Virginia Playoffs

[MA Fan]

The tradition continues...public school pairings here:

https://www.vhsl.org/brackets/football/

Region 6A--Oscar Smith (9-1) is two games ahead of the rest of the field and outscored opponents 475-66 after an opening loss to Highland Springs. Ocean Lakes may provide their regional final opposition once again. Franklin County makes a 243-mile trip to Virginia Beach to face Landstown.

Region 6B--The deepest region, with five teams 8-2 or better. Unbeaten Freedom outscored opponents 529-69 but #3 seed Colonial Forge played them within a field goal in Week 2. Patriot closed the regular season with eight straight wins but haven't had the playoff success of the other top teams in the bracket. Woodbridge missed the playoffs for the second straight year despite some big-name talent.

Region 6C--South County whipped Lake Braddock last week to finish and unbeaten regular season and no one will be surprised if the teams meet again in the regional final. #2 seed Mount Vernon suffered their only loss in the season opener when a go-ahead field goal attempt in the final seconds was blocked and returned for a touchdown.

Region 6D--Westfield is undefeated and favored once again, but faced stiff challenges from Madison and Chantilly in the regular season and will likely have to go through those teams again.

Region 5A--Maury edged Salem in last year's regional final and both teams went undefeated this year. Salem has conceded just 22 points on the season, while Maury scored 484. #3 seed Indian River's only in-state loss was to Oscar Smith, while #5 seed Woodside went 9-1 and gave up just 45 points. Tough bracket but tough to look past the top two seeds.

Region 5B--Highland Springs survived unscathed through a tough schedule by in-state standards, but had a few too many tight games for a team with national ranking aspirations. They'll likely face a second-round rematch with Varina, who they beat 27-20 last week, and a regional final battle with defending Class 6 champs Manchester, who also played the Springers tough this year. Deep Run is also 10-0 but played a weaker schedule.

Region 5C--Stone Bridge heavy favorites despite losing their unbeaten record to rivals Broad run last week.

Region 5D--Mountain View the only team better than 6-4 and only losses came to Class 6 contenders Colonial Forge and Massaponax. #2 seed North Stafford has knocked them out of the playoffs the last two years.

Region 4A--Lake Taylor under the radar this year after getting destroyed by Maury and Varina in their two losses, but who is going to beat them in this region?

Region 4B--2017 runners-up Louisa went unbeaten for the third regular season in row. #3 seed Eastern View upset the Lions in last year's playoffs.

Region 4C--Unbeaten Broad run may be the state championship favorite after dropping down from Class 5. Tuscarora, also dropping down this year, has won nine straight after dropping a 28-26 decision to Broad Run in the opener, but they'll have to get past unbeaten Liberty-Bealeton to get another shot at the Spartans.

Region 4D--Perennial powers Salem are 9-1 but got smoked by Martinsburg in their loss and have conceded a lot of points. #2 seed EC Glass lost in last year's regional final.

Class 3--Four unbeaten teams plus defending champs Heritage-Lynchburg who's only loss was OOS. 2017 state champs Hopewell notched their first unbeaten season since 1969, but face some stiff challenges in their region.

Class 2--No undefeated teams and only two 9-1 teams. Appomattox, Ridgeview, Union, Graham all contenders.

Class 1--Three-time defending champs Riverheads won all regular season games by at least 17 points. A semifinal showdown with Essex likely looms for the third year in a row. Major props to King & Queen who took the #3 seed in Region A with an 8-2 record after winning a total of 8 games the previous 12 seasons.

[MA Fan]

First round results and second round pairings posted: https://www.vhsl.org/brackets/football/

Not many good games in the first round, here's a few highlights:

--TC Williams (remember the Titans!) captured their first playoff win in 30 years, nipping West Springfield 21-20. 

--Nearly all chalk in class 6 as the higher seeds won 14 of the 16 games...and the only lower seed wins were 4/5 games were the lower seed won by one point (the aforementioned TCW win) and South Lakes over Chantilly in overtime.

--Highland Springs continued to let opponents hang around, winning 38-21 over Henrico. No margin for error from now on for the Springers.

--Woodside, who only got a #5 seed in their region despite a 9-1 record, notched their seventh shutout of the season with a 7-0 win over Princess Anne.

--Perennial Class 4 power Dinwiddie struggled through a 5-5 season and limped into the playoffs as the #7 seed in their region, but upset #2 seed Monacan 49-27, as running back Robert Barlow scored all seven touchdowns.

