Phoebus (Hampton, Va.), ranked No. 11 in the Xcellent 25 presented by the Army National Guard, made it three consecutive Group AAA Division 5 state titles with a 36-17 win over Stone Bridge.
The Phantoms were forced to come from behind for the third week in a row and trailed 17-13 late in the first half when quarterback
Jordan Roby connected with
Romond Deloatch on a 66-yard touchdown pass to score the first of what would be 23 unanswered points.
Senior tailback
Tyree Lee rushed for 189 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries and
Breon Key had an 86-yard interception return for a touchdown with 11:01 left in the game to seal Phoebus' 45th consecutive win.
DIVISION 6Battlefield (Haymarket, Va.) defeated Hermitage 26-7 to win the school's first state title in any sport.
The Bobcats scored two touchdowns in each half, the first two coming on passes from sophomore quarterback
Ryan Swingle, and safety
Bobo Beathard scoring the fourth when he returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
DIVISION 4Briar Woods (Ashburn, Va.) overcame two first-quarter Harrisonburg touchdowns with a pounding running game and a relentless defensive effort to come away with 41-21 win.
Falcons senior running back
Michael Brownlee rushed for 198 yards and four touchdowns on just 14 carries to pace the offense, while junior lineman Justin Baker had 12 tackles to lead a defense that allowed just 102 second-half yards.
DIVISION 3Poquoson (Va.) shut down Richlands' potent running game, holding the Blue Tornado to just 85 yards on the ground, to pull out a 23-17 victory in Lynchburg.
Trailing 3-2 at halftime, Islander quarterback Tee McConnell threw for two second-half touchdowns, the first to Austin Smith (79 yards) in the third quarter and then a 23-yard strike to Cody Hutchison in the fourth.
Poquoson took advantage of 12 Richlands penalties for 146 yards.
DIVISION 2Gate City (Va.) won its fifth state title and first since 2003 with a 27-17 win over Gretna.
Running back Joseph Vaughn caught two touchdown passes of 32 and 31 yards from quarterback Nick Bowen, the first coming in the first quarter and the second putting Gate City up by 10 with eight minutes left in the game.
DIVISION 1Riverheads (Staunton, Va.) outlasted Eastern Montgomery 63-49 in a record-setting game featuring 1,089 yards and 112 points, both Virginia High School League records.
Riverheads rushed for 560 total yards, led by running back Jack Weekley's 216 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries.
Conversely, Eastern Montgomery racked up the bulk of its yardage through the air with quarterback
Shawn Christian completing 19 of 28 passes for 429 of his team's 495 yards of total offense.
KUDOS TO DELAWARE'S PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
* Lake Forest senior running back
Quadir Bryant was named Offensive Player of the Year after leading the Spartans to an 8-2 record and the Henlopen South Division title.
* St. Elizabeth junior linebacker
Eric Patton was named Defensive Player of the year. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound junior led a Vikings defensive unit that pitched a shutout against Archmere in the state title game.
*
Jake Quinn, who anchored the best defensive line in the state at St. Mark's, was named Lineman of the Year and was placed on the first team All-State team at the offensive and defensive tackle positions. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound senior has made a verbal commitment to Temple University.
The Players of the Year were selected by the Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association. Oddly, Delaware's top two recruits were left off the first team All-State team. Dover lineman
Trip Thurman (University of Florida) was selected to the second team and William Penn tight end
Kyle Carter (Penn State) to the third team.
THE BUZZ
William Penn (Del.) junior
Khaliq Gatson was one of 500 juniors recently invited to the U.S. Army National Combine in San Antonio, on January 6-8. Gatson carries a 3.75 GPA taking mostly honors and AP classes and also plays on the varsity basketball team. It's nice to see the "student" in this student-athlete.
Jon Buzby is the sports columnist for the Newark Post, a freelance writer, and a color analyst for the 1290AM The Ticket High School Football and Basketball Games of the Week. You can reach him at jonbuzby@hotmail.com.
