Blog LIVE Blog of Class 4 State Semis - Lake Taylor 36, Patrick Henry-Ashland 35 - FINAL

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Greetings from Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk, where the host Titans at 11-2 overall will be taking on the Patrick Henry-Ashland Patriots (10-3) coming up at 1 PM.

If you missed our Preview with Keys to Victory, Players to Watch and Predictions, check it out at the link below...

See Class 4 State Semis Preview of Lake Taylor / Patrick Henry Here

We'll have updates coming in the Blog right around 1 PM and via Twitter @hatfieldsports ...

Stay tuned!

 

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Patrick Henry-Ashland will receive the ball first. The Patriots start at their own 31 after Jeremy Eden, a sophomore, makes the loud tackle on special teams for the Titans. On the first play from scrimmage, QB Alex Sikkar gains 7 yards, but then they lose a yard or two on second down. Malik Newton and Ikeem Wright are there on third down to bring the Patriots down for a minimal pick up. Patrick Henry will punt it away.

So with 9:52 to go in the opening period, Lake Taylor takes over at their own 31 following the PH punt.

 

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Malik Newton - to no surprise - gets the first carry of the day for Lake Taylor and he rumbles 30 yards into Patrick Henry territory. They then involve the freshman Tarrion Washington-Jacobs out of their twin-veer for about 5 yards. By the way, speaking of the veer, they guy that hired Hank Sawyer - Bert Harrell - is in attendance today in support of the Titans.

A penalty on the Titans back them up to the 39 of Patrick Henry. But then it's Newton running with power and trucking a defender.

Newton's next carry goes for 15 yards to give him 45 on the day. A couple of strong stops on defense by PH's James Epps and Tyler Newell brings up 4th & 11 from the 25 for the Titans. Coach Sawyer is leaving the offense on the field to go for it....

 

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That was a very big fourth down conversion with Malik Newton showing tremendous balance along the sideline and accelerating enough to get past the first down marker. They then hand it off to the ninth grader and he goes in with ease.

Patrick Henry-Ashland's second series will start at their own 40.

 

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Patrick Henry goes with the QB keeper with Alex Sikkar, appearing to get into Lake Taylor territory until a 15-yard penalty pushes them back 5. Tyler Newell gains 5 as the Patriots continue to be content keeping things between the tackles. Sikkar's first pass is incomplete. While he's been an effective passer and runner this year for Head Coach Ken Wakefield, his release is one of the more unusual I've seen with a wind-up almost as if he's throwing a grenade. Not criticizing, just stating how it looked in pregame and now in the game.

A short completion on 3rd & long as Newell is met immediately after the catch by, guess who? Malik Newton. Punting time again for PH-Ashland.

 

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Jeff Foster began 2 of 2 through the air, but his third pass of the day is incomplete. Lake Taylor lines back up in the veer and the pitch is there for Tarrion Washington-Jacobs to gain a solid 13 yards.

Sophomore DB Camden Byrd seems to be grabbing at his leg and in a lot of pain. On 3rd & 1, Foster sneaks ahead and converts. Then it's Foster with a 7-yard completion to Pierce Royster, but on 2nd & 3, senior DL Austin Goodman drops Newton for a loss of a yard or two. A quick completion on third down leaves the Titans a couple yards shy of the first down marker... except a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty will force the punting team on the field.

Great punt from Royster and the Titans nearly down it inside the 5. It goes into the end zone for a touchback.

Patrick Henry's third possession starts with 1:41 to go in the opening quarter. Coach Ken Wakefield burns his second time-out of the half before the first down play.

 

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Patrick Henry QB Alex Sikkar is starting to get in a rhythm running to his right. His last two runs gained 6 and 5 yards respectively, including converting a crucial 3rd & 1. Cameron Toliver on a trap play where the guard pulls gains 8 yards to set up 2nd & 2 from their own 42 when the second period begins.

