Blog Game Blog: Maury 48, Lake Taylor 12 - FINAL

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Greetings from Norfolk as we are set for kick-off with the Maury Commodores (1-1) at the Lake Taylor Titans (2-1) in an Eastern District clash.

We'll have updates here and via Twitter @ hatfieldsports

Before we do, let's look at our mini Preview we put up earlier...

Maury (1-1) at Lake Taylor (2-1) . . . Lake Taylor is averaging 29 points per game and allowing 39 PPG, yet here they are with a chance to go two games over .500 if they can follow up the rally from 20 points down to beat Norview 28-26 by beating Maury for the third time in four meetings. Prior to the Commodores' 49-7 thumping of Lake Taylor on their way to a perfect 15-0 undefeated season, Maury had lost 10 straight to their Norfolk rival. Both suffered an early season blemish with Maury's being of the much closer variety, 29-27 at New Bern in North Carolina, whereas Lake Taylor was routed 56-6 by Phoebus.

Lake Taylor has made a switch at quarterback with Aaron McDaniel (237 pass yards, 3 TD's passing) and that seems to have jump-started their offense with the likes of Tarreon Washington-Jacobs, Chuck Fisher and Reese Williams providing a solid ground attack. Ironically, McDaniel played at Maury a season ago, so he's facing his former team in this one. Sophomore 6'6" WR Elijah Washington is a matchup problem for any defense and caught the game-winning touchdown pass with three seconds left vs. Norview on 4th & Goal.

Maury has a host of weapons steering their attack, headlined by Salem transfer Saquan Miles at QB and versatile WR/ATH/QB Ahmarian Granger, who is committed to Old Dominion and can use this spotlight performance to build his campaign for Eastern District Offensive Player for the Year honors. Both squads returned a lot from last season in terms of contributors in the trenches, so that battle might be a wash, and if mistakes are to a minimum by each, this has the potential to be a barn-burner with frequent scoring.

Ultimately, the key probably will be whether or not Lake Taylor's pass rush can get Miles unglued and force Maury to establish the running game to sustain drives. If the Commodores get time to throw, then Granger and sophomore Da'Vontae Floyd can pose a threat for the Titans secondary.

You have to go back to 2013 to find the last time Lake Taylor lost twice at home in a season. Two losses at home before October for the Titans? That hasn't happened since 2001.

Matt Hatfield Says - Maury 34-20
Coach Ed Young Says – Lake Taylor 24-22


... Set for kick and it'll be Lake Taylor ball first.

 

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Lake Taylor's Tarreon Washington-Jacobs is drilled on the opening kickoff return by Tayuon 'Tayo' Reid. The Titans start at their own 30, but the Commodores drop them backwards on consecutive plays with Bless Mack, Savion Moore Reid. Then on 3rd & 14, a turnover is forced as QB Aaron McDaniel is drilled by Reid, and Kelvin 'KT' Seay recovers the loose pigskin, which he returns 13 yards to the LT 2.

 

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Lake Taylor goes 3 & out on its next possession as Jayden Hargett sacks McDaniel on 3rd & 6 to force a Titans punt.

Maury starts at the Lake Taylor 42 after a nice return on the punt.

 

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Good stop by the Lake Taylor defense as Saquan Miles, the Maury QB, gains 5 on the first play. Then on 2nd & 5, Miles misses his open receiver on a deep shot down the left side of the field with four receivers on the other side of the formation. On 3rd & 5, Reese Williams makes a tackle for loss as Peyton Jones is stopped two yards behind the line of scrimmage.

A false start on 4th & 7 forces Maury Coach Dyrri McCain to decide to punt. A 19-yard punt means Lake Taylor takes over at their own 25, trailing 7-0 with 5:36 to go in the opening stanza.

 

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Lake Taylor's third series nets them exactly two yards on the first two plays to bring up 3rd & 8 before a time-out with 3:54 from their own 27.

A false start out of the time-out backs Lake Taylor up five and brings up a passing situation on 3rd & 13. Patrick McDowell and Tayo Reid blow the play up before it even gets going with a sack for a loss of 4.

A bad snap on the punt, but McDaniel is able to get it off and make a fairly decent punt. It's downed at the 43 of Lake Taylor with 2:40 left in the opening frame. The Commodores have excellent field position again.

