for Denbigh, with 350 yards and six touchdowns for the year. Defensively, Neil Anderson was the standout against Warwick, compiling 11 tackles (four for losses), as well as a sack. Overall, the Patriots defense is third in the Peninsula District with 178.3 yards allowed per game.
Woodside is a formidable opponent, and Denbigh will have to fire on all cylinders to win on Saturday. The Wolverine offense leads the PD with 333.0 yards per game, while the defense maintains a bend,  but not break attitude. While Hampton’s Jovonn Quillen has captured more of the headlines this fall, it is Tyler who is compiling similar numbers in several key categories. The junior has completed just over 60 percent of his passes, compared to 57 for Quillen, as well as nine touchdowns, which ties him for the district lead with the Crabber QB. Quillen has more than double (592-215) Tyler’s rushing yards, but only two more rushing touchdowns (eight to six).
While Tyler leads the Wing-T offense, it is Tamir Walker who provides the spark. Walker, who scored five touchdowns in the first half against Warwick two weeks ago, is the leading scorer in the Peninsula District with 76 points. He is almost equally dangerous with seven rushing scores to go with five receiving. Walker also leads the PD in receiving yards (375 on 13 catches), while placing third on the rushing list with 537 yards through six games.
Demetri Banks has added 388 yards on the ground for the Wolverines, while Jacari Lee has 11 catches for 180 yards and four TD’s.
Denbigh is currently fourth in the 4A East (Tidewater) ratings, and will need a win to hold off Grafton, who played Warhill on Friday. Beating a 6A team such as Woodside could earn them critical points, which will be needed as the Patriots finish their regular season schedule with Bethel, Phoebus and Heritage.
Woodside, currently sixth in the 6A South (East) ratings, will not be an easy team to beat, and their high powered offense could be back on display Saturday after being held to a pair of touchdowns against Bethel. Denbigh will need to execute well on both sides of the ball to win this game.

Trifecta of Games This Weekend - The "Wall's" Peninsula Game of the Week #1 - Grafton vs. Warhill, Friday - 7 PM

As published on Recruit757.com

Grafton (4-2) at Warhill (0-5), Friday 7 PM, Wanner Stadium (Williamsburg)
#3 Collin Bright and #2 Ryan Creecy in the Warhill backfield (Photo: Andy Hilton/recruit757)
#3 Collin Bright and #2 Ryan Creecy in the Warhill backfield (Photo: Andy Hilton/recruit757)
Friday night’s game at Wanner Stadium features a deceptive match up. A cursory glance at each team’s record would suggest that the Clippers are the likely favorite. However, after last week’s games, it is hard to disqualify Warhill as an opponent, and the Lions promise to be tough playing in their backyard.
Both teams lost last week, but may have gained a dose of confidence from their efforts. Grafton, a squad getting ready for playoff action, took undefeated Lafayette to the hilt, trailing only 30-28 with two minutes remaining before Caleb Kraegenbrink’s 20-yard sweep for a touchdown sealed the 37-28 victory for the Rams.
On the other sideline will be Warhill, a team that is winless at their midpoint of the season, but one that was ahead of (5-1) Poquoson by a score of 16-0 entering the fourth quarter of their game last week. Eventually, it took the Islanders two overtimes to win 19-16 on a 19-yard field goal from Chris Coccimiglio.
Last year, Grafton escaped with a 14-6 win against Warhill, and the result could be as close this year. In spite of having no Bay Rivers district top-five offensive leaders, the Clippers are a team with weapons. Quarterback D.J. Dobbins leads an offense that features running back Trevaun Walker and receiver Demetrius Moore, who caught, and threw for a touchdown (to Dobbins) last week. Grafton also features a strong special teams unit. Ryan Pabon returned one Lafayette kickoff for an 85-yard touchdown last week, and kicker Reed King is arguably the best in the Bay Rivers.
But Warhill is finding their offense. Their attack stems from the run, namely in the form of Collin Bright (651 yards, 7 TD’s), and junior Bryce Koob (110 yards rushing and touchdown against Lafayette). They also found a rising star on defense last week, as freshman linebacker Noah Holmes registered four sacks for the Lions.
Grafton needs this win in order to continue their bid to secure a first-round playoff game. Currently, the Clippers are tied with Denbigh for the fourth (and last home game) spot in the 4A East rankings. But, Denbigh will square off against 6A Woodside on Saturday, so it will take a win for Grafton over 3A Warhill, coupled with a Denbigh loss, in order for Grafton to gain sole possession of fourth.
One final side note – Friday’s game features Grafton coach Matt McLeod, a former linebacker coach at William and Mary clashing with Warhill coach Thad Wheeler, one of his former Tribe linebackers.