--Private school titles were decided this weekend. Benedictine took the Division 1 title, beating Richmond rival St. Christopher's 14-6. Division 2 went to North Cross, 42-6 over Blue Ridge, and in Division 3 St. Michael the Archangel, in only their third year, ended Roanoke Catholic three-year championship run, 22-18.

--Bonus Maryland update: Wilde Lake, who qualified for MD's newly expanded playoffs with a 2-7 record, won their second straight game to advance to the state quarterfinals.

--Bonus West Virginia update: Martinsburg won their 997th straight game, edging Preston 84-0 in the first round of the playoffs. All the scoring was done by the middle of the second quarter. You can watch this classic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfgDdbafcYA

Will post some second round previews later.

[ATLien12x]

Good stuff. Great recap 

[MA Fan]

One line about the large school matchups, and small school pairings. Seems like there was a lot of "first playoff win since" last week.

Class 6
Landstown (8-3) at Oscar Smith (10-1)--Landstown needed a late comback to beat unheralded Franklin County last week, OS heavy favorites.
Thomas Dale (8-3) at Ocean Lakes (8-3)--Ocean Lakes looking to set up a showdown with their former coach. Both teams too some heavy defeats during the regular season.
Massaponax (9-2) at Freedom-Woodbridge (11-0)--Freedom has scored a ton of points but questions about their opposition, especially after the other playoff qualifiers from their district got hammered last week. State law requires me to mention that Massaponax runs the option and that teams don't always know how to defend it nowadays.
Colonial Forge (9-2) at Patriot (10-1)--Forge looking to make the quarterfinals for the seventh time in eight years but have never made the final. They beat Patriot in the regular season in 2017 and 18 but they didn't play this year.
TC Williams (8-3) at South County (11-0)--SoCo won 41-13 in September. When TC played at South County in the 2013 playoffs, they ran on to the field through SC's inflatable tunnel thing, which the message boards told me was the worst thing any football team has ever done.
Lake Braddock (9-2) at Mount Vernon (10-1)--Would be a breakthrough win for Mount Vernon, who won their first playoff game since 2008 last week.
South Lakes (7-4) at Westfield (11-0)--Westfield looking to eliminate South Lakes from the playoffs for the fifth straight year.
Madison (8-3) at Yorktown (10-1)--Madison played a much tougher schedule.

Class 5
Woodside (10-1) at Salem-VB (11-0)--Salem has conceded 22 points on the season and Woodside has given up 45, so something has to give. Read that a few Woodside players visited Rutgers last week, hopefully that doesn't rub off on them.
Nansemond River (9-2) at Maury (11-0)--Nansemond emphatically avenged one of their losses last week. Maury hasn't been challenged all year.
Varina (9-2) at Highland Springs (11-0)--Highland Springs won 27-20 two weeks ago.
Manchester (10-1) at Deep Run (11-0)--Deep Run undefeated but with more to prove after playing a weak schedule.
Potomac Falls (5-6) at Stone Bridge (9-1)--Stone Bridge won 41-0 a few weeks ago, not many expect the rematch to be any more competitive.
Briar Woods (6-5) at Woodgrove (6-4)--BW won the regular season meeting 28-0, but had lost three straight before winning their playoff opener over a one-win team last week.
William Fleming (4-7) at Mountain View (9-2)--Fleming has bounced back after winning just one game over the previous two seasons, but the records say it all.
Patrick Henry-Roanoke (7-4) at North Stafford (7-4)--Rare Saturday game as Patrick Henry makes the long trip to the Northern Virginia exurbs. The Patriots won their first playoff game since 1994 last week, while North Stafford won a playoff game for the ninth straight year.

Class 4
Warwick (7-4) at Lake Taylor (9-2)--Warwick beat Peninsula rivals Hampton for their first playoff win since 1990, but avenging a 45-12 September loss to Lake Taylor is a big ask.
King's Fork (4-7) at Churchland (9-2)--King's Fork's challenging schedule paid off as they dumped 8-2 Warhill last week. Churchland took their first-ever playoff win last week, beating a Menchville team that was in the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Patrick Henry-Ashland (8-3) at Louisa (11-0)--Patrick Henry played unbeaten Class 5 Deep Run within a field goal earlier; Louisa's only close game was against Class 6 survivors Massaponax.
Dinwiddie (6-5) at Eastern View (10-1)--Rubber match after the teams split a pair of playoff barnburners the last two years.
Loudoun Valley (7-4) at Broad Run (11-0)--Broad Run's Wake Forest-bound QB has missed two of the last three games including the playoff opener last week. LV gave them a decent game during the regular season, 28-14.
Tuscarora (10-1) at Liberty-Bealeton (11-0)--Tusky's only loss was the season opener against Broad Run, most are expecting a rematch.
GW-Danville (8-3) at Salem (10-1)--Salem's defense has stepped up since getting shredded by Martinsburg, but GW averages over 40 points a game. Always a surprise when Salem loses.
Pulaski County (9-2) at EC Glass (10-1)--Pulaski has only conceded more than 14 points once this season, Glass averages 44.

