Clash: Lafayette’s offense vs. Phoebus’ defense
The “Irresistible Force meets Immovable Object” cliché doesn’t exactly match the Class 3 Region A football championship game showdown between Phoebus and Lafayette on Friday at Wanner Stadium, but it comes close.
No. 1 seed Lafayette (6-0), after all, is allowing less than six points per game, and its defense stifled a good New Kent offense in the Rams’ 35-0 win in the region semifinals. Phoebus (4-0), the No. 2 seed, is averaging 30 points, and wide receiver Kymari Gray’s seven receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown in the 28-7 region semifinal win over defending Class 3 state champ Hopewell were typical.
But the Rams’ emergence as the kind of passing threat Phoebus has long been adds intrigue to the battle for a state semifinal berth. The Phantoms’ ability to turn opponents’ passing mistakes into points — underscored by Gray’s two interception returns for touchdowns against Hopewell — naturally makes Lafayette’s passing versus Phoebus’ defense the topic of the week.
“They play a couple of different coverages in the back, they move guys around and they’re not going to let you beat them deep,” Lafayette coach Andy Linn said of the Phoebus defense. “They’re going to keep everything in front of them and they’ve got athletes.
“A lot of teams can’t match up with the guys we’re putting out there at receiver. Phoebus has two or three guys who can.”
That’s saying a lot for the Phantoms because, in Donald Gatling and Mike Green, Lafayette has a receiving tandem among the best in Hampton Roads. Green, a 6-foot5, 215-pound senior, was already well-known, having signed recently to play for Virginia.
He will probably play tight end in college, but Linn considers him more valuable at receiver for the Rams. The 16-yard touchdown catch he made against New Kent, when he plucked the ball out of the air by reaching over the head of a defender who seemed to have the pass covered, is evidence.
“You just have to give Mike a chance to catch it and he will,” Linn said. “Luke Hanson made a nice throw to the back side. Mike just went up and got it.
“I wish we could keep him at tight end because he’s such a good blocker, but what he does at receiver is too good to waste.”
Hanson, a 6-2, 205-pound junior, will soon join Green at U.Va., although he will play baseball there. For now, he is using his prodigious right arm to pass for about 150 yards per game, almost half of the offense for a program that often netted all
of its 350 yards on the ground in the past.
In Gatling, a 6-3, 180-pound junior, Hanson has found a dynamic partner who should soon draw lots of Division I interest. He opened the season by catching seven passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-7 win over Tabb, and has been on a tear since.
“Donald tracks the ball well, catches it well, and he’s a good blocker,” Linn said. “He and Luke have made huge strides since their sophomore seasons.”
The pass protection provided by the offensive line forces most teams to blitz to have any chance at slowing Lafayette’s passing attack. Phoebus might possess the talent to play the Rams’ Wing-T straight.
“We’re going to have to play assignment football,” Phoebus coach Jeremy Blunt said. “The battle of the trenches is always huge, but especially in the playoffs and against a team like Lafayette with so much experience at this level.”
The pressure applied by linemen Austin Gilliam, Mycal McMullin, Malik Hardy and, especially, North Carolina recruit Trevion Stevenson
was important to forcing the ill-advised passes Gray intercepted and returned for touchdowns of 30 and 21 yards. That gave Phoebus a 14-point lead over Hopewell before the game was three minutes old.
Linebacker David Cousins played a key role on the second interception.
“When the quarterback ran outside, (Cousins) contained and then dropped back into coverage,” Blunt said. “That forced the quarterback to overthrow his receiver.”
Gray got an assist on his first interception — the 30-yard pick for a TD — from cornerback Jalen Mayo.
“Jalen read that pass, broke on the ball perfectly and tipped it,” Blunt said. “Kymari did the rest.
“After that, our defense played with a bend-but-don’t-break mentality.”
The Phantoms, who are allowing six points per game, rarely break. That sets up a huge challenge for Lafayette.
“I think it’s very even,” Linn said. “It will be a battle both ways that comes down to who doesn’t put the ball on the ground or give up touchdowns by things like interceptions.”