Should be a good game. Lake Taylor is peaking at the right time again and Tuscarora hasn't missed a beat since losing to Broad Run Week 1. Should be a good one.
State Championship: Tuscarora vs Lake Taylor
- Thread starter blackknight_pride
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Saw LT play Varina and they didn’t look good at all. Abysmal to say the least. Heard the Maury performance was just as bad. Can’t imagine them being able to stop a high powered offense like Tusky’s. This will get ugly. I hope I’m wrong, I want LT to win.
Both teams seem to prefer a shootout as neither have struggled much on offense. LT's normally a defensive stalwart but has given up 389 points this year, an average of 28 ppg, and has almost always won on account of their offense. If the game is close, you'd give LT the mental edge as they're 5-0 in one score games including 3 one-point wins (Tuscarora is 1-1) but that may not happen.
You can pass on LT. Tusc can pass. Yes I could get bad.
I want Lt to win but tusky passing game is so good and with the defense Lt plays with literally 11. Men on the line of scrimmage I can see tusky throwing slants deep routes, and screen plays , but can tusky stop Lt on offense , I guess I’ll see I’ll be there next week.
Tusky is solid on defense. This will not be a shootout.
I don't think LT's style of defense will work on Tusky. I had BR and Tusky as my preseason favorites. I'm going to stick with it and say Tuscarora wins this one.
Yeah that defense Lt have will not work on tusky , Sawyer better change it up and install a 3-4 defense if not it could get reall messy , that’s how they got beat bad by Maury and Varina that defense Lt has can’t stop a great team on passing or great rb it’s proof ,
LT's Coach, Hank Sawyer won't change his game plan, but he is known to make personnel changes if and where needed. Not sure who he can put out there to cover the Tusky receivers. But, the effort will be there none the less. Also, I'm not sure as an opponent they can claim to be equivalent to a Varina or Maury either. So, i expect this game to be closer and certainly not a blowout.
How does this Lake Taylor team compare to last years?
Apples to apples I'd argue this Tuscarora team is better than the Woodgrove team who Lake Taylor couldn't stop last year. They're certainly better passing the ball. If they're gonna line up like they did a year ago in the final and try to go man, they're gonna give up more points than they did in that game.
I'm out of state, so I haven't seen Varina or Maury play but Tusky is no slouch. They had a win over a 5A regional finalist, and beat Broad Run 30-7, who rung up a win against a 5A state finalist.
I want Lt to win but I just don’t like the way he’s going to play defense against a team like tusky . U see what happened today again Powhatan and there offense isn’t explosive and they almost won today, I’m curious on how sawyer will do on defense smh.
Well said @757FridayNiteZ ! IF LT wins it’ll say more about the talent gap in Class 4 and Class 5, which I think shows with the Titans even being in the state championship game. Newton and Foster are magnificent players, they will get theirs, MY QUESTION is will any of the other players show up??? Hopefully. I have no dog in the fight but I’m all for the inner city kids being successful.
I think Tusky will win big. LT was very fortunate to win today.
LT definitely had the talent last year to limit a high power passing game and did so vs Freedom- Woodbridge (Class 6A State Finalist which also beat Westfield). That talent graduated but hey, they ARE in the championship game for a reason. LT plays a high-risk D and just keeps coming. They won't let up, no matter the score. I believe they made up 24 points vs Freedom last year.
Tusky is special and i personally felt like they'd be favored along with BR to win Class 4. I' m just expecting LT to make the plays to keep it close. And I think Maury & Varina showed today they are on a different level and likely not an accurate barometer vs LT's ability.
You can watch a couple of LT's games on YouTube .at phoebus and the Varina game.
Agreed. Following Matt's blog yesterday, it sounded like LT earned their win. Yes, they may lose big to good teams from time to time, but they always play LT ball and are always in the hunt. It always amazes me how much Coach Sawyer does with small rosters and players going both ways. LT may lose big next week, but I doubt LT does anything other than play LT ball. I hope they get the win.
Can't speak for LT, but I don't think you can say Tusky "seems to prefer a shootout". The defense gave up 12 pts/game this season, and even that includes about 8 qtrs of football with the 2nd/3rd string during blowouts.
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My point was, I don't think either wants to play a low scoring game, they'd rather try and force someone to go shot for shot with them. The D stats aren't relevant. Oklahoma plays a far better D this year than they did last year, they'd still rather get in a shootout to win a game than try and do it 14-10.