Class 3
Norcom (7-4) at Hopewell (11-0)
Phoebus (10-1) at York (11-0)
Skyline (6-5) at Goochland (10-1)
Brentsville (8-3) at James Monroe (8-3)
Liberty Christian (8-3) at Heritage-Lynchburg (10-1)
Rockbridge County (9-2) at Spotswood (11-0)
Hidden Valley (7-4) at Lord Botetourt (11-0)
Magna Vista (8-3) at Northside (8-3)

Class 2
Greensville County (8-3) at Thomas Jefferson-Richmond--has been a long time since a Richmond city school won two playoff games.
Poquoson (7-4) at King William (8-3)
Strasburg (8-3) at Stuarts Draft (10-1)
East Rockingham (7-4) at Buckingham (10-1)
Glenvar (7-4) at Appomattox (9-2)
Gretna (8-3) at Radford (9-2)
Wise Central (9-2) at Ridgeview (9-2)
Graham (9-2) at Union (9-2)

Class 1
Washington & Lee (6-5) at Essex (10-1)
West Point (7-4) at Rappahannock (8-3)
Franklin (4-7) at Riverheads (11-0)
Altavista (4-7) at Sussex Central (9-2)
Auburn (6-5) at Galax (9-1)
George Wythe (8-2) at Narrows (11-0)
Holston (7-4) at Patrick Henry-Glade Spring (11-0)
Chilhowie (9-2) at JI Burton (9-2)

[MA Fan]

Upsets tonight!

--Varina beat Highland Springs 27-21. Was 27-6 in the fourth before the Springers attempted a rally. 40-game win streak and 4-year state championship streak is over.

--Massaponax over Freedom 45-42 on a last-second field goal. Panthers held the potent Freedom offense to seven second-half points after a 35-35 halftime tie.

--Patrick Henry-Ashland got a late field goal of their own to knock off unbeaten Louisa 16-15. In the same region Dinwiddie pulled off their second straight upset, 25-17 over Eastern View.

--Salem-VB narrowly avoided an upset at the hands of Woodside, scoring on a 62-yard pass in the final minute to pull out a 21-19

--In other unbeaten teams losing news, Manchester beat Deep Run 35-18, Tuscarora whipped Liberty 53-22, and Phoebus rolled York 41-18. None of those were really upsets though. 

[Sammyswordsman]

2 hours ago, MA Fan said:

Upsets tonight!

--Varina beat Highland Springs 27-21. Was 27-6 in the fourth before the Springers attempted a rally. 40-game win streak and 4-year state championship streak is over.

--Massaponax over Freedom 45-42 on a last-second field goal. Panthers held the potent Freedom offense to seven second-half points after a 35-35 halftime tie.

--Patrick Henry-Ashland got a late field goal of their own to knock off unbeaten Louisa 16-15. In the same region Dinwiddie pulled off their second straight upset, 25-17 over Eastern View.

--Salem-VB narrowly avoided an upset at the hands of Woodside, scoring on a 62-yard pass in the final minute to pull out a 21-19

--In other unbeaten teams losing news, Manchester beat Deep Run 35-18, Tuscarora whipped Liberty 53-22, and Phoebus rolled York 41-18. None of those were really upsets though. 

Wow!  Those were some exciting games.

[MA Fan]

Regional Final schedules are up:

https://www.vhsl.org/brackets/football/

Gets harder to find stats every year.

Class 6
Thomas Dale (9-3) at Oscar Smith (11-1)--OS had a tougher-than-expected 20-16 win over Landstown last week. While they've scored a lot of points this year, their district rivals flopped in the playoff and they still have to prove whether their offense, led by soph QB Ethan Vasko, can score against good teams. Thomas Dale features 5* Notre Dame committ Chris Tyree, who has been limited by injury but resumed running back duties last week and put up 110 yards, and all-around threat Jasiah Williams, who has thrown for over 1,000 yards, rushed for about 600, and often slides over to receiver, where he has caught 22 passes. When he gets bored, he returns kicks for touchdowns like he did in last week's win over Ocean Lakes. 