 

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Maury has focused its third possession by using some design quarterback run plays with Saquan Miles until it opens up play-action, where he finds Mike Newell for what initially a 24-yard TD. However, a personal foul penalty brings it back.

They go back to Newell, the newcomer from Princess Anne, and he picks up 11 on the inside slant pass. Then Peyton Jones runs 5. It'll be the 8th play of the drive when the 2nd period begins as Maury aims to take a double-figure lead.

 

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Granger was wide open in the flat as it was a solidly designed play and well-executed by the Maury offense to take that double-figure lead.

Lake Taylor will start at their own 23 with 11:45 to go in the 2nd period, desperately needing some offensive jolt.

 

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Lake Taylor's offense is dormant right now. Their first run with Jaykeon Smith is stuffed for a gain of just a couple. Then a toss play to Tarreon Washington-Jacobs is met immediately with Roshon Carter stopping him for a loss of 2. On 3rd & !0, their first pass attempt is an incomplete by Aaron McDaniel in double coverage. That brings out the punting unit again.

The concerns coming in were more on defense than offense. But so far, the Titans are struggling to move the ball at all.

Maury begins at the Lake Taylor 44 with 10 minutes to go in the 2nd period, leading comfortably 14-0... and looking for more after the 13-yard punt return.

 

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Coach McCain overloaded one side with four receivers, stacked, and they run to the other side with Peyton Jones and he has all kinds of daylight to get to the end zone.

 

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Maury goes for an onside kick that's unsuccessful, so Titans Coach Hank Sawyer will take the ball at the 47 of the Commodores. Unfortunately for him, their offense is still stagnant at the moment. Chuck Fisher gains 3 on a run, but then Tayo Reid and the Commodores blow up the next play and a pass is incomplete. Lake Taylor's Aaron McDaniel punts it away.

Maury begins their fifth series at their own 25 with 7:45 until half-time.

 

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Another good job of execution from the Maury offense as they put a receiver in motion from the left side to the right and Saquan Miles goes relatively untouched up the middle on the QB draw, racing to paydirt.

Lake Taylor's next series begins with an incomplete from their own 24 and then Chuck Fisher runs for about 5 yards. On 3rd& 5, Lavonte Bond stops Elijah Washington to a 1 yard gain on the first completion of the night for Lake Taylor.

The Commodores start at their own 17 with 3:58 until half-time, up 27-0.

 

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Let's see if this can spark another Lake Taylor comeback. Remember, the Titans rallied from 20 down a week ago, on this field, to stun Norview.

 

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And ironically, it's Elijah Washington (a.k.a. Moss) pulling in the touchdown to see if that gives Lake Taylor a boost. He was the hero hauling in the winning score a week ago.

Of course, Maury is a different animal and we haven't seen the reigning three-time Region 5A Champs blow a 20-plus point lead, so I don't think they will let up here.

An onside kick by the Titans is recovered by Maury at the 50.

 

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It's not even like Miles was running full speed on that run down the right sideline to add to the Maury lead.

Lake Taylor takes over with 1:05 till the break at their own 33.

 

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Maury was primed to get the ball back before the half, but a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty extends the series for Lake Taylor.

A pass by Aaron McDaniel gets intercepted by Taizuan Brown of Maury. Just a play later, the Titans intercept Saquan Miles with Tarreon Washington-Jacobs. That takes us to half-time.

 

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Some numbers at the break here momentarily...

 

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Stats at the Half:

Maury 34:
Saquan Miles - 4-8 for 45Yds. 1-2 TD/Int. ratio; 7Car. 138Yds. 2 TD's
Peyton Jones - 5Car. 52Yds. 2 TD's
Mike Newell - 2Rec. 26Yds.
Ahmarian Granger - 2Rec. 19Yds. TD
Tayo Reid - 5 Tackles (3 Solo), 2 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles
Savion Moore - 5 Tackles, 0.5 Sack

Commodores - 20 plays for 225 total yards (4-8 for 45 pass yards, 2 intercepts; 12 rushes for 180 yards); 5 penalties for 55 yards; 2 turnovers


Lake Taylor 6:
Aaron McDaniel - 2-9 for 11Yds. 1-1 TD/Int. ratio
Chuck Fisher - 4Car. 12Yds.
Elijah Washington - 2Rec. 11Yds. TD
Tarreon Washington-Jacobs - 4 Tackles, TFL

Titans - 25 plays for minus 1 yard (2-9 for 11 pass yards, 1 intercept; 16 rushes for minus 12 yards); 3 penalties for 35 yards; 1 turnover.