The "Wall's" Peninsula Game of the Week #2 - Woodside 28, Bethel 13

HAMPTON – The wear and tear of playing two games in five days caught up to the Bethel Bruins midway through yesterday’s game against Woodside. The Bruins took a 13-7 lead into the half, but ran into a Woodside buzz saw in the third quarter. Fatigue took over, allowing the visitors to score 21 unanswered points in the third quarter and storm to a 28-13 win at Darling Stadium.


With the win, Woodside (4-2, 4-1 Peninsula District) moved into sole possession of third place in the district.

Ironically, it wasn’t the offense that eventually overcame the Bruins. In fact, the  Wolverines, who came into Saturday averaging 355 yards and almost 36 points a game, were held to 222 yards and only two offensive touchdowns.

The fly in the Bruins’ ointment turned out to come in the form of D’Angelo Chesson, who scored two defensive touchdowns – the first on a 29-yard interception return , and second on a 32-yard fumble recovery. Chesson also had another interception in the game, to claim three of Bethel’s five turnovers.

The game was labeled as a matchup of the powerful Woodside offense against the stingy Bethel defense (94.8 yards allowed per game entering Saturday). Woodside struck first as quarterback Tyhier Tyler faked a handoff from the Bruin 10 and swept left for a touchdown.

Chesson stopped a Bruin mini-drive, picking off  Lekendrell Lowther’s pass. Woodside failed to capitalize, and it was soon after that the Bethel defense briefly took charge, holding the high-powered Wolverine offense to minus 18 yards on two successive possessions.

Eventually, the Bethel offense kicked into gear, although it took a 67-yard punt return by T.J. Chisley to set up the first Bruin score – a 1-yard plunge from Lowther. Just before halftime, Woodside failed to convert a fourth-and-3 from the Bruin 42, setting Bethel up nicely with just over two minutes left in the half. Lowther found Jeremiah Owusu for a key 29-yard gain, which led to first-and goal from the 2, where Janaz Jordan bulled into the end zone for Bethel’s second score.

But it wasn’t enough to hold Woodside down. After Chesson’s two scores broke the game into Woodside’s favor, the Wolverines found their stride. After an interception by William Daughtrey, Tyler laid down the final blow, catching the Bruin defense off guard and finding Tamir Walker on a 50-yard bomb, which made for the game’s final score.

The Wolverines held Bethel (3-4, 3-3 Peninsula) to seven first downs and 134 yards of total offense.


WOODSIDE – 7, 0, 21, 0 -- 28
BETHEL  -       0, 13, 0, 0 -- 13


First quarter
W – T. Tyler 10 run (Mitchel kick) 5:30

Second quarter
B – Lowther 1 run (Vassilakopoulos kick)
B – J. Jordan 2 run (kick failed)

Third quarter
W – Chesson 29 int. return (Mitchel kick)
W – Chesson 32 fumble return (Mitchel kick)
W – T. Walker 50 pass from T. Tyler (Mitchel kick)

                    Wood   Beth
First downs;    9, 7
Rushes-yards;  36-140, 36-85
Passing yards;   82, 49
Comp-att-int;   4-8-0, 6-13-3
Penalties-yards; 4-40, 10-85
Punts-avg;      3-31, 3-32
Fumbles-lost;   1-0, 3-3







The "Wall's" Peninsula Game of the Week #1 - New Kent 28, Jamestown 27

Very tough loss for Jamestown. The Eagles almost broke a 16-game losing streak. In fact, they should have won the game. Quarterback Hunter Brittain completed 13 of his first 15 passes, and had his team positioned to win. Going to the game clinching field goal was proper, and it was a shame to see the kick blocked, then returned by R.J. Morris for a New Kent touchdown.

I think that Jamestown coach Donnell Brown is a legitimate football coach who can win buckets full of games in the right situation. Right now, the Eagles are rebuilding and it's going to take at least another year.

And credit to coach Clark Harrell for making the gutsy move to go for the win, trailing 27-26, with the extra point left.

WILLIAMSBURG – R.J. Morris returned a blocked Jamestown field goal 61 yards, then scored on the ensuing two-point conversion to preserve a 28-27 win for New Kent at Wanner Stadium.

Leading 28-21 with 41 seconds remaining, Jamestown, facing a 4th-and-12 from their 22, opted to attempt a 39-yard field goal, which would have iced the game and ended the Eagles’ 16-game losing streak.

But the kick was blocked, and Morris picked up the loose ball and scooted down the left sideline, scoring the crucial touchdown to close the Jamestown lead to 27-26.

Rather than play for the tie, Trojan coach Clark Harrell opted to go for the win, setting up the two-point conversion. Michael Burt handed to Morris, who burst through the middle for the winning score.