Massaponax (10-2) at Colonial Forge (10-2)--Forge won the regular season meeting of district rivals 21-3, and has held Massaponax to a total of 10 points over the last three seasons. Ponax has two RBs over 1,000 yards and a third who ran for a thousand last year and just came back from injury, so the potential to break loose is there, as evidenced by last week's upset of Freedom where they put up 370 rushing yards and 45 points. Forge has only conceded more than seven points three times this year.

Lake Braddock (10-2) at South County (12-0)--South County won 40-29 the final week of the regular season. It wasn't as close as the score indicates--28-0 at the half and LB never got closer than two scores--but the Bruins offense was effective enough in the second half to give SC something to think about. South County's balanced offense is led by senior QB Matt Dzierski (2,700 yards passing, 34 TD, 5 INT, 524 rushing yards) and his favorite targets Brock Spalding (64 receptions, 1120 yards, 17 TD) and JoShawn Lewis (43 receptions, 693 yards). Running back has been by committee, and increasingly features 240-pound back Zion Dayne (Ron's son, of course), who will probably play LB at Yale but ran for four scores in the regular-season matchup. LB counters with Junior QB Billy Edwards (2,556 yards, 30 TD, 5 INT), who will play some type of D1, RB and state wrestling champ Joe Murray, who is just short of 2,000 rushing yards on the season, and Michigan commit Matt Hibner (36 receptions, 832 yards, 11 TD), who is a TE on the recruiting sites but can be a deep threat in high school as well as a terror on defense.

Yorktown (11-1) at Westfield (12-0)--Westfield gave up a touchdown on the first possession of the postseason and hasn't conceded a point since. Senior QB Noah Kim, who recently switched his commitment from Virginia Tech to Michigan State, is back for his third season as the Bulldogs' starter and has tossed 27 touchdowns against just one interception. Soph RB Mikal Legall has added 23 rushing TDs. Yorktown didn't play a very strong regular season schedule, but impressed with a 25-10 win last week against a Madison team that played Westfield within a touchdown. Senior QB Grant Wilson has thrown for nearly 2,500 yards for the Patriots.

Class 5
Maury (12-0) at Salem-Va Beach (12-0)--Certainly the game of the week. Maury scored 64 points last week, Salem hasn't conceded 64 total points this season. Maury QB EJ Gibson has thrown for nearly 3,000 yards, with Penn State-bound KeAndre Lambert his top target, while CJ Beasley has run for over 1,300. Salem, who edged Woodside on a late touchdown pass last week, features 1,600-yard rusher, while the stingy SunDevil defense is led by LB Anwar Sparrow.

Varina (10-2) at Manchester (11-1)--Not far behind Salem-Maury in the GOTW standings. Varina coming off their huge win over Highland Springs now has a chance to avenge their other regular season loss, with Manchester having taken a 45-38 double-overtime win in the season opener. Varina's Barry Hill intercepted four passes last week against the Springers, and also caught a touchdown pass from Bobby Dunn, who has thrown for 28 TDs on the season. Kent State commit Isiah Page is only 5-7 but is both a rushing and receiving threat for Varina, snagging region player of the year honors. Manchester graduated a ton off of last season's Class 6 state champs, but hasn't dropped off very much, with dual-threat QB Roemel Garcia stepping in for Brendon Clark and topping 1,000 yards through the air and on the ground.

Woodgrove (7-4) at Stone Bridge (10-1)--Stone Bridge won 44-14 in the regular season, with UMass commit Jared Cole rushing for four scores.

North Stafford (8-4) at Mountain View (10-2)--North Stafford eliminated Mountain View from the playoffs the last two years, but both years NS had also roughed up MV during the regular season, whereas MV won this year's October meeting 34-26. QB Edward Ware has run for 1,013 yards despite missing some time to injury, RB Mark Shelton is just short of a thousand, and freshman Ike Daniels has added five touchdowns in two playoff games. North Stafford lost four-year star RB Devyn Ford to Penn State, but has built an air attack around QB Jamir Boyd (2,781 yards, 28 TD), Indiana commit Javon Swinton (42 receptions, 733 yards, 10 TD), and Holt Egan (55 receptions, 933 yards, 10 TD).

