Lakeland goes for fourth straight win
Published 8:52 pm Thursday, September 24, 2009
Great Bridge (3-0, 2-0) at Lakeland (3-0, 2-0) – 7 p.m.
Last season – Great Bridge 22, Lakeland 13
For the second straight Friday night, the Cavaliers are matched up against another undefeated district foe. Lakeland made it back-to-back wins over Hickory, but Great Bridge has dominated the Cavaliers and beat them last year.
Both teams can put tons of points on the board. Great Bridge has been doing that for a number of seasons with a pass-happy offense.
Brad Hudson is an experienced quarterback for the Wildcats and he’s thrown for 677 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Tray Bray, who’s got recruiting interest from ACC and Colonial schools around the region, and Marc Meier, who caught eight passes for 159 yards last week, are his favorite targets.
Great Bridge beat Western Branch 24-21 last Friday. It was the first win for Great Bridge over Western Branch since 1990.
Lakeland’s averaging 32.7 points per game and the Cavalier defense has matched the offense. Lakeland held Nansemond River scoreless into the third quarter while building a 30-0 lead. Last Friday, Hickory scored on its first possession of the game, but the Cavs blanked Hickory from there. Helping out the defense is that Lakeland’s offense has taken great care of the ball.
Western Branch (0-3, 0-2) at Nansemond River (0-3, 0-2) – 7 p.m.
Last season – Western Branch 41, Nansemond River 0
As some Southeastern District teams are off to surprisingly good starts this season, that must mean some teams are off to surprisingly poor starts, and that includes Western Branch.
The Bruins, a longtime power in the district, were no different last season going 8-2 and reaching the Division 6 playoffs. This season, the Bruins have lost to Booker T. Washington, Grassfield and Great Bridge. The loss to Grassfield was a first in Grassfield’s short history and the loss to Great Bridge was the first in that long series since 1990.
One of Nansemond River’s best chances for a victory went by the boards last week as Wilson led 7-6 at halftime and held on for a 13-6 win over the Warriors.
Bishop Sullivan (2-1, 0-0) at Nansemond-Suffolk (2-1, 1-0) – 7 p.m.
Last season – Nansemond-Suffolk 28, Bishop Sullivan 7
Nansemond-Suffolk’s running game has been increasingly strong through the first three games. Since going back to running back fulltime, Will Crenshaw’s run for 444 yards in the last two games, both of NSA’s wins.
NSA’s offense might have started to add a new wrinkle in last week’s blowout win over Norfolk Christian as quarterback Domonique Lannon and tight end Josh Todd connected on three receptions for 58 yards.
The Crusaders beat Carlisle School 40-0 last Saturday. Bishop Sullivan scored three touchdowns through the air, one rushing touchdown, one TD on a punt return and one on a fumble recovery and return.