The game was a back-and-forth battle. The Eagles struck first on their opening drive. After recovering an opening kickoff fumble at the Trojan 18, Mark Lipscomb caught an 11-yard pass to the 5, and after a Jamestown penalty, spun twice through a pack of tacklers to score on a nine-yard run.

New Kent (2-4) relied on its workhorse, Bay Rivers district leading rusher Davion Barnes (28 carries, 200 yards). However, it was quarterback Michael Burt who scored first, on a one-yard sneak. The extra point was blocked and the Eagles held a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter.

Jamestown quickly answered as Zach Pennycuff caught a pass in the left flat and sprinted 20 yards for a score to give Jamestown a 14-6 lead. Barnes responded for New Kent, bulling into the end zone from three yards out to cap an all rushing 11-play, 59-yard drive. A Morris conversion run knotted the contest at 14 with 2:56 left in the first half.

But Jamestown went to work, with Lipscomb’s 15-yard catch and 14-yard run, followed by a New Kent penalty for an illegal tackle setting up an eight-yard pass from Hunter Brittain to Lipscomb which gave the Eagles a 20-14 lead which they took into the intermission.

Rashaun Jones of new Kent and Lamont Brandon of Jamestown traded touchdowns in the third quarter, leading to the game’s dramatic finish.

Brittain completed 14 of 18 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort for Jamestown (0-5).


NEW KENT    --   0, 14, 6, 8 -- 28
JAMESTOWN --  7, 13, 7,  0 -- 27


First quarter
J – Lipscomb 9 run (Weissenfluh kick) 10:28

Second quarter
NK – Burt 1 run (kick blocked) 11:56
J – Pennycuff 20 run (Weissenfluh kick) 9:24
NK – Barnes 3 run (Morris run) 2:56
J – Lipscomb 8 pass from Brittain (kick blocked) :25

Third quarter
J – R. Jones 19 run (Weissenfluh kick) 7:10
NK – Brandon 1 run (kick failed) 4:38

Fourth quarter
NK – Morris 61 block return (Morris run) :28

                    NK   James
First downs;    13, 11
Rushes-yards;  46-288, 30-139
Passing yards;   19, 226
Comp-att-int;   3-4-0, 14-18-1
Penalties-yards; 5-50, 8-67
Punts-avg;      1-18, 2-33
Fumbles-lost;   1-1, 2-2







The "Wall's" Peninsula Game of the Week #2 - Woodside vs. Bethel - Saturday at 2 PM

As published on Recruit757.com -- 
Woodside (3-2) VS. Bethel (3-3), Sat. 2:00 PM, Darling Stadium – 
Saturday’s Peninsula District clash at Darling Stadium features a pair of contrasting teams who are both in need of a win to bolster their playoff seeds.
The visiting Wolverines will be rested for Saturday’s game after last weekend’s contest against Kecoughtan was rained out and postponed until the first weekend of November. The unplanned “bye” week allowed the Woodside players extra time to heal their bumps and bruises.
By contrast, the home team, Bethel, also had their schedule altered to make adjustments for the passing of Hurricane Joaquin. However, their game was merely postponed by four days, forcing them to play Peninsula District leader Hampton on Tuesday, a game which they lost 20-3. With only three days to prepare for Woodside, the Bruins will surely be feeling the after effects left from the Crabbers.
However, a look at the District stat sheets offer a more glaring contrast, and one which will determine the winner on Saturday.
This will be a classic showdown between a powerful offense against a stingy defense. Woodside leads the Peninsula District in offensive yardage (355.2 yards per game) and is second in scoring (35.8 ppg). The Wolverine attack is driven by two main weapons – running back Tamir Walker and quarterback Tyhier Tyler. Through the midway mark of the 2015 season, Walker has 461 yards on the ground to go with 316 receiving. In Woodside’s last game, a 42-0 victory over Warwick, Walker tallied five rushing touchdowns – all in the first half.
Tyler, also a threat to run with the ball, is currently second in the district with 129.8 passing yards per game.
On the other side, the Bruins are powered by their defense. Despite giving up 20 points to Hampton, the Crabbers only gained 217 yards. For the season, Bethel has allowed a mere 93.8 yards per game.
In addition, the three Bruin losses have all come to undefeated teams – Indian River (14-6), Phoebus (7-0 in triple overtime) and Hampton. After this Saturday, their schedule will get softer and should allow the Bruins a realistic opportunity to grab three more wins before the playoffs.
First, they must face Woodside with only three full days of preparation and rest.
The question that will decide Saturday’s outcome is this one. Bethel, which held Hampton and its 42 points-per-game offense to 20, is capable of holding Woodside to three touchdowns. Can they score four?