Blog LIVE Blog - Freedom (2-0) at Lake Taylor (1-0)

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Greetings from a hot and humid Lake Taylor Titan Stadium in Norfolk as the host Titans of Lake Taylor (1-0) take on the visiting Freedom Eagles (2-0) out of Woodbridge.

Last year, Lake Taylor went up to Freedom and suffered their worst beating in program history - 58-7. Today, they look for revenge.

Both of these teams are ranked in the Top 10 in the state -- Lake Taylor at #3 in Class 4, while Freedom is #6 in Class 6.

We'll have Updates here and via Twitter @ hatfieldsports all afternoon long

 

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A great start for the Lake Taylor defense.

The Titans begin at their own 39, with 11:05 left in the opening period, following a 28-yard punt by Freedom.

 

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A couple of penalties force Lake Taylor back to their own 29, but Jeff Foster finds Ikeem Wright for a completion worth 7 yards. Then it's QB Foster on the keeper out of the twin-veer, gaining 20, into Freedom territory. His pitch to Dom McNair gains 12 and the Titans are in business. They don't look as frazzled up front as a year ago. That's what a year of experience, development and coaching have done for them.

 

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Best of all for Lake Taylor on that scoring drive and hookup of Foster to TE Corey Holloway (a.k.a. Gripper) was that they didn't have to unleash their sophomore stud back in Malik Newton, who was dominant in last week's 50-15 rout of Western Branch.

It's definitely a new year and a different Lake Taylor team than the one Freedom saw in 2017.

 

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Freedom is unable to get much going on its second possession. Their drive stalls in Lake Taylor territory, facing a 4th & 9 at the 45 of the Titans. QB Quest Powell is 0 for 4 through the air so far.

Lake Taylor takes over with 6:05 left in the first quarter.from their own 20-yard line.

 

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That turnover was a gift for Freedom's offense to potentially ignite the visiting Eagles.

 

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Give Corey Holloway credit for a nice downfield block to help give Wright the room to take it the distance.

Holloway also had a tackle on the ensuing kickoff return. Freedom begins at its own 30 following the 19-yard return.

We see Freedom is missing its standout DB Jason Hawkins (ejected last week vs. Stonewall Jackson) immensely today.

 

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Freedom goes 3 & out as TyQuan Brown gains 4 on the first play, then loses 4. On 3rd & 9, Eagles QB Quest Powell tries to throw the out pattern, but it's nearly picked off by Lake Taylor DB Dominique Daniels.

Powell is 0 for 5 through the air and Freedom doesn't have the type of dual-threat back there that they did last year in A.J. Felton, who's now at Alabama A&M.

Lake Taylor's 4th series will begin at their own 28 with 2:36 left in the opening stanza.

 

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Lake Taylor's 2nd turnover of the first quarter.

 

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On 4th & 8 - Freedom QB Quest Powell completes first pass to a diving Nasir Armstrong to move the chains for the Eagles. They have had some opportunities, but haven't gotten the timing down pat.

 

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11:28 to go 2ndQ - Freedom 14, Lake Taylor 14. Tyquan Brown 2-yard TD run. PAT is good. Freedom caps an 8-play, 26-yard drive in 3:05.

Brown - who is sitting on about 7 or 8 offers (Fordham, Hampton, Marshall, Maryland and Rutgers among them) - has 40 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns on 13 rushes thus far.

 

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It took the Titans just 48 seconds to go 80 yards in two plays. Once again, not having Jason Hawkins in the secondary is looming gigantic in this matchup.

Lake Taylor QB Jeff Foster already is 4 of 5 for 215 yards passing and 3TD's.

 

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Freedom operates their 6th possession beginning at their own 16 yard line with 10:34 to go in the opening period. The interior o-line for the Eagles is not creating the type of running room for TyQuan Brown to show the home run threat he is. As a result, Lake Taylor's defensive front with Corey Holloway, Tayvion Copeland, Tyrique Tucker and others have been able to corral him and limit the long run. None of his 15 attempts thus far have gone for more than 15 yards.

