The regular season finales have arrived and we've turned the calendar from October to November for Virginia High School Football here in 2023.
Later on this evening, we'll be crunching power ratings number all across the state to see who will be playing who before the VHSL releases the official pairings, likely by Sunday afternoon.
We've got 'Seven Sizzling' matchups to close out the regular season that we are breaking down and predicting. Check them out below.
A perfect 10-0 on the Terrific Ten Matchups. So here's the updated record total through October of 2023...
Hatfield's 10/27/23 Statewide Picks on VIP Board: 10-0 (100%)
Hatfield's Week 10 Total in Tidewater: 23-1 (95.8%)
Hatfield's VHSL Season Total: 269-69 (79.6%)
Hatfield's Tidewater Season Total: 193-44 (81.4%)
Young’s Week 10 Total in Tidewater: 23-1 (95.8%)
Young’s Tidewater Season Total: 179-58 (75.6%)
Hatfield's lone miss was Woodside/Gloucester, whereas Coach Young missed on Poquoson/Bruton.
Matt’s Must-See 'Sizzling Seven' Matchups:
Jefferson Forest (9-0) at Liberty Christian (8-0) . . . For the first time since 2015, the Jefferson Forest Cavaliers are in position to close out the regular season unblemished. Coach J.T. Crews, in his third season at the helm, has seen his offensive line open up room for the quartet of QB Josiah Bell, Luke Calkins, Dameen Williams and Camerohn Parker to combine for 1694 yards on the ground. Defensively, they’re limiting opponents to just 10.3 PPG and will have to bring their A-game when it comes to tackling to stop Liberty.
While Jefferson Forest is trying to hold off Salem for the top seed in Region 4D, LCA beat the Spartans to open the season and they’ve been dominant all year long in the Seminole District. Leading the way are a couple of juniors committed to Clemson in lineman Easton Ware and tailback Gideon Davidson (1534 yards, 24 TD’s rushing), who ran for 237 yards and four scores in last week’s win over Brookville.
Hatfield Says – Liberty Christian 27-14
Brentsville District (8-1) at Kettle Run (9-0) . . . Charlie Porterfield’s Cougars of Kettle Run have won 28 straight regular season games, and this year’s achievement of being 9-0 at this point is all the more impressive after graduating a large senior class, headed up by record-setting receiver Jordan Tapscott (98Rec. 1774Yds. 19 TD’s last year). Brentsville, which has won back-to-back Region 3B crowns under Head Coach Loren White, is trying to reverse their fortune against the Cougars with a 2-15 record all-time in the series.
Nico Orlando is coming off four straight 100-plus yard performances on the ground for the Brentsville offense. Defensively, Langston White, son of the Head Coach and a William & Mary commit, is the backbone, though they have a collective group that gets it done, including eight total tackles from Max Apesa in last week’s 37-0 shutout of Skyline. This will be a real challenge to contain Kettle Run’s stellar offense, featuring workhorse RB Colton Quaker (56 career TD’s scored) and WR Sammy Rodgers (1084 yards receiving this year).
Hatfield Says – Kettle Run 34-28
Rye Cove (8-1) at Twin Springs (8-1) . . . In last year’s game, Twin Springs won 28-12 behind 340 yards from Ryan Horne, who has graduated. Both teams come in with stellar quarterback play as Abel Dingus has thrown for 1087 yards and a 10-1 TD/Int. ratio to go with 519 yards rushing and 14 TD’s for Twin Springs, while Rye Cove’s Landon Lane has passed for 820 yards and a 12-4 TD/Int. ratio to go with 859 yards on the ground and 16 TD’s. What will decide it? Probably the better defense, and thus far, the Eagles of Rye Cove have five shutouts to their credit. Slowing down a Titans attack that piled up a school-record 73 points last week won’t be easy, though.