 

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To begin the 2nd quarter, Patrick Henry continues to run the QB keeper with Alex Sikkar and then the trap with senior tailback Cameron Toliver, often running behind Cedric Carter.

 

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Coach Hank Sawyer of Lake Taylor uses a time-out as he's not liking what he's seeing with the Patriots driving methodically with inside runs. A face-mask penalty following Alex Sikkar's run puts the Patriots at around the 12 or 13 of the Titans.

Lake taylor's defense looks rather winded now.

 

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Penalties really did Lake Taylor in the last two possessions - one to kill their own drive and extend Patrick Henry's.

Lake Taylor now takes over at their own 36, following the kickoff return.

 

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Lake Taylor gets a drive going through the ground game, mixing in QB Jeff Foster, RB Malik Newton and freshman Tarrion Washington-Jacobs. But a crucial mistake - missing a block - costs the Titans on 3rd & 2 from the PH 45 as Newton is dropped by QB/DB Alex Sikkar for a loss of 3. On 4th & 5, the Titans go to the air and Foster's pass is incomplete.

Coach Ken Wakefield of Patrick Henry couldn't have asked for a better turn of events in this 2nd quarter as now they have great field position with 5:05 until half-time, giving them a chance to have another time-consuming drive working.

 

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The one positive for Lake Taylor here is they scored so fast it gives them a chance to get the ball back and make amends for the last series that began well, but ended miserably. Remember, the Titans get the ball first to begin the second half. Patrick Henry knows it's important to get a stop and keep the momentum going. If they can come up with a turnover, something the Titans are prone to at times out of the veer, then it'll allow them to get to half-time with the lead for sure.

 

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The Titans cross into Patrick Henry territory courtesy of Jeff Foster's completion to Pierre Rosyer of 12 yards. With Patrick Henry clamping down on the run, the Titans and offensive coordinator Mike James have decided to test them vertically and that's working now for them.

Darious Speight gets on his horse and catches up to the Foster pass to find paydirt.

 

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Following a Lake Taylor penalty, Patrick Henry gets its longest pass completion of the day as Alex Sikkar finds sophomore tight end Christian Berry for 26 yards to the 31 of the Titans. However, protection breaks down for the Patriots as Dallas Spruill gets a sack. It gets briefly wiped out until Spruill get a sack as Sikkar is dropped on PH's side of the 50. They'll let the clock tick down and go to half deadlocked at 15.

 

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Your numbers at the break courtesy of our friends at StatVA


Lake Taylor 15:
Jeff Foster - 6-8 for 85Yds. 1-0 TD/Int. ratio; 4Car. 1Yds.
Malik Newton - 9Car. 62Yds; 1Rec. 16Yds.
Tarrion Washington-Jacobs - 7Car. 43Yds.
Darious Speight - 2Rec. 46Yds. TD
Pierre Royster - 3Rec. 23Yds.
Ikeem Wright - 7 Tackles (2 Solo)
Dallas Spruill - 5 Tackles, Sack

Titans - 28 plays for 191 total yards (20 rushes for 106 yards; 6-8 for 85 pass yards); 0 turnovers; 4 penalties for 43 yards; 1 punt for 50 yards; 11:31 Time of Possession; 1-4 on 3rd downs; 1-2 on 4th downs


Patrick Henry 15:
Alex Sikkar - 2-3 for 29Yds; 14Car. 104Yds. 2TD's; 4 Tackles, TFL
Cameron Toliver - 4Car. 15Yds.
Christian Berry - 1Rec. 27Yds.
Tyler Newell - 1Rec. 2Yds; 5 Tackles, 2TFL
Owen Arruza - 2 Tackles for Loss

Patriots - 23 plays for 154 total yards (20 rushes for 125 yards; 2 of 3 for 29 pass yards); 0 turnovers; 3 penalties for 26 yards; 2 punts for 56 yards; 12:29 Time of Possession; 3-5 on 3rd downs; 0-0 on 4th downs

 

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Lake Taylor gets the football to begin the 2nd half. They go to the ground attack right away .with Jeff Foster picking up 3, then it's freshman Tarrion Washington-Jacobs busting off a 44-yard run.