Class 4
Churchland (10-2) at Lake Taylor (10-2)--Churchland won their first playoff game in history two weeks ago and then they won their second. Lake Taylor's Malik Newton has rushed for 30 touchdowns and scored on a pick six last week. Churchland is nicknamed the Truckers, which doesn't really bring an image of speed to your mind, but RB Kenny Gallop has a perfect name for his position.

Dinwiddie (7-5) at Patrick Henry-Ashland (9-3)--Dinwiddie a familiar face at this stage of the playoffs, while Patrick Henry is a rare visitor. Dinwiddie star RB Robert Barlow left last week's game with a sprained ankle.

Tuscarora (11-1) at Broad Run (12-0)--Big question is whether Broad Run's starting QB and Wake Forest commit Mitch Griffis will play, or if younger brother Brett will fill in as he has for the first two playoff games. Tuscarora's offense has put up 100 points in two playoff games behind QB Ethan Gick (2,080 yards and 20 TD passing, 1,287 yards and 17 TD rushing), sophomore RB Bryce Duke (1,526 yards, 20 TD). Jevonn Gilyard (45 receptions, 1,072 yards, 14 TD) is the deep threat while Ryan Upp (56 receptions, 775 yards) finds open space across the middle. Tuscarora DE Matei Fitz was district defensive POY.

EC Glass (11-1) at Salem (11-1)--Glass QB DreSean Kendrick has run for 1,950 yards on the season.

Class 3
Phoebus (11-1) at Hopewell (11-0)--Every year we wonder if this is finally the year for Phoebus.

James Monroe (9-3) at Goochland (11-1)

Spotswood (12-0) at Heritage-Lynchburg (11-1)--KJ Vaughan ran for 223 yards and four touchdowns in Heritage's win over Liberty Christian last week. Spotswood has outscored opponents 500-98 but the defending state champs are a step up in competition for them.

Northside (9-3) at Lord Botetourt (12-0)--Botetourt won 14-7 late in the regular season. LB's Hunter Rice, who has started since he was a freshman and has a UVa offer, ran for 303 yards against Hidden Valley last week.

Class 2
King William (9-3) at Thomas Jefferson-Richmond (10-2)--No one ever expected a Richmond City team to win two playoffs games but then no one really expected a Richmond City team to be playing in Class 2 either.

East Rockingham (8-4) at Stuarts Draft (11-1)

Gretna (9-3) at Appomattox (10-2)--Appomattox had a run of three straight state championships broken last year.

Wise Central (10-2) at Graham (10-2)--Defending state champs Graham destroyed Union 48-7 last week to avenge their only in-state loss.

Class 1
Rappahannock (9-3) at Essex (11-1)--Anyone who's tried to avoid 64 and 95 by driving from Hampton Roads to Northern Virginia via US 17 and 301 knows Tappahannock is home to a 25 mph speed limit and several traffic lights, but not many know that Tappahannock is also home to Essex High School, which goes for their third straight regional title this week.

Sussex Central (10-2) at Riverheads (12-0)--Riverheads looking on course for their fourth state title in a row after winning their first two playoff games by a combined 104-6.

George Wythe (9-2) at Galax (10-1)

JI Burton (10-2) at Patrick Henry-Glade Spring (12-0)

[MA Fan]

After last week's upsets it was mostly comfortable wins for the favorites in the regional finals...even though three of the lower seeds won in Class 5 I don't think any were big surprises.

Class 6
Oscar Smith 29 Thomas Dale 7--OS limited Dale to 139 yards of offense and Romon Copeland scored three times for the Tigers.
Colonial Forge 42 Massaponax 21--Forge racked up 360 rushing yards.
South County 31 Lake Braddock 15--Brock Spalding caught three touchdown passes from Matt Dzierski and also returned an interception for a score at the Stallions pulled away in the second half.
Westfield 35 Yorktown 7--Noah Kim threw three TD passes for the Bulldogs.

Class 5
Maury 35 Salem-VB 14--KeAndre Lambert scored rushing and receiving touchdowns and threw for another score.
Varina 34 Manchester 16--No letdown for Varina as Bobby Dunn hooked up with Barry Hill on two long TD passes and Jailin Walker added two scores on the ground.
Stone Bridge 57 Woodgrove 15--SB led just 22-15 at halftime but dominated in the second half. Jared Cole ran for 168 yards and three touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass as well.
North Stafford 21 Mountain View 10-Jamir Boyd three for 337 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Wolverines eliminated the Wildcats for the third straight year.

