The "Wall's" Peninsula Game of the Week #2 - Hampton U. Shuts Out Florida A&M 33-0

HAMPTON – In a game that started under a steady downpour, the Pirates celebrated Senior Day in strong fashion, shutting out Florida A&M 33-0.

With the win, the Pirates evened their season record at 5-5 (4-3 MEAC).

Hampton had an early opportunity to score as Chaka Diarrassouba partially blocked a FAMU punt from deep in their territory. The ball rolled upfield, but the Pirates were able to start from the Rattler 33. However, Hampton failed to capitalize, and after a fourth down pass from Watford sailed past its target, the Rattlers took over.

Hampton was more successful on its next drive, which went 32 yards on ten plays, and culminated with a 39-yard field goal by Adam Brown. The Pirates saved themselves on the drive when Watford, facing 3^rd-and-17 from the Rattler 45, dumped a screen pass to Dwayne Garrett, who scooted 18 yards for the first down to keep the drive alive.

On FAMU’s next drive, linebacker Jamari Cord forced, and then recovered, a fumble at the Rattlers 24. But the Pirates went the wrong way, losing 16 yards, and were forced to punt.

Watford alternated with Jerrell Antoine at quarterback, but neither could get the offense moving with regularity in the first quarter, perhaps a by-product of the soggy conditions. Both teams combined for a mere 39 yards in the opening quarter, which had Hampton leading 3-0.

The Pirates found a spark of offense early in the second quarter, in the form of running back Chris Dukes, who gained 31 yards on six rushes,. This set up Antoine, who faked two handoffs, then found a wide-open Twarn Mixson in the end zone for a 35-yard score. Brown’s extra point gave Hampton a 10-0 edge.

“We just started executing,” said Hampton Coach Connell Maynor. “We started executing the plays, and once that happened, we started hitting for big plays. That’s why I was switching quarterbacks.”

Asked if he was committed to a starter for the final game against Savannah State, he simply answered, “No.”

The Pirates tacked on another touchdown just before halftime. Antoine found Shakim Alonzo in the end zone to finish a six-play, 80-yard drive, and the Pirates led 17-0 at halftime.

While Hampton was finding its offensive bearings, the Rattlers were stuck in neutral, gaining only 14 yards on 28 plays in the first half, including a minus four yards of total rushing.

Hampton maintained its momentum in he second half. On its first drive, the Pirates moved 39 yards on ten plays to set up another Brown field goal – this one from 36 yards. Antoine kept the drive going by scrambling for 13 yards on a 4^th-and-3 play.

Watford re-entered the game at QB, and found Kentrel Richard for a 3-yard score to highlight a seven-play, 61-yard drive, which put Hampton in the lead 27-0.

Garrett led the Pirates with 147 yards on 20 carries, his first 100-yard effort of the season. Mixson added 100 receiving yards on three catches.

“He’s a hard runner, and all season, he’s been a couple of plays away from breaking out. The offensive line did a great job,” added Maynor, when asked about Garrett’s contribution.

After a 3-8 campaign last year, the Pirates are looking to finish the season on upswing. A win next week against Savannah St. (currently 1-6) would give them a winning record for the season.

Asked about the importance of finishing 6-5, Maynor spoke toward the future.

“If we finish with 6-5, it shows a winning record, plus we’ll be 5-3 in the MEAC. Five conference wins is a huge deal. It will show people that we’re on the right track, and that the tradition is coming back. It’s part of the process. You can’t just turn around a Division I program in one season because of APR and other things.”

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

FLORIDA A&M –   0, 0, 0, 0 - 0

HAMPTON  -           3, 14, 3, 13 - 33

First quarter

HU – A. Brown 39 FG 1:30

Second quarter

HU – Mixson 35 pass from Antoine (Brown kick) 8:43

HU – Alonzo 16 pass from Antoine (Brown kick) :27

Third quarter

HU – A. Brown 36 FG 11:11

Fourth quarter

HU – Richard 3 pass from Watford (Brown kick) 12:21

HU – Garrett 3 run (pass failed) 5:32

      FAMU  Hamp

First downs;    16, 20

Rushes-yards;  37-62, 49-224

Passing yards;   106, 197

Comp-att-int;   12-24-0, 9-25-0

Penalties-yards; 6-63, 7-61

Punts-avg;     7-37.6, 3-34.3

Fumbles-lost;   3-1, 0-0

The "Wall's" Peninsula Game of the Week #1 - Hampton High Finishes Regular Season Undefeated With 43-6 Thrashing of Churchland

Interesting pair of games for the "Wall" last weekend. Last Friday, I covered Hampton High's game - on Saturday it was Hampton University. They both won big. Here's the Crabber game:

HAMPTON – Quarterback Jovonn Quillen ran for three touchdowns to lead the Crabbers to a 43-6 thrashing of Churchland at Darling Stadium.