The Titans get inside the 10, except Jayden Mines and Tyler Newell combining for a stop on 2nd down. On 3rd down from the 12, a wild play as it's Foster intercepted by Alex Sikkar of Patrick Henry who returns it 53 yards into Lake Taylor territory, except he fumbles on the play and the Titans recover. So after one of the wackiest sequences, Lake Taylor takes over at their own 43 with 8:57 to go in the opening stanza.

 

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Another long play of 30 yards or more for the Titans as QB Jeff Foster redeems himself for the interception and finds Darious Speight along the sideline for a 38-yard completion into Patrick Henry territory. Key 3rd & 5 coming up for the Titans...

 

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That missed PAT could turn out to be costly later on for the Titans. Patrick Henry takes over at their own 31 with 7:57 to go in the third period after the ensuing kickoff.

The Titans have done a nice job of mixing in the pass to go with the run, hitting the Patriots with different rushing options (Newton, Washington-Jacobs and QB Foster)

 

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Alex Sikkar isn't ready for the snap on 3rd & 13 and the ball goes flying backwards, all the way down to the 1-yard line where it's recovery by Dallas Spruill of Lake Taylor. On the very next play, QB Jeff Foster takes it in for the touchdown.

 

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Can't state how immense that score is for Lake Taylor to gain some breathing room on Patrick Henry, which may have to go away from the ground game to a degree now.

Patrick Henry's Jayden Mines returns the kickoff 13 to the 36 of the Patriots, where they will start with 5:57 left in the third period.

 

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The Lake Taylor defense is starting to seize it ... Malik Newton and LaBoris Hawkins with a tackle for loss. Third turnover of the half by Patrick Henry, which has picked a bad time to start getting the fumble bug.

 

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Now with the field position flip, Patrick Henry can go back to its 'mash em' style of running with QB Alex Sikkar up the middle.

 

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Patrick Henry gets nothing on 3rd & 1 and they measure just to be sure. Still a yard short. They keep it with Sikkar and he not only moves the chains - - he scores.

 

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Sikkar is keeping Patrick Henry in this one as he gets to the edge and out-races Raylyn Manley to the end zone once he got to the corner.

 

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With 11:37 to go in the game, Lake Taylor has a 7-point lead on Patrick Henry and will begin at its own 20. They hand it off to Malik Newton and he only gains a yard. Titans QB Jeff Foster takes too much time on 2nd & 9 and it's a delay of game penalty.

Kevin Gholson of Patrick is not fooled on 2nd & 14 as he brings down Newton for a loss of 2. This brings a long third down situation for the Titans, but they do have the ability to find Darious Speight or Pierre Royster on the sideline. Instead, they go to TE Ikeem Wright for a completion that initially looked like it would move the chains. Except the penalty flag is called on Patrick Henry for ineligible receiver downfield.

At this point, Coach Sawyer may concede this series and run the ball, then punt instead of risking a turnover via the passing game.

 

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Just when Patrick Henry thought it was getting the ball back on a pass breakup by Antonio Ford on 3rd & 20, the Patriots get back-to-back penalties, the ladder being roughing the passer, to give the Titans a fresh set of downs. Malik Newton rumbles 33 yards into Patrick Henry territory at the 27. A score here could be the back-breaker for this Patriots defense, which had some moments, but can't seem to bottle up both the run and pass simultaneously.

 

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That twin-veer is starting to take effect now on this Patrick Henry defense and put Lake Taylor in position to reach their fifth State Championship game in eight years. They are 2-2 in the title game under Hank Sawyer - beating the likes of Stone Bridge and Salem with losses to Salem and Woodgrove - since 2012. Patrick McEachin, LaBoris Hawkins and the rest of that offensive line are holding their blocks better this series to help put the finishing touches should they be able to score a touchdown.

