Mother Nature has decided to play havoc with the High School Football schedule all across the state, but mostly involving games around Tidewater and the Richmond area that either got moved up to Thursday night or back to early next week / later in the season.
With that in mind, the teams in Northern Virginia, Roanoke, Southwest Virginia, Fredericksburg and Lynchburg, among other parts of the Commonwealth, take center stage on this Friday night that is a dreary one, full of rain and wind, for yours truly from my house in Virginia Beach.
Before getting to my five significant games to keep tabs on for this evening, let's get you caught up to speed on how the Predictions Battle is going between my Podcast partner on 757 Saturday Sports Talk, Coach Ed Young, and yours truly is going...
Hatfield's 9/15/23 Friday Total: 13-6 (68.4%)
Hatfield's 9/15/23 Friday Tidewater Mark: 9-4 (69.2%)
Hatfield’s Week 4 Total in Tidewater: 21-4 (84%)
Hatfield’s Tidewater Season Total: 77-21 (78.6%)
Hatfield’s VHSL Season Total: 118-33 (78.1%)
Young’s Week 4 Total in Tidewater: 22-3 (88%)
Young’s Tidewater Season Total: 73-25 (74.5%)
... While Matt went 25-6 across the state on picks, the four blemishes on Friday, two of which Young got right in Nansemond River over Oscar Smith and Gloucester over Denbigh, allowed the deficit in this battle to get a tad closer.
Matt's Must-See Matchups for 9.22.23 (Week 5):
Jefferson Forest (4-0) at Rustburg (4-0) . . . These are two resurgent teams in the Seminole District that belong in Top Ten consideration in their respective classes this year with the likes of usual league powers like Liberty Christian, Heritage-Lynchburg, E.C. Glass and Brookville, which may be taking a step back for the time being. Rustburg competes in Class 3 and has cracked our latest Top Ten, while Jefferson Forest is knocking on that door in Class 4 out of Region D, certainly bound to break through it with a win in this spot. A year ago, Rustburg won 33-27 in overtime behind 189 yards rushing and 4 TD's from Qua Rosser. He and his brother, Shaun Rosser, are both putting up over seven yards per carry. That could be the difference for Burt Torrence's Red Devils, unless Jefferson Forest steps up in a big way defensively on the road here.
Hat Says - Rustburg 22-12
Liberty Christian (3-0) at Heritage-Lynchburg (2-1) . . . You can never count out a Brad Bradley coached team, but the Pioneers are coming off an 11-7 loss to Jefferson Forest, indicating they are going through some growing pains offensively to a degree. Liberty Christian comes to play with arguably the best running back in the state in Clemson commit Gideon Davidson, who last week ran the ball 12 times for 275 yards and 6 TD's in a 62-10 rout of Amherst. Wideout Tavion Clark is going to have to be a stud in this one for the Pioneers, which is quite possible, but they will also need the defensive linemen and linebackers to bring Davidson down before he gets to that second and level of the defense. That will be the even harder chore.
Hat Says - Liberty Christian 35-19
Grundy (1-2) at Honaker (4-0) . . . Don't let that 1-2 record for Grundy fool you. The Class 1 Golden Wave had to battle Class 3 Carroll County in the opener, then a Class 2, Region D perennial contender in Ridgeview with one of the best QB's around in Ryan O'Quinn before getting in the win column. That win was a mighty satisfying one for Grundy, defeating Patrick Henry-Glade Spring 27-25. Now they have to figure out a way to slow down a Honaker attack routinely scoring in the 40's and 50's behind QB Peyton Musick, who has already thrown for 1115 yards with a 17-0 TD/Int. ratio. Parker Bandy is his favorite target with 24 receptions for 356 yards and five scores. Grundy won both meetings a season ago, which included in the opening round of the Region 1D playoffs on their way to the State Semis. But stud ball carrier Ian Scammell has graduated, and the Tigers clearly have revenge on their minds.