 

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Maury begins their first series of the second half at their own 32 following Josh Powell's kickoff return.

A lot of QB draw heavy on this series for QB Saquan Miles, who is up to 11 carries for 180 yards. This has been a fairly long drive for the Commodores to begin the 3rd period that might've been over by now with a score if not for a couple of holding penalties.

Lake Taylor's defense looks a bit gassed.

 

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Running clock time after Dyrri McCain dials up a pass with his versatile athlete headed to ODU in Granger on a halfback pass. Maury then gets a fumble just a few plays after the 9-play, 68-yard drive that took 6:14 off the clock. Patrick McDowell recovers the Titans fumble and it's at the 30 of Lake Taylor.

They're thinking six again.

 

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Peyton Jones has 81 yards rushing on 8 attempts with 2 TD's, plus a 30-yard touchdown reception.

The Commodores have overwhelmed Lake Taylor tonight.

 

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Commodores go for an onside kick, up 48-6, but Titans recover it at midfield.

No need for that, in my opinion. That's how things get started and out of hands, which this game does not need.
But hey, I'm up here in a pressbox and they are down there. So there ya go.

 

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A 23-yard catch by Elijah Washington was the highlight play of that scoring series for the Titans.

No disrespect meant towards the Titans, but I was not shedding a tear on the 2-point being unsuccessful since that would've taken the running clock off (sorry Titans fans).

 

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Commodores move to 2-1 overall, while the Titans drop to 2-2.

 

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Final Stats:

Maury Commodores 48: (2-1 Overall)
Saquan Miles - 5-12 for 75Yds. 2-2 TD/Int. ratio; 13Car. 196Yds. 2 TD's; 1Rec. 17Yds. TD
Peyton Jones - 8Car. 81Yds. 2 TD's; 1Rec. 30Yds. TD
Mike Newell - 2Rec. 26Yds.
Ahmarian Granger - 2Rec. 19Yds. TD; 1-1 for 17Yds. TD
Nathaniel 'Booga' Knox - 3Car. 8Yds; 6 Tackles (2 Solo)
Tayo Reid - 6 Tackles, 2 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles
Savion Moore - 5 Tackles, 0.5 Sack

Commodores - 37 plays for 377 total yards (24 rushes for 285 yards, 4 TD's; 6 of 13 for 92 yards passing, 3 TD's, 2 INT's); 9 penalties for 83 yards; 2 turnovers


Lake Taylor Titans 12: (2-2 Overall)
Aaron McDaniel - 3-10 for 34Yds. 1-1 TD/Int. ratio; TD rushing; 5 Assisted Tackles
Tarreon Washington-Jacobs - 8Car. 19Yds; 6 Tackles, TFL, INT, FF
Chuck Fisher - 5Car. 16Yds.
Elijah Washington - 3Rec. 34Yds. TD
Anthony Britton - 7 Tackles (4 Solo), TFL
Reese Williams - 3 Tackles, TFL

Titans - 34 plays for 45 total yards (24 rushes for 11 yards, 1 TD, 1 lost fumble; 3 of 10 for 34 yards passing, 1 TD, 1 INT); 3 penalties for 35 yards; 2 turnovers

 

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Postgame Video Interview with Maury Coach Dyrri McCain:




Maury Head Football Coach Dyrri McCain chats following his team's 48-12 victory at Lake Taylor on Friday, September 24, 2021.

On the night, Maury out-gained Lake Taylor 377-101 with 285 yards on the ground. The Titans had won ten straight in the series from 2010-18, but Maury has now won by running clock margin in two of the past three meetings with their Norfolk rival.

The Commodores are now 39-11 overall under McCain, who was hired in 2017 and is in his fourth season at the helm of his alma mater. They've won three straight Region 5A titles and captured a State Championship in 2019.

Next up for 2-1 Maury is a trip to Portsmouth to take on the Greyhounds of I.C. Norcom at Joe Langston Stadium. That contest is scheduled to take place on October 1st.