Our Game Preview from earlier on VaPreps...
Landstown (5-0) at Ocean Lakes (5-0) . . . When these two met a season ago in a Beach District showdown, both unblemished at 5-0 at the time, turnovers told the story. Landstown raced out to a 26-7 lead at the half and held on for a 26-23 win thank to four takeaways, three on interceptions of Dolphins QB Xander Jedlick. Now, Landstown’s two best players from that team have moved on to the next level in QB Brent Stukes (Norfolk State) and WR/DB Joseph White (UVA), who had a pick-six in that game. That being said, these two teams remain driven by their defenses.
Coming in, Ocean Lakes is allowing just seven points per game with three shutouts on the campaign. That’s most surprising given that their top sack artist in DE Jaevon Becton is at Virginia Tech, plus their leading tackler in Jaleel Powell also graduated. Nonetheless, four-star DB Tank Land, a Maryland commit, has been an intimidating presence on the back end and had a defensive touchdown in their recent 31-14 win over Cox, where the Dolphins held Falcons star Tayvion Robinson in check and allowed just one offensive touchdown.
Landstown, led by DE Taeveon Lane (46 tackles, 10 sacks), is giving up just 4.2 points per game and they also have three shutouts to their credit. Even though none of their five wins to date have come over a team that currently sports a winning record, the Eagles are preventing big pass plays with Jalen Jennings anchoring the secondary and getting several hats to the football in the run game with sophomore DT Denzel Lowry controlling the middle.
Offensively, Ocean Lakes is putting up 28.4PPG compared to Landstown’s 24.2PPG. Though both like to use the run to set up the pass, the Dolphins have shown a tad more explosiveness with Jedlick finding Land and sophomore WR Myles Alston (10Rec. 213Yds. 3TD’s) over the top on play-action, plus WR/LB Shawn Hamilton (11 grabs) is a reliable safety valve underneath. Landstown RB Luqman Haskett will be important both in running the ball and catching screens from QB Chris Price, who’ll need to take care of the ball and not force passes into tight windows.
This will be the stiffest test yet for Landstown’s strong defensive front against an Ocean Lakes offense that plays with good tempo and has two better than average running backs in Jake Lowe and Eli Snowden, each more than capable of churning out the tough yards to extend drives and wear down the opposition. For the Eagles to notch their third in a row in this series, it could take a key play or two on special teams, such as the onside kick recovery they had earlier this season against Bayside, to swing momentum against the host Dolphins.
Matt Says: Ocean Lakes 26-10
VHSL-Reference.com Says: Ocean Lakes 27-16
Coach Young Says: Ocean Lakes 28-27