With the win, Hampton (10-0) finished the regular season undefeated and cemented their #1 seed in the upcoming 5A South playoffs, which will begin next weekend.

An interception by Hampton’s Juanya Majette set up the first Crabber touchdown, an eight-yard keeper by Quillen. The conversion pass to Trequan Smith was successful and Hampton enjoyed an early 8-0 edge.

After an unsuccessful Churchland drive, a short punt gave Hampton good field position, and they took over on the Trucker 40. From there, it took only four plays for the Crabbers to gain their second TD, an eight-yard run from Demetrius Strickland.

Hampton’s next drive stalled, but they quickly recovered with lineman Tyrique Coleman grabbing a tipped pass out of the air for Hampton’s second interception. The ensuing field goal attempt was no good, but Hampton drove 90 yards on seven plays with their next drive, culminating with a 32-yard blast up the middle by Smith, who, to avoid a tackle, high stepped into the end zone.

Rashaud Taylor picked off Churchland’s Corey Gause for the Crabber’s third interception of the half, and Quillen struck again, scoring on a three-yard charge through the middle, on the final play of the first half.

Churchland had a chance to score on its opening possession of the second half, but fumbled at the Hampton 10-yard line. They would not come close again until late in the fourth quarter when Gause hit Michael Huff with a flare pass and Huff rumbled 39 yards to the touchdown.

Hampton immediately struck back, gaining 65 yards on three plays – a 30-yard pass to Burnell Pulley III, a 15-yard run by Smith, and the capper, a 20-yard run by Strickland, who took Quillen’s pitch down the left sideline for the score.

The Crabbers gained 380 yards of total offense and rushed for 266 yards on 33 carries. Quillen led the Crabbers with 102 yards on 16 rushes.

The win was the 461^st for Coach Mike Smith – fourth all-time among high school coaches.

CHURCHLAND –   0, 0, 0, 6 - 6

HAMPTON  -      15, 12, 10, 6 – 43

First quarter

H – Quillen 8 run (T. Smith pass)

H – Strickland 8 run (Valenzuela kick)

Second quarter

H – T. Smith 32 run (kick failed)

H – Quillen 3 run (run failed)

Third quarter

H – Safety – Edwards tackled in end zone

H – Quillen 17 run (Strickland run)

Fourth quarter

C – Huff 37 pass (pass failed)

H – Strickland 20 run (run failed)

       

      Church  Hamp

First downs;    9, 16

Rushes-yards;  29-51, 33-266

Passing yards;   160, 114

Comp-att-int;   12-23-3, 5-11-0

Penalties-yards; 12-82, 5-33

Punts-avg;      2-30, 2-46

Fumbles-lost;   3-2, 0-0

Grafton Volleyball Reaches Conference 18 Finals With Win Over Lafayette; Will Meet Jamestown in Final

In related news, Jamestown did defeat Grafton to win the Conference 18 final over Grafton last night, but both teams will be in the 4A South region tournament, which will begin next week.

YORK – With a 4A South regional berth on the line, the Grafton girls volleyball team survived a pesky challenge from Lafayette for the first two sets, then rolled through the third set to sweep the Rams 25-22, 25-20, 25-14.

With the win, the second seeded Clippers (21-4) will travel to top seeded Jamestown (18-3) on Thursday for the Conference 18 final. Jamestown swept Smithfield on Wednesday to earn their place in the conference final. Last week, Grafton defeated the Eagles 25-21, 25-23, 25-15.

Speaking about the possibility of a second straight win against Jamestown, Grafton coach Karissa Cumberbatch preferred to look toward the 4A South Region tournament next week.

“We’re hyped, but there’s no pressure tomorrow. We just have to play our game and take care of our side of the floor. Next week is what matters.”