Hat Says - Honaker 46-21
Lake Braddock (3-1) at Fairfax (3-1) . . . This is a game that may not be on the radar of most as a must-see matchup, but trust me, the winner here will certainly help its outlook for the Occoquan 6C Region playoffs. Things were going swimmingly for Trey Taylor's Lions of Fairfax at 3-0 until South County handled them 50-7 last week in a score that opened a lot of eyes around the state. Even worse news is that four-star linebacker Kris Jones went to social media to post that he has learned he was playing on a torn ligament in his toe that will need to be repaired surgically, so that puts the Georgia commit on the shelf. Without him, look for the Lake Braddock offense to take advantage behind QB Christian Porter (7 TD passes) and a Bruins defense that is getting to opposing quarterback with regularity as the trio of Trent Pane, Elijah McFarland and Aaron Iduma have combiend for 12 sacks already this year.
Hat Says - Lake Braddock 27-13
Patrick Henry-Roanoke (4-0) at Salem (3-1) . . . Remember, it was just last year that Patrick Henry-Roanoke broke through and beat the Spartans by a count of 17-7 to halt a 10-game losing skid in the series. That notched the first win for the Patriots over Salem on the gridiron since 1994. A week ago, PH-Roanoke had to rally from a second half deficit to defeat rival William Fleming, 27-19 in the Noel C. Taylor Classic in a game where they were out-gained 300-268 (read more on that here from our Robert Anderson in his Recap). Special teams enabled them to get the win behind two field goals from Sam Dowdy and a block punt returned by Notre Dame commit Bodie Kahoun. Speaking of Kahoun, Salem has a marquee linebacker of their own in Georgia pledge Chris Cole, who had 10 solo tackles in a comfortable 62-14 win over Northside. The Spartans won their third straight since that season-opening loss to Liberty Christian, and the running game is really controlling things as the combo of Josiah Persinger and Jayveon Jones ran it a combined 23 times for 323 yards and 6 TD's between them. But if PH QB Joey Beasley can sling it for enough big plays, this is a game the Patriots can certainly win again.
Hat Says - Salem 28-20
With that in mind, the teams in Northern Virginia, Roanoke, Southwest Virginia, Fredericksburg and Lynchburg, among other parts of the Commonwealth, take center stage on this Friday night that is a dreary one, full of rain and wind, for yours truly from my house in Virginia Beach.
Before getting to my five significant games to keep tabs on for this evening, let's get you caught up to speed on how the Predictions Battle is going between my Podcast partner on 757 Saturday Sports Talk, Coach Ed Young, and yours truly is going...
Hatfield's 9/15/23 Friday Total: 13-6 (68.4%)
Hatfield's 9/15/23 Friday Tidewater Mark: 9-4 (69.2%)
Hatfield’s Week 4 Total in Tidewater: 21-4 (84%)
Hatfield’s Tidewater Season Total: 77-21 (78.6%)
Hatfield’s VHSL Season Total: 118-33 (78.1%)
Young’s Week 4 Total in Tidewater: 22-3 (88%)
Young’s Tidewater Season Total: 73-25 (74.5%)
... While Matt went 25-6 across the state on picks, the four blemishes on Friday, two of which Young got right in Nansemond River over Oscar Smith and Gloucester over Denbigh, allowed the deficit in this battle to get a tad closer.
Matt's Must-See Matchups for 9.22.23 (Week 5):
Jefferson Forest (4-0) at Rustburg (4-0) . . . These are two resurgent teams in the Seminole District that belong in Top Ten consideration in their respective classes this year with the likes of usual league powers like Liberty Christian, Heritage-Lynchburg, E.C. Glass and Brookville, which may be taking a step back for the time being. Rustburg competes in Class 3 and has cracked our latest Top Ten, while Jefferson Forest is knocking on that door in Class 4 out of Region D, certainly bound to break through it with a win in this spot. A year ago, Rustburg won 33-27 in overtime behind 189 yards rushing and 4 TD's from Qua Rosser. He and his brother, Shaun Rosser, are both putting up over seven yards per carry. That could be the difference for Burt Torrence's Red Devils, unless Jefferson Forest steps up in a big way defensively on the road here.
