From the Preview earlier on VaPreps....
Region 6A Finals: #3 Thomas Dale (9-3) at #1 Oscar Smith (11-1) . . .
This is the third playoff meeting between these two teams. The most memorable meeting of course came in 2009 when Thomas Dale knocked off a defending State Champion Oscar Smith team 20-17 during a State Semifinal that went to overtime played under brutal weather conditions. That Knights team, coached under the late great Vic Williams, went on to win the state title the very next week. Meanwhile, Oscar Smith would win its second state title in 2011, but they got another crack at Dale in 2015 when they handled the Knights 21-3.
Oscar Smith is playing in the regional title round for an unprecedented 16th consecutive time. They are 8-7 in those region title games with all seven defeats coming at the hands of Beach District schools: Bayside, Landstown, Ocean Lakes and Salem. The Tigers are coming off a 20-16 escape of one of those teams, Landstown, in last week’s regional semis. As for schools outside the Beach District, the Tigers have fared quite well in going 4-0.
Heading up the Smith attack is sophomore QB Ethan Vasko, who has thrown for 2599 yards and a remarkable 39-5 TD/Int. ratio after arriving from Currituck High in North Carolina. There’s no shortage of talent around him with RB Tyvon Norfleet (810 yards, 12 TD’s), WR Romon Copeland Jr. (43Rec. 13TD's; 352 yards, 6TD’s rushing) and wideouts Raymond Hall and Amonte Jones. Keeping the pocket clean around Vasko will be important for an offensive line anchored by senior Mitavis Edwards, junior Marquis Kimble and promising sophomore Maarten Woudsma.
Thomas Dale simply waxed the previous Region 6A Champ, Ocean Lakes, on the road to the tune of 36-6. That followed up a 55-28 win over Grassfield, another team Oscar Smith is quite familiar with being that they hail from the Southeastern District. Notre Dame commit Chris Tyree has not put up the kind of numbers we’d expect from him, mainly due to injuries, although he showed some signs of being closer to full strength in last week’s triumph. Versatile athlete Jasiah Williams, a University of Richmond commit, has flourished in a dual-threat QB role for Kevin Tucker’s Knights, accounting for 1531 yards and 24 touchdowns from scrimmage, including a 7-TD effort against his old team, Dinwiddie.
Dale has had five 100-yard rushing performances this year, and in order to beat Oscar Smith, you need both dimensions of the attack working. Certainly junior RB/WR DeAngelo Gray (35Rec. 832Yds. 8TD’s; 73Car. 528Yds. 5TD’s) will be a focal point of the game-plan along with Tyree and Williams, too. The Oscar Smith defense is allowing only 7.9 points per game and yet to give up more than 16 in any contest. Old Dominion commit Malcolm Britt is the face of their defense from the linebacker spot, but there are several others that get in on the act.
Up front, Caleb Jones was a constant force getting after the QB vs. Landstown, while Jah’Ke Hilliard, a junior that Head Coach Chris Scott raves about, has had his coming out party this year. Although it’s probably easier to move the ball on these Tigers by air than ground, don’t sleep on the secondary because Copeland, Trey Duke, Maurice Freeman and Ricky Thompson all have the necessary athleticism to match up in this one. The Dale defense will be counting on highly coveted junior DE Bryce Carter (6 sacks) and LB Judah Jones, who ironically enough began his career wearing the Oscar Smith uniform.
Matt Hatfield Says: Oscar Smith 26-18
VHSL-Reference.com Says: Oscar Smith 22-13
Coach Ed Young Says: Oscar Smith 28-21