The first set followed a pattern after the initial 14 points seesawed back and forth. With the score tied at seven, Grafton scored the next four points, and seemed to be gaining the momentum. But the Rams clawed back, not once, but on three separate occasions. Their last run narrowed a 20-16 Clipper margin to 22-all. But Grafton closed the door, scoring the set’s final three points, with Sophia Beaudoin providing the set-ending kill.

The second set was tight throughout. Lafayette relied on their heavy hitter Abby Orem, while Grafton countered with recent CNU-signee Rachel Blitt. Blitt delivered the key kills to keep the Clippers in the set. But with a tie at 17, Sam Heard took control, accounting for an ace and kill as part of a 4-0 Clipper surge that served as an impetus for Grafton to hold on and win Set 2.

The Grafton servers also performed well against Lafayette.

“We serve teams tough, and put balls away. Kaitlyn Young was particularly tough tonight, with lots of serving runs. She must have had at least three aces,” added Cumberbatch.

The third and final set was all Grafton. On one particular exchange, the Clippers first two hits of a return sent the ball sailing way backwards and over the back line. With a burst of speed, Haley Sutton ran ten feet behind the back line and with her back to the net, sent a powerful return back over her head and over the net, a shot which stunned the Rams and fell to the ground to give the Clippers a 9-3 lead which they would not relinquish.

Lafayette coach Lee Thornhill could only praise the team concept, while pointing out his two best players.

“We rely heavily on Abby (Orem) and Julia Howard. The Abby-Julia combination will cover a lot of deficiencies. But they couldn’t overcome the six players on the other side of the net tonight.”

Grafton def. Lafayette 25-22, 25-20, 25-14

Grafton (21-4): Sophia Beaudoin (6 kills, 19 digs), Rachel Blitt (11 kills, ace, 4 digs, 5 blocks), Haley Sutton (11 digs). Lafayette (12-10): Abby Orem (15 kills, 12 digs), Julia Howard (23 assists, 8 digs).

The "Wall's" Game of the Week #2 - Hampton Shuts Out Warwick 54-0 to Win Peninsula District

HAMPTON – Hampton, behind the power of 21 first downs and 472 yards of total offense, wrapped up the mythical Peninsula District title on Friday, shutting out the overmatched Warwick Raiders 54-0.

With the win, Hampton raised its record to 9-0, and with all of their games against Peninsula competition, claimed the best district record among the PD’s ten teams. The Crabbers have an opportunity to complete their first undefeated regular season since 2004 next week with a non-conference game against Churchland.

The victory also marked Coach Mike Smith’s 460^th career win, with all of his victories coming during his 45 seasons as the Hampton coach..

The Crabbers dominated on both sides of the ball. Trequan Smith, who scored four touchdowns in last week’s 56-0 win over Menchville, added three in the first half on Friday, scoring from 24, 34, and five yards. On defense, Hampton held Warwick to minus 10 yards in the first half and no first downs. For the game, Smith gained 121 yards on ten carries to lead the rushing attack, which gained 390 yards.

Jovonn Quillen threw a pair of touchdowns late in the second quarter. The first was a 32-yarder down the right sideline to a streaking Dazz Newsome. The second, which occurred on the final play of the first half, came on a 24-yard floater over the middle to Khamari Hunter.

Quillen finished the game having completed all six of his passes for 82 yards and sat out the second half, along with several of the other Hampton starters.

Demetrius Strickland also scored on a 10-yard run as Hampton led 42-0 at the half.

Kareem Williams and Keonte Stith added fourth quarter touchdowns for the Crabbers, who retained their #1 seed in the 5A South (East) rankings.

Warwick (2-7) was held to 18 total yards.

WARWICK –   0, 0, 0, 0 - 0

HAMPTON  -  21, 21, 0, 12 -- 54   

First quarter

H – T. Smith 24 run (Aguilar kick)

H – T. Smith 34 run (Aguilar kick)

H – Strickland 10 run (Aguilar kick)

Second quarter

H – T. Smith 5 run (kick failed)

H – D. Newsome 32 pass from Quillen (Quillen run)

H – K. Hunter 24 pass from Quillen (Aguilar kick)

Fourth quarter

H – K. Williams 1 run (run failed)

H – Stith 36 run (run failed)

        

    Warw  Hamp

First downs;    2, 21

Rushes-yards;  17-13, 44-390

Passing yards;   5, 82

Comp-att-int;   1-9-2, 6-7-0

Penalties-yards; 3-28, 7-62

Punts-avg;     3-28, 0-0

Fumbles-lost;   2-1, 1-0