In looking over your comments I feel like I need to make a point. The game I saw between Tuscarora and Salem was a little different. The stats were fairly even. Tuscarora only passed for 95 yards, 49 on one touchdown pass. The difference in this game was that Tuscarora made big plays in the running game and they scored a couple more touchdowns than Salem in the running game. Also Salem had the ball in THE Red Zone three other times in the first half and scored three points. Tuscarora made more stops than Salem. What impressed me about Tuscarora offense is that they made adjustments at the line of scrimmage based upon the defense. Very high IQ team. With only 9 seniors I predict the Spartans will ve back. Good luck to the Titans and Huskies.
Let's just say Tuscarora is not as good as Varina or Maury. I'm going to say they are better than Phoebus, Norcom, churchland, Norview, and PH. LT's defense has given up 56 points 3x, 49, and 35 this past week. That doesn't bold well going into a game vs a balanced offence that will spread you out and a line that blocks well. LT will not be able to keep up. My prediction Tusky 42 - 21
If Tusky were to play Maury or Varina, I’d give those two teams at least a 4 TD advantage. Not saying Tusky isn’t good, but it speaks more about how great those two teams are. I like your prediction though I think LT may sneak another TD or two to make it interesting. I’m sure LT has gotten better since I saw them in early October.
Stone Bridge and Maury game will be played earlier in the day. I believe Tuscarora is as good or better than Stone Bridge. This game can give us an idea of how C4 title game may go.
Well the rainy weather this weekend could play a factor and it favors Lt .I think it’s gonna help Lt and I’m calling it a win for them now, tusky is good but I’m keeping my word, rooting for LT
I would be extremely surprised if this game is close... Tusky is very, very good. I feel like they are just too strong up front on both sides of the ball, too disciplined/well coached and too balanced.
Having one week to prepare against a veer offense can be difficult but from what I have seen from the Huskies coaching staff, they will be able to handle it.
Having one week to prepare against a veer offense can be difficult but from what I have seen from the Huskies coaching staff, they will be able to handle it.
Sounds like Stone Bridge Lake Taylor 2012 all over again. Was told not to show up to UVA Stone Bridge had Jonathan Allen and Burns who was going to Stanford. Stone Bridge has the experience..etc, etc... LT will come out and play hard and one thing they have that Tusky doesn't have is a chip on their shoulder after how last year ended. On paper Tusky has more depth and the better resume, but games aren't played on paper. I expect a closer game than you all are expecting.
I don't believe this LT team is anywhere near as good as the 2012 and 2014 teams. You are correct about anything can happen. I thought LT would win last yr too. Missed that one
It's funny how all year long it was LT, Salem, Louisa, Broad Run, EC Glass as the favorites. Now all of a sudden Tusky is very very good and should win it all? Not saying they want, but why so long to give them their proper credit?
I knew Tusky would be one of the favorites when It was announced that they were moving down. Then BR also moved down. If you keep up with C5 then you know BR,Tuscarora and Stone Bridge battle every yr. One of them have made it to the finals 5out of 6yrs I think. Most people were saying BR because they beat Tuscarora week one by 2
Fake news. Out of those 5 teams you mentioned, only two, maybe 3 (Glass was the only team said to be able to compete with the Region C champ) were ever mentioned as favorites. Tuscarora was respected all year. Salem & LT exceeded VP expectations.
Salem wasn't a favorite at all, they were #2 in 4D behind Glass the entire way and only at the very end did people pick them to beat Glass and potentially make state. LT was ignored after getting stomped by Maury and Varina and squeaking by like half their regular season wins.
A ton of people, myself included, thought the winner of BR/Tusc would win state. BR was the de facto #1 basically all year so Tuscarora, while still seen as top 5, wasn't thought to beat BR, especially after suffering a regular season loss to them.
I saw several posts on here giving Tusky proper credit throughout the season and some suggesting Broad Run and Tusky might be the 2 best teams in class 4. That said, 2 reasons perhaps they didn't get more credit: 1) BR beat Tusky in week 1, so until Tusky beat BR in the regional final, most naturally slotted BR as Region C representative, and 2) it feels to me there are fewer posters on here from Region C and Dulles District in particular, so Tusky probably gets less talk in general.
Yes I know they battle every year, but no one was scream Tusky like they are now. Also once again Stone Bridge is in the state finals. They don't get the credit they deserve also in Class 5.
