Don’t mess with the Eastern Region!

If you think your gonna line up against this area’s best football players and come away with a win, think again. The titles have been handed out and Hampton Roads makes it 3 for 3. Oscar Smith, Phoebus and Franklin are king of the hill in Virginia.

Dinwiddie, done! Osbourn, ouch! Clintwood, crushed! And the damage doesn’t end there. Boston College, bumbed! Villanova, vanished! Players from the 757 took a big bite out of the competition and made a statement on the grandest stage.

Here’s a tought question. Who had the best weekend?

Does the honor go to Phoebus battering ram Shawne Alston? All he did was run wild on Dinwiddie. The West Virginia bound recruit weaved his way for 237 yards and 2 touchdowns. How about teamate Tajh Boyd. All he did was throw 3 touchdown passes in the final game of his high school career.

Maybe the best performance was in the Oscar Smith blow out over Osbourn. Tim Smith only caught 6 balls. But 4 of those catches went for touchdowns and they were all long. His touchdowns covered 34, 64, 54 and 54 yards. How about his runningmate and future Virginia teamate Perry Jones. Jones rushed for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns. Smith and Jones had games they will never forget, but the best of the bunch goes to Phillip Sims. All he did was throw for a state championship 6 touchdowns. Sims had 5 touchdown tosses before halftime. It was a good thing Oscar Smith took it’s foot off the pedal in the second half, or else Sims would have torched Lane Stadium like never scene before. Instead he finished with 334 yards passing. Keep in mind, the kid is just a junior and yes now more than ever, schools from near and far will be busting down his door!

Now Franklin had it’s share of studs too. Quarterback Donzelle Shearin capped off a great season with 2 touchdowns in the state title game.

No doubt these kids will go on to great careers in college. It seems like just yesterday we were praising Tyrod Taylor and Rodney Landers. Taylor ran for 2 touchdowns and was named the ACC Championship game MVP. Landers almost single-handidly led James Madison to the Div. 1AA semifinal. He threw 3 touchdowns and ran for another. The former Tallwood star was the games leading rusher.

Yes you could say the boys from the 757 made a statement this weekend. The path to football greatness goes thru Hampton Roads.

Revenge is sweet!

The Phantoms of Phoebus high school waited 365 days for redemption against Stone Bridge and now that they have held up their end of the bargain, it’s time to set their sights on a title. You see Stone Bridge was the defending Division 5 state champions and they were the monsters of the Northern Region. They thought they were going to come into Darling Stadium and plow over the Phantoms. But coach Bill Dee and his team had other plans for the Bulldogs.

Yes Stone Bridge has a great offense and yes we know they average 50 points a game, but have they gone up against a defense like the one at Phoebus? You know a suffacating, in your face, relentless defense that makes all your nightmares come true?

The Phantoms harassed the Bulldogs all day long and forced 5 interceptions. This game wasn’t even close! 38 to 8 was the final score. Ding dong the witch is dead! Stone Bridge was the last team to beat Phoebus since the 2006 season and now the Phantoms have a clear path to thier 4th state championship. All coach Bill Dee and his team has to do is stick to the game plan and smother poor old Dinwiddie next weekend in Blacksburg and once again the Phantoms will be back on top.

Now I’m not a coach and I certainly know that anything is possible when young football players line up for a championship, but I will be stunned if Phoebus does not bring home the trophy next weekend. You know what they say about what wins championships. Well Phoebus has as good a defense as you will find and next weekend, Dinwiddie’s championship dreams will be sitting next to the dreams of those poor kids from Stone Bridge. If it were a movie you could call it the Dinwiddie disaster and you’ll find it in the horror section at your local video store. But at least for one more week, those kids can dream of the championship….a championship that will be back in Hampton next weekend.