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The Bleachers 2000: Saturday, November 25, 1:30pm - Heritage{Newport News} Hurricanes (State Semifinal, Home): Series: First Meeting. It doesn't get any easier, but at least we don't have to travel this week. Coming to town, from all the way across the state, are the undefeated Peninsula District Champion Heritage Hurricanes out of Newport News. Last week, they got revenge on the Hampton Crabbers (historically the team in Virginia) for the 44-0 thrashing that they received from their district foe in last year's Eastern Region Final with a 41-0 demolition of their own. The last time Hampton was beaten so badly was nearly 4 decades ago. The Hurricanes have shutout 7 teams this season, and have won 12 games by an average score of 43-5. Scouting Report (before the Hampton game) Hopefully, the extra time (with the game being held Saturday instead of Friday night) will help Frank Cobbs and Alan Wheeling (groin pull), among others. This is PC's first State Semifinal appearance since the nationally ranked 1993 season (against Indian River). Division 5 Playoffs: (The team ratings in parentheses are Gilliam's Ratings for Division 5) State Semifinal Matchups: Heritage{NN} (97.76, 12-0) West Potomac (70.46, 9-3) State Championship Game: Heritage{NN}-Pulaski County winner
Site: University of Richmond,
Saturday, December 2, 4:00pm Week Thirteen Review - Culpeper County Blue Devils (Northwestern Region Final, Away): In a game that will certainly be one to remember, the Cougars won the Northwestern Region Championship with a 28-20 win over the Blue Devils, thus ending the 25-game winning streak of the defending State Champions on their own home field. PC took control early in this one, scoring on its first pair of possessions on runs by Josh Calfee and Greg Cobbs for a 14-0 lead. This was as many points in a single quarter as Culpeper had given up in any game in 2000. Jeff King blocked a FG attempt when it was 14-3, and the ensuing drive ended up with another Calfee score to make it 21-3 at the break. Like Salem earlier in the season, when the Cougars (also on the road) broke the long steak of another defending champion, the Blue Devils did not quit. A furious 4th quarter comeback almost brought them all the way back from 28-10 to a tie. Josh Bowling intercepted a pass at the one with 1:34 to go, after a TD pass had been called back because QB Stefan Orange had crossed the line of scrimmage before throwing. Calfee, who scored 3 times on the night, moved the chains and kept the clock ticking on 3rd down, after which it was all over but for a good snap and a kneeldown. If you look at the box score, you will see that the Cougars were actually outgained by over 100 yards. Orange was on fire in the second half, and racked up the yardage. He was able to both throw and scramble well, scoring once with his feet. The Blue Devils certainly went out like champions - swinging. However, as has been the case all season long - look who won the battle of hanging on to the pigskin. Turnovers: Cougars 0 - Blue Devils 3. Keeping the ball wins games. Period. It's much more unusual to win when you have more turnovers, than to win when you fewer total yards. It only takes one mistake to make all of the yards of a drive practically worthless. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have your special teams block kicks and smother punt returns. PC won the battle of field position. The Blue Devils had to get all of their points on long drives, whereas the Cougars turned a couple of miscues into short-field scores. Frank Cobbs was obviously not quite himself yet, as he could only get 47 yards on 13 carries. Credit must be given to the Culpeper defense, which was obviously determined to not get beat straight up the middle. However, this did open up options for his brother Greg Cobbs (7-59) and Calfee (30-168). To show that the Cougars have more than one or two weapons, one of the big heroes from the previous week, Antione Meadows, carried the ball only once. His offensive heroics were not needed on this night. |
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