On 3rd & 8 - a slant pass is incomplete with the intended receiver hearing footsteps in the form of corner Javon Harvey, who de-committed from ODU this week.

Lake Taylor takes over at their own 46 following the punt with 9:21 to go in the second period.

 

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Credit Freedom's Julian Edwards for a TD saving tackle on Lake Taylor's Malik Newton, who rumbled 33 yards on 2nd & 14 into Freedom territory.

Coach Hank Sawyer has waited to feed his workhorse and now Newton could be the key to extending the lead and wearing down this Freedom defense in the heat.

 

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A spectacular offensive display by Lake Taylor thus far.

Freedom gets a long return from Josh Hayes, but a holding penalty will bring it back.

 

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It's getting crazy here in Norfolk... some exciting, big plays. Not a ton of defense either.

 

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This has the feel of who can survive this heat and humidity in score-fest. This game may take 50 or 60 to win. We've got basketball on grass!

 

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Probably the first time where someone wasn't out of position or a defender missed a tackle for Freedom on defense.

A solid punt return by Josh Hayes of 12 yards to the Lake Taylor 45, putting the visiting Eagles in great field position with 4:13 before the break.

 

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Facing 3rd & 10 from the Lake Taylor 45 yard line - Freedom goes back to the slant pattern and QB Quest Powell connects with Erik Surratt for a gain of 19.

A chop block penalty pushes Freedom back to the LT 44. This is where the Eagles could start to get creative in their usage of RB TyQuan Brown, making a threat out of the backfield and as a pass catcher.

 

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Punt on 4th & 28 for Freedom ends in near disaster as the bad snap turns into a loss of 15 with Malik Newton making the stop for the Titans.

 

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Javon Harvey with a tremendous 36-yard catch on the pass from Jeff Foster - inside the 10 of Freedom. Foster has a whopping 251 yards passing.

Who said all Lake Taylor can do is run? That used to be the case. But they've diversified their offense under Coach Hank Sawyer and OC Mike James.

 

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Lake Taylor's offense is going to be hard for anyone in Class 4 to stop. Keep in mind they have 328 yards of offense and that is with 2 lost fumbles.

 

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Freedom goes to their fast-paced offense and the first play from scrimmage is a 20-yard connection from Quest Powell to speedster Umari Hatcher. Malik Newton then brings down Powell for a minimal gain.

It's now 3rd & 1 from the LT 31 after Erik Surratt's 7-yard catch along the sideline. Nasir Armstrong with a great jump-ball catch inside the 15 for the Eagles to move the chains and stop the clock with 14.7 seconds before intermission. However, an illegal formation brings it back.

Tavion Copeland sacks Quest Powell on the final play of the half as the Titans go to the locker room with a 14-point advantage.

 

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Let's give you some half-time numbers...

Lake Taylor 35:
Jeff Foster - 5-8 for 251Yds. 3-0TD/Int. ratio; 4Car. 27Yds.
Malik Newton - 5Car. 47Yds. 2TD's
Javon Harvey - 2Rec. 113Yds. TD
Ikeem Wright - 2Rec. 85Yds. TD
Corey Holloway - 1Rec. 43Yds. TD; 7 Tackles (3 Solo), TFL
Tyrique Tucker - 7 Tackles (3 Solo), TFL
Tavion Copeland - 6 Tackles, 2TFL, Sack

Titans - 23 plays for 328 total yards; 15 rushes for 77 yards; 5-8 for 251 yards passing; 2 turnovers (both lost fumbles); 4 penalties for 40 yards


Freedom 21:
Quest Powell - 6-16 for 100Yds. 1-0TD/Int. ratio
TyQuan Brown - 17Car. 44Yds. 2TD's
Erik Surratt - 3Rec. 70Yds.
Umari Hatcher - 1Rec. 20Yds.
Nasir Armstrong - 1Rec. 9Yds.
Julian Edwards - 5 Tackles (3 Solo)

Eagles - 40 plays for 152 yards; 24 rushes for 52 yards; 6-16 for 100 yards passing; 0 turnovers; 5 penalties for 38 yards

 

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The very first play from scrimmage for Lake Taylor is their third lost fumble, recovered by junior LB Cameron Eanes of the Eagles.