Class 4
Lake Taylor 41 Churchland 13--Malik Newton ran ford 213 yards and Jeff Foster tossed three TD passes for the TItans.
Patrick Henry-Ashland 13 Dinwiddie 6--Jordan Allen;s fourth quarter TD run was the difference in this defensive struggle.
Tuscarora 30 Broad Run 7--Ethan Gick threw four touchdown passes as the Huskies avenged their season-opening loss.
Salem 35 EC Glass 24--Glass took a 24-21 lead in the third quarter, but Shawn Collins immediately put Salem back on top with a 99-yard kickoff return. Isaiah Persinger scored the other four touchdowns for Salem.

Class 3
Hopewell 19 Phoebus 6--Trey Henderson ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns.
Goochland 20 James Monroe 7
Heritage-Lynchburg 43 Spotswood 20--KJ Vaughan scored all six touchdowns for Heritage.
Lord Botetourt 31 Northside 23

Class 2
TJ-Richmond 30 King William 28--TJ continues to make history after holding off a late King William rally.
Stuarts Draft 14 East Rockingham 7
Appomattox 35 Gretna 14
Graham 43 Wise Central 14

Class 1
Essex 60 Rappahannock 28
Riverheads 46 Sussex Central 0--Riverheads held Sussex Central to minus-12 yards of offense.
Galax 52 George Wythe 6--Denver Brown ran for 317 yards and four scores, including touchdown runs of 98, 90, and 63 yards.
Patrick Henry-GS 24 JI Burton 0

Maryland Update: Defending 4A State Champs Quince Orchard were upset 22-13 by county rivals Northwest in the semifinals. Northwest faces Wise for the championship.

DC Update: Dunbar beat HD Woodson 21-12 on Thanksgiving morning to take the DCIAA title. The Crimson Tide will battle Friendship Collegiate for the DCSAA championship after Friendship beat Archbishop Carroll 7-0 in their semifinal.

West Virginia Update: Martinsburg made it 999 straight wins by squeaking past Parkersburg South 77-20 in a Class AAA semifinal. No need to worry about the slim margin, Bulldog fans; it was 77-6 after three. Martinsburg goes for their historic 1,000th straight win when they take on Cabell Midland for the championship.
 

[Gospeeder]

On 12/2/2019 at 7:45 PM, MA Fan said:

After last week's upsets it was mostly comfortable wins for the favorites in the regional finals...even though three of the lower seeds won in Class 5 I don't think any were big surprises.

Class 6
Oscar Smith 29 Thomas Dale 7--OS limited Dale to 139 yards of offense and Romon Copeland scored three times for the Tigers.
Colonial Forge 42 Massaponax 21--Forge racked up 360 rushing yards.
South County 31 Lake Braddock 15--Brock Spalding caught three touchdown passes from Matt Dzierski and also returned an interception for a score at the Stallions pulled away in the second half.
Westfield 35 Yorktown 7--Noah Kim threw three TD passes for the Bulldogs.

Class 5
Maury 35 Salem-VB 14--KeAndre Lambert scored rushing and receiving touchdowns and threw for another score.
Varina 34 Manchester 16--No letdown for Varina as Bobby Dunn hooked up with Barry Hill on two long TD passes and Jailin Walker added two scores on the ground.
Stone Bridge 57 Woodgrove 15--SB led just 22-15 at halftime but dominated in the second half. Jared Cole ran for 168 yards and three touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass as well.
North Stafford 21 Mountain View 10-Jamir Boyd three for 337 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Wolverines eliminated the Wildcats for the third straight year.

Class 4
Lake Taylor 41 Churchland 13--Malik Newton ran ford 213 yards and Jeff Foster tossed three TD passes for the TItans.
Patrick Henry-Ashland 13 Dinwiddie 6--Jordan Allen;s fourth quarter TD run was the difference in this defensive struggle.
Tuscarora 30 Broad Run 7--Ethan Gick threw four touchdown passes as the Huskies avenged their season-opening loss.
Salem 35 EC Glass 24--Glass took a 24-21 lead in the third quarter, but Shawn Collins immediately put Salem back on top with a 99-yard kickoff return. Isaiah Persinger scored the other four touchdowns for Salem.