 

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More self-inflicted wounds via penalties and fumbles have enabled Lake Taylor to pull away from Patrick Henry today. In fact, one can argue those 14-15 points (two touchdowns) were attributed to that... and a great job by this Titans offense of mixing up who gets the ball. It's not Malik Newton every time, although he should go over the 2000-yard mark for the season in next week's State Final against Tuscarora or Salem as he came into today at 1795 yards.

Of course, Newton and the Titans aren't thinking about him getting 2000 yards right now. With 6:48 to play, the defense has to make another stand as Patrick Henry begins at their own 48. The Patriots will need to open up the playbook and try to find something through the passing game down the field. The way their offense is built isn't the best to take advantage of the potential weak spots of the Lake Taylor defense and that is covering the deep pass. We haven't seen much separation from the PH receivers throughout the day.

 

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Patrick Henry has now moved Jordan Allen in at QB and moved Alex Sikkar to receiver as they face 1st & 10 from the Lake Taylor 41 after converting a 4th & 2 from the 44. It's time to go deep and they do with Allen finding fellow sophomore Jayden Mines for a touchdown deep. Ikeem Wright absolutely nailed Allen as he got rid of that ball. Great pass and catch there for the PH Patriots.

 

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The Lake Taylor celebration might've started prematurely. The Titans do have the type of offense to run some clock and not give it back to Patrick Henry. Will be curious though if they face a 4th & short whether or not they go or punt.

Titans have it at their own 23. Lake Taylor has 2 time-outs and Patrick Henry has all 3 of theirs.

 

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On the first play from their own 23, Malik Newton drags defenders forward and he picks up 15 yards. As the game goes along, he tends to get stronger. James Epps tackles QB Jeff Foster, but it's not till he picks up a solid 7 yards. Lake Taylor is approaching midfield and just 3 minutes left in the contest.

 

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Have no idea why Lake Taylor went to the air. It was 1st & 10 at their own 44 and they could've chewed up clock to force PH to use its last time-out and pin them deep. Now this becomes really interesting. Furthermore, I don't know why Jeff Foster - who has been a prudent decision-maker with only 6 INT's - didn't just eat it rather than take a risk you simply can do without.

 

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Jordan Allen is playing QB and he misses on a potential long completion. That brings up 3rd & 3 from the Lake Taylor 46 with about 1:33 remaining. Up the middle they run and Allen gets the yardage necessary for the first down. The Titans need their defense to rescue a potential collapse in the worst of ways right now.

Allen scrambles away from trouble and got major yardage, getting out of bounds to stop the clock at the Lake Taylor 17. A nifty gain of nearly 3 yards. There's plenty of time to play with 1:16 left. Allen then gets just a couple yards as Jeff Foster and Ikeem Wright stop him. Patrick Henry uses its last time-out with 1:05 to play. This means Lake Taylor will probably try to bring heavy pressure, knowing a sack can put things in peril for the Patriots.

 

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Brings up 4th & 21 after Sikkar had to spike it to kill the clock with just 44 seconds from the 26-yard line of Lake Taylor.

 

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Truly remarkable. Lake Taylor is pleading that he was across the line of scrimmage when he threw it and he might've been. But if he was, the officials didn't catch it... regardless, the Patriots have it inside the 10.

 

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Jordan Allen gets about 3, maybe 4 yards, to the Lake Taylor 2. He spikes it. Patrick Henry has 3rd & Goal from the 2 with 9 seconds remaining.

 

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Coach Sawyer will use a time-out. Boy, can Patrick Henry-Ashland win another nail-biter? They beat previously undefeated Louisa 16-15 in the regional semifinals at the end. This one would be a comeback for the ages.

 

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It's not over yet because Patrick Henry is going to attempt an onside kick now.

 

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What a wild finish.