Thursday’s Game (9/17/15):
Hampton (2-0) at Woodside (2-1) . . . These two programs have had some memorable battles in recent years with four of the last six meetings going in favor of Woodside. That includes a 29-28 double-overtime thriller last year, and who could forget the 65-44 shoot-out on a sultry Saturday two seasons ago? Certainly not my VaPreps colleague Rod Johnson, who thought he was going to faint due to the humidity and unfathomable amount of head-spinning scoring. Hampton comes into this one at 40PPG and Woodside at 39.3PPG, so the scoreboard should get a workout again.
The Hampton offense revolves heavily around the dual-threat abilities of quarterback Jovonn ‘Bubba’ Quillen. Committed to Virginia Tech, Quillen has thrown four touchdown passes to four different players thus far to go with three rushing scores. His deep play guy looks to be Dazz Newsome, relatively quiet last week, but should be targeted as they try to test the Woodside secondary over the top. On defense, Hampton bent quite a bit in the first half last week in giving up 20 points to Heritage before keeping the Hurricanes out of the end zone the remaining two quarters.
In their two wins, Hampton has gotten defensive scores from DB’s Rashaud Taylor and Darrel Wells. Slowing down a Woodside offense that has been in high-gear since their 47-23 season-opening loss to Northwestern down in South Carolina will be a tall chore. Junior QB Tyhier Tyler has completed 16 of 21 passes for 474 yards and 6TD’s the past two weeks. On the year, he’s produced 10 touchdowns, three on the ground. Another junior, RB Tamir Walker, plays much bigger than he is with 7TD’s the last two games, four on receptions. Walker had 163 yards receiving against Menchville.
Neither defense is all that stingy, though Hampton has done a better job of turning takeaways into points through the early portion of this season. That could be the difference along with the youth the Wolverines have on the defensive side of the ball, featuring more freshmen/sophomores (four) than seniors (three) who regularly see the field. Then again, the Crabbers must defend the Wing-T running game of Woodside a lot better than they have in recent meetings.
Matt Says: Hampton 30-24
VHSL-Reference.com Says: Hampton 27-14
Coach Young Says: Hampton 28-21