By Zach Long
Thomas Dale 42, Petersburg 12
It was a beautiful night for a homecoming football game at Ed Karpus Field, and the Thomas Dale home crowd was out in full force. In the end, Thomas Dale extinguished Petersburg 42-12 Friday.
On the Knights’ first possession, five different players touched the ball. A wide-spread distribution of the ball kept the Crimson Wave defense guessing all night. The Knights would deliver a quick strike, and ended their first drive on a Matt Lawton to Gabe McCollin 19-yard score.
From there, Thomas Dale would have control of the first half. AJ Lazaro was able to snag an interception and give the team a boost on defense. He finished the night with seven tackles. Then, the run game would get to work. Max Oxendine scored twice from point blank, and his teammate Chris Tyree would tumble in for a score as well.
The Knights would only score twice in the second half, once by way of a Shundarius Carter scoop and score (fumble recovery) on defense, and once off a Lawton-to-Elijah Smith pass. Carter would have an electric performance, with 12 tackles, a sack, and five hurries. Petersburg quarterback Aaryn Davis would get going as well, with two scores in the second half, but it was too little, too late. Thomas Dale coach Kevin Tucker was pleased with his team’s ability to stay focused after a tough loss to Dinwiddie the previous week.
“Give it to the kids, man, they rebounded nicely,” Tucker said. “They didn’t have a hangover, so to say, from the Dinwiddie loss. Like I said, we just gotta keep plowing ahead.”
Thomas Dale improved to 5-2, and the team has a formidable task ahead. The Knights play Meadowbrook this week. Petersburg, which fell to 2-5 on the season, also has a nice matchup next week in Prince George.
By Harrison Louis
L.C. Bird 35, Cosby 6
On a beautiful sky-blue night, L.C. Bird came through in a big way. The Skyhawks, after a slow start, came away with the 35-6 win over Cosby.
“Some of the stuff in the first quarter didn’t go off too well,” L.C. Bird coach David Bedwell said. “We had a really slow start, we hyped ourselves up too much, but as the game went on, we got into a rhythm running the ball and allowing the defense to really play big.”
The Skyhawks defense shut down the Titans, especially in their run game. Coach Bedwell explained how the Skyhawks defense made Cosby run game ineffective.
“Our goal is always to stop the run game, making teams a one-dimensional team. Coach [Peter] Mutascio always does a great job with the run. Cosby ran the spread a lot in tonight’s game, though, making our linebackers Isaiah Moore and Rayshard Ashby play more coverage.”
L.C. Bird’s offense really started slow, but after Shedrick McCall scored a touchdown late in the first, the Skyhawks’ offense started to click. Bird rushed for nearly 200 yards, as McCall led the Skyhawks’ with 79 yards and three touchdowns. The Skyhawks offense also had two late turnovers in this affair, interceptions by Johquin “Pinky” Wiley and Javon LaPierre.
“We’re got to take better care of the ball,” Bedwell said. “No excuses. Late turnovers aren’t okay even if you have a cushion. We just have to go to practice and get better each and every day.”
L.C. Bird will play George Wythe at home for homecoming this week while Cosby has a home game meeting with James River. Both games kickoff at 7:30p.m.
By Onyx Lee
Matoaca 33, Meadowbrook 28
Meadowbrook played host to a good one in Monarchs territory on Friday night, as two 3-3 teams, in Matoaca and Meadowbrook, battled through the air all night. With Matoaca quarterback Justin Ford sidelined with a shoulder injury, Jameel Gordon has led the way for the Warriors the past two weeks. Early on, the Monarchs came out swinging with a big opening kickoff return to put them in the redzone on the opening drive. After breaking open the scoring, the Monarchs’ defense forced the Warriors into their own end zone for a safety to take an early 9-0 lead.
After the two start exchanging blows, with the score tied at 16-16, Matoaca finally got things together. After putting up another three touchdown receptions, Terrance Whitfield looked to make a statement. He has snagged six touchdowns in the Warriors’ past two games.
“This is big for our playoff position,” Whitfield said. “Everything we do from here counts.”
Some great secondary help came from Tre’von Stewart and Jonathan Coleman, who each had an interception, Stewart broke the single-season record for interceptions with his pick, a record previously held by Jalen Dowe. In the end, Matoaca defeated Meadowbrook 33-28 and improve to 4-3 for the season. The Warriors look to remain in good seeding for the playoffs. With the loss, the Monarchs fell to 3-4, and will likewise look for any and every opportunity to make the playoffs.