Hatfield Says – Rye Cove 36-30
Maury (9-0) at Granby (7-2) . . . As wonderful of a story as Granby has been with more wins this season than the past five seasons combined with four of those resulting in winless finishes, this will be a hard one to stay competitive in because of Maury’s sheer dominance. The Commodores are not only averaging 61.9 points per game, but every Eastern District victory this year has been by 55 points or more to follow up impressive out-of-league wins over Wise (MD), Highland Springs and Dinwiddie. The receiving weapons alone for the Commodores – with South Carolina commit Fred ‘Jay-R’ Johnson, LeBron Bond, Josh Powell and others – can overwhelm even top-tier defenses.
Hatfield Says – Maury 50-12
Coach Young Says – Maury 60-8
Spotswood (8-1) at Turner Ashby (9-0) . . . After Spotswood won five straight in this series from 2016-19, the Knights of Turner Ashby have returned the favor by winning each of the past four, including two close battles a season ago. Turner Ashby prevailed 35-28 in the 2022 regular season, followed by a 17-14 postseason squeaker in Penn Laird. This is one of the best Spotswood defenses in school history, surrendering just 9.8 points per game. The Turner Ashby offense has been humming at 50.4 points per game behind a sturdy o-line that has allowed them to explode frequently.
Hatfield Says – Turner Ashby 27-20
Dinwiddie (6-3) at Matoaca (7-2) . . . Both of these Central District teams figure to be live contenders for regional titles with Dinwiddie in Region 4B as defending State Champs, while Matoaca should certainly make noise in Region 5C. The matchup that most intrigues me is how the Matoaca defense, with highly coveted junior defensive lineman Caleb Williams spearheading their pass rush, tries to contain Dinwiddie dual-threat QB Harry Dalton, who was the Class 4 State Offensive Player of the Year a season ago.
Hatfield Says – Dinwiddie 42-28
Westfield (7-2) at South Lakes (9-0) . . . An unbeaten regular season has never happened before for South Lakes football. This has been a truly special year, including their 12-7 comeback win over Madison. Now, another Concorde District foe stands in their way in Westfield, which is 10-1 all-time against South Lakes. The Bulldogs boast a very formidable passing connection with Matthew Jenkins, who got offered by Chowan recently, and Connor Morin, younger brother of Wake Forest standout Taylor Morin.
Hatfield Says – Westfield 20-19
Later on this evening, we'll be crunching power ratings number all across the state to see who will be playing who before the VHSL releases the official pairings, likely by Sunday afternoon.
We've got 'Seven Sizzling' matchups to close out the regular season that we are breaking down and predicting. Check them out below.
A perfect 10-0 on the Terrific Ten Matchups. So here's the updated record total through October of 2023...
Hatfield's 10/27/23 Statewide Picks on VIP Board: 10-0 (100%)
Hatfield's Week 10 Total in Tidewater: 23-1 (95.8%)
Hatfield's VHSL Season Total: 269-69 (79.6%)
Hatfield's Tidewater Season Total: 193-44 (81.4%)
Young’s Week 10 Total in Tidewater: 23-1 (95.8%)
Young’s Tidewater Season Total: 179-58 (75.6%)
Hatfield's lone miss was Woodside/Gloucester, whereas Coach Young missed on Poquoson/Bruton.
Matt’s Must-See 'Sizzling Seven' Matchups:
Jefferson Forest (9-0) at Liberty Christian (8-0) . . . For the first time since 2015, the Jefferson Forest Cavaliers are in position to close out the regular season unblemished. Coach J.T. Crews, in his third season at the helm, has seen his offensive line open up room for the quartet of QB Josiah Bell, Luke Calkins, Dameen Williams and Camerohn Parker to combine for 1694 yards on the ground. Defensively, they’re limiting opponents to just 10.3 PPG and will have to bring their A-game when it comes to tackling to stop Liberty.
While Jefferson Forest is trying to hold off Salem for the top seed in Region 4D, LCA beat the Spartans to open the season and they’ve been dominant all year long in the Seminole District. Leading the way are a couple of juniors committed to Clemson in lineman Easton Ware and tailback Gideon Davidson (1534 yards, 24 TD’s rushing), who ran for 237 yards and four scores in last week’s win over Brookville.