Class 3
Hopewell 19 Phoebus 6--Trey Henderson ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns.
Goochland 20 James Monroe 7
Heritage-Lynchburg 43 Spotswood 20--KJ Vaughan scored all six touchdowns for Heritage.
Lord Botetourt 31 Northside 23

Class 2
TJ-Richmond 30 King William 28--TJ continues to make history after holding off a late King William rally.
Stuarts Draft 14 East Rockingham 7
Appomattox 35 Gretna 14
Graham 43 Wise Central 14

Class 1
Essex 60 Rappahannock 28
Riverheads 46 Sussex Central 0--Riverheads held Sussex Central to minus-12 yards of offense.
Galax 52 George Wythe 6--Denver Brown ran for 317 yards and four scores, including touchdown runs of 98, 90, and 63 yards.
Patrick Henry-GS 24 JI Burton 0

Maryland Update: Defending 4A State Champs Quince Orchard were upset 22-13 by county rivals Northwest in the semifinals. Northwest faces Wise for the championship.

DC Update: Dunbar beat HD Woodson 21-12 on Thanksgiving morning to take the DCIAA title. The Crimson Tide will battle Friendship Collegiate for the DCSAA championship after Friendship beat Archbishop Carroll 7-0 in their semifinal.

West Virginia Update: Martinsburg made it 999 straight wins by squeaking past Parkersburg South 77-20 in a Class AAA semifinal. No need to worry about the slim margin, Bulldog fans; it was 77-6 after three. Martinsburg goes for their historic 1,000th straight win when they take on Cabell Midland for the championship.
 

Great Job and thanks. We need more guys like you and Adam K posting about other areas of the country.

I am somewhat confused about the 999 Martinsburg wins. Can you elaborate?

[MA Fan]

3 hours ago, Gospeeder said:

I am somewhat confused about the 999 Martinsburg wins. Can you elaborate?

Just a joke--they've only won 55 in a row, but they have been so far ahead of the other teams in their state over the last decade they it just feels like they've won about a thousand games in a row.

[MA Fan]

Don't have time to write much about tomorrow's semifinals, but here are the matchups:

Class 6
Colonial Forge (11-2) at Oscar Smith (12-1)--fifth time in seven years they have met in the playoffs, Oscar Smith has won all the previous meetings.
South County (13-0) at Westfield (13-0)--in the 2015 semis Westfield crushed an undefeated South County team 40-8, which ignited Westfield's run of three straight championships.

Class 5
Varina (11-2) at Maury (13-0)
North Stafford (9-4) at Stone Bridge (11-1)--Stone Bridge has won their last six semifinals, while North Stafford has lost their last four.

Class 4
Patrick Henry-Ashland (10-3) at Lake Taylor (11-2)
Tuscarora (12-1) at Salem (12-1)

Class 3
Goochland (12-1) at Hopewell (13-0)
Heritage-Lynchburg (12-1) at Lord Botetourt (13-0)--Heritage won a 42-39 slugfest in last year's semi

Class 2
TJ-Richmond (11-2) at Stuarts Draft (12-1)--TJ coming off their first regional title in their 90-year history.
Graham (11-2) at Appomattox (12-2)--defending champions Graham against the 2015-17 champs Appomattox.

Class 1
Essex (12-1) at Riverheads (13-0)--Essex has given Riverheads their toughest tests in their title runs the last two years.
Galax (11-1) at Patrick Henry-GS (13-0)

[ECHS05]

Go Maury!

[MA Fan]

Semifinals:

Class 6
Oscar Smith 18 Colonial Forge 16 (Highlights)--Ethan Vasko's 55-yard touchdown pass to Amonte Jones midway through the fourth quarter--on fourth and 8--gave OS the winning points. Forge had five turnovers, four in the first half.

South County 28 Westfield 21 (Highlights)--Matt Dzierski threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers and Brock Spalding--the recipient of one of those touchdown strikes--intercepted a pass in the end zone as time expired. 

Class 5
Maury 17 Varina 14 (Highlights)--Maury's high scoring offense was largely held in check, but the less heralded defense kept Varina scoreless until the fourt quarter and put the game away with a late interception.

Stone Bridge 44 North Stafford 15--Jared Cole ran for 131 yards and three touchdowns as Stone Bridge advanced to their ninth state championship game since 2005.

Class 4
Lake Taylor 36 Patrick Henry-Ashland 35 (Highlights)--The Titans stuffed a last-second two-point conversion attempt to hold on after PH scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes. Malik Newton ran for 128 yards and was in on the tackle on the decisive play. Tarrion Washington-Jacobs added another 116 yards and two scores. Patrick Henry QB Alex Sikkar ran for 160 and three touchdowns.