Hat Says - Rustburg 22-12
Liberty Christian (3-0) at Heritage-Lynchburg (2-1) . . . You can never count out a Brad Bradley coached team, but the Pioneers are coming off an 11-7 loss to Jefferson Forest, indicating they are going through some growing pains offensively to a degree. Liberty Christian comes to play with arguably the best running back in the state in Clemson commit Gideon Davidson, who last week ran the ball 12 times for 275 yards and 6 TD's in a 62-10 rout of Amherst. Wideout Tavion Clark is going to have to be a stud in this one for the Pioneers, which is quite possible, but they will also need the defensive linemen and linebackers to bring Davidson down before he gets to that second and level of the defense. That will be the even harder chore.
Hat Says - Liberty Christian 35-19
Grundy (1-2) at Honaker (4-0) . . . Don't let that 1-2 record for Grundy fool you. The Class 1 Golden Wave had to battle Class 3 Carroll County in the opener, then a Class 2, Region D perennial contender in Ridgeview with one of the best QB's around in Ryan O'Quinn before getting in the win column. That win was a mighty satisfying one for Grundy, defeating Patrick Henry-Glade Spring 27-25. Now they have to figure out a way to slow down a Honaker attack routinely scoring in the 40's and 50's behind QB Peyton Musick, who has already thrown for 1115 yards with a 17-0 TD/Int. ratio. Parker Bandy is his favorite target with 24 receptions for 356 yards and five scores. Grundy won both meetings a season ago, which included in the opening round of the Region 1D playoffs on their way to the State Semis. But stud ball carrier Ian Scammell has graduated, and the Tigers clearly have revenge on their minds.
Hat Says - Honaker 46-21
Lake Braddock (3-1) at Fairfax (3-1) . . . This is a game that may not be on the radar of most as a must-see matchup, but trust me, the winner here will certainly help its outlook for the Occoquan 6C Region playoffs. Things were going swimmingly for Trey Taylor's Lions of Fairfax at 3-0 until South County handled them 50-7 last week in a score that opened a lot of eyes around the state. Even worse news is that four-star linebacker Kris Jones went to social media to post that he has learned he was playing on a torn ligament in his toe that will need to be repaired surgically, so that puts the Georgia commit on the shelf. Without him, look for the Lake Braddock offense to take advantage behind QB Christian Porter (7 TD passes) and a Bruins defense that is getting to opposing quarterback with regularity as the trio of Trent Pane, Elijah McFarland and Aaron Iduma have combiend for 12 sacks already this year.
Hat Says - Lake Braddock 27-13
Patrick Henry-Roanoke (4-0) at Salem (3-1) . . . Remember, it was just last year that Patrick Henry-Roanoke broke through and beat the Spartans by a count of 17-7 to halt a 10-game losing skid in the series. That notched the first win for the Patriots over Salem on the gridiron since 1994. A week ago, PH-Roanoke had to rally from a second half deficit to defeat rival William Fleming, 27-19 in the Noel C. Taylor Classic in a game where they were out-gained 300-268 (read more on that here from our Robert Anderson in his Recap). Special teams enabled them to get the win behind two field goals from Sam Dowdy and a block punt returned by Notre Dame commit Bodie Kahoun. Speaking of Kahoun, Salem has a marquee linebacker of their own in Georgia pledge Chris Cole, who had 10 solo tackles in a comfortable 62-14 win over Northside. The Spartans won their third straight since that season-opening loss to Liberty Christian, and the running game is really controlling things as the combo of Josiah Persinger and Jayveon Jones ran it a combined 23 times for 323 yards and 6 TD's between them. But if PH QB Joey Beasley can sling it for enough big plays, this is a game the Patriots can certainly win again.
Hat Says - Salem 28-20