Hatfield Says – Liberty Christian 27-14
Brentsville District (8-1) at Kettle Run (9-0) . . . Charlie Porterfield’s Cougars of Kettle Run have won 28 straight regular season games, and this year’s achievement of being 9-0 at this point is all the more impressive after graduating a large senior class, headed up by record-setting receiver Jordan Tapscott (98Rec. 1774Yds. 19 TD’s last year). Brentsville, which has won back-to-back Region 3B crowns under Head Coach Loren White, is trying to reverse their fortune against the Cougars with a 2-15 record all-time in the series.
Nico Orlando is coming off four straight 100-plus yard performances on the ground for the Brentsville offense. Defensively, Langston White, son of the Head Coach and a William & Mary commit, is the backbone, though they have a collective group that gets it done, including eight total tackles from Max Apesa in last week’s 37-0 shutout of Skyline. This will be a real challenge to contain Kettle Run’s stellar offense, featuring workhorse RB Colton Quaker (56 career TD’s scored) and WR Sammy Rodgers (1084 yards receiving this year).
Hatfield Says – Kettle Run 34-28
Rye Cove (8-1) at Twin Springs (8-1) . . . In last year’s game, Twin Springs won 28-12 behind 340 yards from Ryan Horne, who has graduated. Both teams come in with stellar quarterback play as Abel Dingus has thrown for 1087 yards and a 10-1 TD/Int. ratio to go with 519 yards rushing and 14 TD’s for Twin Springs, while Rye Cove’s Landon Lane has passed for 820 yards and a 12-4 TD/Int. ratio to go with 859 yards on the ground and 16 TD’s. What will decide it? Probably the better defense, and thus far, the Eagles of Rye Cove have five shutouts to their credit. Slowing down a Titans attack that piled up a school-record 73 points last week won’t be easy, though.
Hatfield Says – Rye Cove 36-30
Maury (9-0) at Granby (7-2) . . . As wonderful of a story as Granby has been with more wins this season than the past five seasons combined with four of those resulting in winless finishes, this will be a hard one to stay competitive in because of Maury’s sheer dominance. The Commodores are not only averaging 61.9 points per game, but every Eastern District victory this year has been by 55 points or more to follow up impressive out-of-league wins over Wise (MD), Highland Springs and Dinwiddie. The receiving weapons alone for the Commodores – with South Carolina commit Fred ‘Jay-R’ Johnson, LeBron Bond, Josh Powell and others – can overwhelm even top-tier defenses.
Hatfield Says – Maury 50-12
Coach Young Says – Maury 60-8
Spotswood (8-1) at Turner Ashby (9-0) . . . After Spotswood won five straight in this series from 2016-19, the Knights of Turner Ashby have returned the favor by winning each of the past four, including two close battles a season ago. Turner Ashby prevailed 35-28 in the 2022 regular season, followed by a 17-14 postseason squeaker in Penn Laird. This is one of the best Spotswood defenses in school history, surrendering just 9.8 points per game. The Turner Ashby offense has been humming at 50.4 points per game behind a sturdy o-line that has allowed them to explode frequently.
Hatfield Says – Turner Ashby 27-20
Dinwiddie (6-3) at Matoaca (7-2) . . . Both of these Central District teams figure to be live contenders for regional titles with Dinwiddie in Region 4B as defending State Champs, while Matoaca should certainly make noise in Region 5C. The matchup that most intrigues me is how the Matoaca defense, with highly coveted junior defensive lineman Caleb Williams spearheading their pass rush, tries to contain Dinwiddie dual-threat QB Harry Dalton, who was the Class 4 State Offensive Player of the Year a season ago.
Hatfield Says – Dinwiddie 42-28
Westfield (7-2) at South Lakes (9-0) . . . An unbeaten regular season has never happened before for South Lakes football. This has been a truly special year, including their 12-7 comeback win over Madison. Now, another Concorde District foe stands in their way in Westfield, which is 10-1 all-time against South Lakes. The Bulldogs boast a very formidable passing connection with Matthew Jenkins, who got offered by Chowan recently, and Connor Morin, younger brother of Wake Forest standout Taylor Morin.
Hatfield Says – Westfield 20-19