TyQuan Brown makes Lake Taylor pay with a 17-yard TD run to cut into Lake Taylor's lead.

 

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The scorefest continues and another miscue for Lake Taylor. If the Titans don't come out victorious today, they can look back at that missed PAT and the 3 times they've coughed up the ball as to why.

 

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It appears Freedom has Lake Taylor stopped for a 3 & out, but a pass interference is called on 3rd & 5 from their own 24. Javon Harvey was the intended receiver and he had a 5-yard catch earlier on that drive.

Lake Taylor now with a fresh set of downs at their own 39.

 

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Kealey Davis with a sack for the Freedom defense. However, on 2nd & 18 - it's QB Jeff Foster connecting with TE Ikeem Wright gaining 14.

On 3rd & 4 - the Freedom defense has the Lake Taylor pass covered well and it's incomplete. So the Titans will line up to punt it away on 4th & 4 from their own 45, leading 35-28 with just over 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.

A 35-yard punt with no return, meaning Freedom begins its second series of the half at their own 20.

 

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Freedom is starting to use TyQuan Brown to run between the tackles and he's getting positive yardage with his first 5 carries of the half good for 27 yards. They are moving closer to midfield and the interior o-line for the Eagles has settled in as they are doing a better job of holding their blocks.

Yet, on 2nd & 9, Freedom goes to the air and the pass is incomplete. This Freedom offense isn't used to a lot of 3rd & long situations, and we'll have to see how Powell adjusts to the heavy pressure in his face.

 

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On 3rd & 9 - Freedom QB Quest Powell dumps it off to RB TyQuan Brown on a screen pass good for 25 yards to beat the blitz.

But Lake Taylor's line combo of Tavion Copeland and Tyrique Tucker - wearing 51 and 50 respectively - has Freedom going for it on a 4th & 7 from the LT 37-yard line with an even 4 minutes remaining in this 3rd period.

 

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Check that, Freedom punts it on 4th & 7 from the Lake Taylor 37 and the punt goes just 12 yards straight into the air.

Lake Taylor begins at its own 25, leading 35-28 with 3:51 left in the third period. That's a definite win for the Lake Taylor defense with the way Freedom was moving it via the ground game to begin that last drive.

 

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We're starting to see some defense as T.J. Mountain makes a big tackle along the sideline for Freedom on 3rd & 9 on the option pitch Lake Taylor had that was carried by Dominique McNair.

Fortunately for the host Titans, they had a 45-yard punt. That helps tilt field position just a tad.

Freedom takes over at their own 27 with 2:10 left in the third quarter. Lake Taylor still leads 35-28.

 

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Holloway has been a real factor on both sides of the ball.

 

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Sitting next to my good pal and longtime announcer Bill Nettles (one of the all-time bests behind the mic at a pressbox for a football game) and we believe that is the 6th scoring drive of the afternoon of less than a minute. That's defining quick strike for you, folks.

 

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Freedom gets the ball back and after TyQuan Brown is stuffed for only a gain of 1 (Tavion Copeland in on his 11th total tackle of the afternoon), a pair of incomplete passes forces the Eagles to punt it away.

Kudos to cover corner Javon Harvey with great coverage on the 3rd down pass down the field intended for big-play weapon Erik Surratt.

Lake Taylor takes over with 15 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, leading 42-28 and they have it at their own 45.

 

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Big 4th & 2 upcoming for the Titans...

 

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Hank Sawyer wants that one back.

 

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A new wrinkle for Freedom as they go to Nazir Armstrong in at QB instead of Quest Powell (who was 7 of 21 through the air against this relentless Lake Taylor defense) and on 3rd & 10 a pass interference is called.

Weather bulletin -- we have claps of thunder in the background. We may get a weather delay. Officials just gathered and they are discussing things right now...

 

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After the officials talk things over, they decide to continue on playing (perhaps that lightning strike I saw off in the distance was a mirage).... Freedom is now looking at a 4th & 11 from the LT 32 with 7:29 left. Armstrong has to come up huge to keep Freedom's chances alive, and it's probably going to take him doing so with his arm.