SUNDAY MORNING RECAP Presented By LENDY'S
Oscar Smith captains come out before the game for the annual coin flip. Phil Sims, far left, will be headed to play for the Crimson Tide next year..
PHOTO BY DAVID LUDI
Coach Rich Morgan has done a great job since taking over this program six years ago. Before coach Morgan got to Oscar Smith they were a laughing stock, now they are the ones laughing...
PHOTO BY DAVID LUDI
ON NATIONAL TELEVISION, OSCAR SMITH MAKES HISTORY
It was a game that had been hyped up all summer long once ESPN decided to cover the game and when pulling in to the Oscar Smith High School parking lot you could tell. ESPNU had their satellites high in the air, media crews from all over were getting their cameras ready, and fans from all over had their grills on with their ponchos close by. High School football was in the air and so were the dark clouds from Hurricane Danny. With over 8,000 in attendance some say it was the biggest high school football game in VHSL history. Oscar Smith came in ranked #7 in the country according to Rivals.com and the #1 team in the state. Even after losing all that talent last year with the graduation of standout running back/linebacker Perry Jones - who was the Associated Press' Class AAA player of the year and now is at the University of Virginia - linebacker Jerod Askew (University of Tennessee) and Smith (also at Virginia), the Tigers still had the state's top player Phil Sims, who will be taking snaps for Alabama next year and big boy lineman Evan Hailes, whose headed to Happy Valley in 2010. The Venice Indians had some fire power as well, but were not ranked in the top 100 in the country like the Tigers were. Trey Burton, a three star all-purpose quarterback, or some say a baby Tim Tebow, will be attending Florida next year to play football. Brandon Wilkinson a 6-foot-3, 220lb defensive end will be heading to South Florida and tight end Beckett Wales has many D1 offers as well. So the heavyweight matchup was set.
Both Offenses started off slow with each offense going three and out. Then Venice's speedy receiver Josh Boyle took a Phil Sims punt all the back around the Tigers 30-yard line. A few plays later the Indians were in business, driving the ball deep inside the Tigers red zone. Burton scored from the three yard line making it 6-0 with 6:11 left in first quarter as the extra point was missed. Sims would respond quick as he then hit junior Quintae Funderburke and senior Charlie Ricks on two long plays moving them to the Indians 17-yard line. Then on third and goal Sims rolled out the pocket and threw a dart on the run to Funderburke for a touchdown to tie the game. The Tigers defense would get the ball right back for their offense and Sims didn't waste any time going right down the field, as sophomore running Back J.C. Coleman ran a touchdown in from the 2-yard line making it 13-7. Coleman finished up his night with 83 yards and two touchdowns. Venice got the ball back and had a great drive, moving the ball all the way to the 6-yard line, but on 4th and goal with just seconds left Burton decided to scramble and finished an inch shy of the end zone, making the score 13-6 at the half.
The Tigers got the ball starting the second half. Sims hit Ricks for a 30-yard pass, completed another ten yard first down pass to the senior, found Funderburke for another big gain in the air, moving the ball to the 13-yard line. Senior Marquie Mayes then got involved as he caught Sims pass and was knocked out of bounds at the 2-yard line. Coach Morgan turned to the biggest Tiger on his team, Evan Hailes, who rumbled his way to the end zone as he did his best Jerome Bettis impression. The score was now 19-6 in favor of the Tigers. Burton wouldn't quite as he hit his Boyle for a big pass play, but the ferocious Tigers defense held as the Indians went for it on fourth down and didn't get it. Late in the fourth the Tigers could really taste victory as Sims and staff put together another great drive and capping it off with another Coleman touchdown run. Venice wouldn't quite as they responded with another touchdown by Burton, but by then it was too late. Oscar Smith would end up winning by the final score of 27-13. Sims completed 15 of 19 passes for 265 yards and one touchdown, while Burton ended up with 287 passing yards and 83 rushing yards. But the game was bigger than just the quarterbacks, even Sims admitted. "It just shows what a team can do together as individuals. We wanted to represent Oscar Smith and the whole state of Virginia; I feel we did just that."
ADVANCED RESTORATION PLAYER OF THE GAME
QB Trey Burton for the Venice Indians, who passed for 287 yards and had 83 rushing yards with two touchdowns.
First Colonial 6, Landstown 3
In a defensive battle for the entire game, First Colonial finally became the first team to reach the end zone after trailing 3-0 in the third overtime. It was the elusive Willie Byrnes, who scored on a 10-yard touchdown run to lift the Patriots to a season opening victory.
Ocean Lakes 42, Princess 0
The highly talented Dolphins showed why they are the favorite to compete for a State title by blowing out the Cavaliers. Lafonte Thourogood led the way with his 95 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground. Justin Hunter did his thing by showing the crowd why he is arguably the best player in the state with a 75-yard touchdown punt return to make the score 14-0. The mighty Dolphins defense shut down anything Princess Anne's offense tried to do.
Maury 37, Norview 0
It was all Commodores in this one as quarterback Keenan Lambert completed 4 out of 6 passes and three went for touchdowns. Lambert finished the evening with a total of four scores, as he ran a touchdown from a yard out also. Norview couldn't do anything against Maury's defense.
Kempsville 20, Salem 7
Chris Rogers completed 5 of his 7 passes for just 64 yards, that might not seem impressive, but he managed the game very well and didn't turn the ball over. The Chiefs trailed early in the first but tied the game up off a Kweshon Cuffee 11-yard touchdown run. Then in the fourth quarter Kempsville's defense made a big play as Joey Droll scored on a 32-yard touchdown fumble recovery, closing the door on any Salem comeback attempt.
Bayside 21, Green Run 17
What started off being the Dejor Simmons show quickly turned into the Deion Stitt show. Simmons and his Stallions got off to a big lead going up 17-0 at one point. Then coach Darnell Moore pulled senior quarterback Leonard Mitchell and put in the freshman Stitt, who was 9 for 11 with 161 yards and two scoring tosses, both to sophomore stud receiver Anthony Cooper. The Marlins came back to beat the highly favorite Green Run club 21-17. Simmons who had 139 yards in the first half, only had 46 yards in the second, but still finished with 20 carries for 185 yards and two touchdowns, showing why he is headed to Morgantown to play his college ball next year.
DANNY'S GLASS PLAY OF THE WEEK
Baysides freshman Deion Stitt's 60-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Cooper whiched helped knock off Green Run
