Greetings from Powhatan Field in Norfolk on this Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. It's 50 degrees and clear of rain on this night for the Region 5B Football Championship as Dyrri McCain's top-seeded Maury Commodores with a record of 12-0 overall play host to the third-seeded Warwick Raiders of Newport News with a record of 11-1 overall under the direction of Corey Hairston.
We'll have updates here on the Blog and via Twitter or 'X' @hatfieldsports throughout the night...
This one is set to kick-off at 7 PM. Below, you can check out our Preview with Predictions...
Region 5B:
#3 Warwick (11-1) at #1 Maury (12-0) . . . This marks the 24th time that the Raiders and Commodores square off on the gridiron. Maury has won the past four meetings, which includes a 48-14 victory as recent as 2018 in the playoffs.
The Warwick defense has allowed a mere 36 points on the season, just three per contest. They pitched eight straight shutouts before a 10-2 loss to Phoebus, and given that the first touchdown scored on them was a kickoff return by Grassfield in the season opener, it took until the fourth quarter of the regular season finale vs. the Phantoms for their defense to surrender a touchdown.
Meanwhile, the Maury offense is one of the state’s most prolific outfits seen in recent years, piling up a staggering 59.7 points per game. Their lowest output was 23 in a win over Highland Springs, who beat them a season ago in the Class 5 State Championship at ODU.
Au’tori Newkirk has flourished in the move up from junior varsity to varsity as the starting quarterback for the Commodores this year. The junior has connected on 147 of 213 passes for 2978 yards and a 34-4 TD/Int. ratio, plus has rushed for another 612 yards and 10 TD’s. His receiving core is a deep and skilled one with South Carolina commit Fred ‘Jay-R’ Johnson, Duke pledge Da’Vontae Floyd, LeBron Bond, Josh Powell and Jahvon Wiggins all making a profound impact. Furthermore, the backfield trio of Melvin Lowe, Leon ‘Fatman’ Clark and Damari Palmer come in with a combined 2428 yards and 37 TD’s rushing.
Warwick is equipped to making Maury have to work extra hard for its usual numbers with what they present defensively, led by hard-hitting linebacker Iziah Emery (127 stops), flanked by Xavier Carter and Niz’john Humphrey. Up front, Duwuane Skipwith, Adonus Watson, Antwone Vasquez and Dashaun Jackson are excellent at breaking down protection for offenses. Then there is the difference maker on the back end in Messiah Delhomme, who has returned a pair of his six interceptions for touchdowns and has only continued to blossom after earning Region 4A Defensive Player of the Year honors as a sophomore.
This is a game where Delhomme should be more of a focal point on offense to get the ball in his hands, through runs or quick screens, than seen during the second half of their 10-2 loss to Phoebus. While Warwick can engineer drives with Ri’jon Hammond (1016 yards, 12 TD’s), Ian Bacon and Cameron Glenn carrying the rock, it’s Delhomme that strikes fear in the heart of the opposition. Raiders QB Eduardo Rios Jr. (25 TD’s total) can stretch out defenses with a very formidable core of receivers that include Keon Batts, Mike Alleyne, Julio Carrecter and Dakota Brodus.
In putting up 43.3 PPG, the Warwick offense probably goes under appreciated to an extent, but this is chance to really open some eyes against a top-notch defense because the Commodores are yielding just 8.2 PPG and pitched six straight shutouts of Eastern District foes. Johnson, junior FS Kendall Daniels, sophomore LB Ike Simmons and DE Ari Watford (7 sacks) are four intimidating pieces to the defense, all destined for Power 5 schools, plus then you throw in Floyd as an ACC corner, Lavontay Bond as an All-State level defender on the opposite side, and it doesn’t end there. Linebacker Dylan Goad and DE Leslie Hines have combined for 129 tackles, feasting when blockers are overly concerned about the others.
Matt Hatfield Says – Maury 28-13
Coach Ed Young Says – Maury 21-14
We'll have updates here on the Blog and via Twitter or 'X' @hatfieldsports throughout the night...
This one is set to kick-off at 7 PM. Below, you can check out our Preview with Predictions...
Region 5B:
#3 Warwick (11-1) at #1 Maury (12-0) . . . This marks the 24th time that the Raiders and Commodores square off on the gridiron. Maury has won the past four meetings, which includes a 48-14 victory as recent as 2018 in the playoffs.
The Warwick defense has allowed a mere 36 points on the season, just three per contest. They pitched eight straight shutouts before a 10-2 loss to Phoebus, and given that the first touchdown scored on them was a kickoff return by Grassfield in the season opener, it took until the fourth quarter of the regular season finale vs. the Phantoms for their defense to surrender a touchdown.
Meanwhile, the Maury offense is one of the state’s most prolific outfits seen in recent years, piling up a staggering 59.7 points per game. Their lowest output was 23 in a win over Highland Springs, who beat them a season ago in the Class 5 State Championship at ODU.
Au’tori Newkirk has flourished in the move up from junior varsity to varsity as the starting quarterback for the Commodores this year. The junior has connected on 147 of 213 passes for 2978 yards and a 34-4 TD/Int. ratio, plus has rushed for another 612 yards and 10 TD’s. His receiving core is a deep and skilled one with South Carolina commit Fred ‘Jay-R’ Johnson, Duke pledge Da’Vontae Floyd, LeBron Bond, Josh Powell and Jahvon Wiggins all making a profound impact. Furthermore, the backfield trio of Melvin Lowe, Leon ‘Fatman’ Clark and Damari Palmer come in with a combined 2428 yards and 37 TD’s rushing.
Warwick is equipped to making Maury have to work extra hard for its usual numbers with what they present defensively, led by hard-hitting linebacker Iziah Emery (127 stops), flanked by Xavier Carter and Niz’john Humphrey. Up front, Duwuane Skipwith, Adonus Watson, Antwone Vasquez and Dashaun Jackson are excellent at breaking down protection for offenses. Then there is the difference maker on the back end in Messiah Delhomme, who has returned a pair of his six interceptions for touchdowns and has only continued to blossom after earning Region 4A Defensive Player of the Year honors as a sophomore.
This is a game where Delhomme should be more of a focal point on offense to get the ball in his hands, through runs or quick screens, than seen during the second half of their 10-2 loss to Phoebus. While Warwick can engineer drives with Ri’jon Hammond (1016 yards, 12 TD’s), Ian Bacon and Cameron Glenn carrying the rock, it’s Delhomme that strikes fear in the heart of the opposition. Raiders QB Eduardo Rios Jr. (25 TD’s total) can stretch out defenses with a very formidable core of receivers that include Keon Batts, Mike Alleyne, Julio Carrecter and Dakota Brodus.
In putting up 43.3 PPG, the Warwick offense probably goes under appreciated to an extent, but this is chance to really open some eyes against a top-notch defense because the Commodores are yielding just 8.2 PPG and pitched six straight shutouts of Eastern District foes. Johnson, junior FS Kendall Daniels, sophomore LB Ike Simmons and DE Ari Watford (7 sacks) are four intimidating pieces to the defense, all destined for Power 5 schools, plus then you throw in Floyd as an ACC corner, Lavontay Bond as an All-State level defender on the opposite side, and it doesn’t end there. Linebacker Dylan Goad and DE Leslie Hines have combined for 129 tackles, feasting when blockers are overly concerned about the others.
Matt Hatfield Says – Maury 28-13
Coach Ed Young Says – Maury 21-14