Tuscarora 36 Salem 20 (Highlights)--Sophomore RB Bryce Duke ran for 203 yards and four touchdowns, and while Salem amassed 21 first downs, the Huskies defense bent but didn't break in the second half.

Class 3
Hopewell 35 Goochland 28 (Highlights)--Hopewell trailed 28-14 after three quarters, but Kaiveon Cox touchdown runs tied the game, and Trey Henderson plunged in from the 1 yard-line with a minute left to put the Blue Devils into the final. Henderson finished with 211 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21 carries. Goochland QB CJ Towles threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more.

Lord Botetourt 25 Heritage-Lynchburg 14 (Highlights)--Botetourt RB Hunter Rice outdueled Heritage's KJ Vaughan 192 yards to 126, and QB James-Ryan Salvi scored on both sides of the ball as Botetourt avenged last year's semifinal loss.

Class 2
Stuarts Draft 49 TJ-Richmond 7 (Highlights)--Draft's Wing-T put up 358 yards on the ground as they ended TJ's storybook run. Blake Roach and Dustyn Fitzgerald both topped 100 yards rushing, while Freddie Watkins scored four times.

Appomattox 28 Graham 13 (Highlights)--Tre Lawing threw three touchdown passes as 2015-17 champions Appomattox return to the championship game after a one-year absence.

Class 1
Riverheads 56 Essex 15 (Highlights)--Zac Smiley ran 90 yards for a touchdown on the first offensive play for Riverheads, who continue to be unstoppable against Class 1 opposition.

Galax 41 Patrick Henry-Glade Spring 16 (Highlights)--After years of having running backs put up huge numbers, Galax had allegedly shifted to a more balanced attack this year, but this one was like the old days as Denver Brown ran for 276 yards and two touchdowns on 38 carries. The Maroon Tide defense limited Patrick Henry to 29 rushing yards of their own.

Maryland: Wise dropped Northwest 35-14 to capture their fourth Class 4A championship in five years. Damascus did the same in Class 3A, blanking Linganore 38-0.

West Virginia: Martinsburg won their one billionth consecutive state championship, 49-21 over Cabell Midland. The Bulldogs scored two touchdowns in the first 30 seconds of the game and five more in the last 3:16 of the first half.

[MA Fan]

Championship games on Saturday. Two games each at three different sites, all should be on NFHS Network::

Hampton University

12:00 Class 5: Maury (14-0) vs. Stone Bridge (12-1)

4:30 Class 6: South County (14-0) vs. Oscar Smith (13-1)

Liberty University

12:00 Class 3: Hopewell (14-0) vs, Lord Botetourt (14-0)

4:30 Class 4: Tuscarora (13-1) vs. Lake Taylor (12-2)

Salem Stadium

12:00 Class 1: Riverheads (14-0) vs. Galax (12-1)

4:30 Class 2: Stuarts Draft (13-1) vs. Appomattox (12-2)

[MA Fan]

Class 6
South County 14 Oscar Smith 13 (Highlights)--OS outgained SC 302-156, and held the Stallions scoreless over the last three quarters, but a second quarter that featured a missed extra point, missed short field goal, and fourth-and-goal failure doomed the Tigers to another state narrow championship game defeat. 

Class 5 
Maury 28 Stone Bridge 21 (Highlights)--Maury led 28-0 in the second quarter and held on, running out the last 10:51 with a 19-play drive that included a roughing the punter penalty and an offsides on 4th-and-2. KeAndre Lambert caught a pair of touchdown passes from EJ Gibson as Maury built their lead. Same old story for Stone Bridge, schedule doesn't prepare them for the athletes the 757/804 teams throw at them and by the time they figure it out they've dug a deep hole.

Class 4
Lake Taylor 34 Tuscarora 14 (Highlights)--Jeff Foster threw four touchdown passes on eight attempts, and LT ran for 246 yards against what had been a stout Tuscarora defense. Darious Speight caught three of the touchdowns.

Class 3
Hopewell 35 Lord Botetourt 7 (Highlights)--Virginia Gatorade POY Trey Henderson ran for 208 yards and three touchdowns as Hopewell rolled. 

Class 2
Appomattox 42 Stuarts Draft 21 (Highlights)--Tre Lawing and Cristian Ferguson combined for 246 yards and five touchdowns on the ground to lead Appomattox to their fourth championship in five years.

Class 1
Riverheads 31 Galax 24 (Highlights)--Riverheads got their toughest playoff test in a few years, but Cole Burton's 60-yard TD run with 4:02 left propelled them to the win.