Eagles Will Win
But Which Ones? We’ll Find Out Tonight
Posted: November 9, 2012
ELKTON – First-year head coach Antron Yates played in the Division III national championship game in 2001 with the Bridgewater College Eagles. Tonight, not far from his alma mater, he will lead Eagles against Eagles.
That is, the ninth-seeded Washington & Lee High School Eagles (5-5) against the eighth-seeded East Rockingham Eagles (7-3) in the first round of the prep football playoffs at 7 p.m. in Elkton.
Besides being a mirror matchup of multiple offenses and mascots, the comparisons might stop there.
East Rock, hosting a playoff game for the first time in its three-year history, appears to have the edge in roster experience and size up front in today’s Division 2 East Section tilt. Thus, Hunter Harman – East Rock’s confident, red-haired junior quarterback – believes the Eagles are in prime position to win their first playoff game in their second consecutive trip to the postseason.
ERHS coach Donnie Coleman is more cautiously optimistic, expecting a tougher W&L squad than the one that was outscored 51-0 in back-to-back games scheduled four days apart due to Hurricane Sandy.
But he sounded confident after his Eagles achieved their preseason goal of being a top-eight seed, which guaranteed them a home game in Round 1.
“The kids achieved that, but they’re not done. They’re not done,” said Coleman, who also played collegiate football at BC, prior to Yates. “The kids don’t feel like they’re done. … We’re going to take some shots on both sides of the ball. We’re not going to hold back.”
East Rock is the only Harrisonburg/Rockingham County school in the playoffs this year — none of the city/county’s four Valley District schools, all of which play at least one step higher than ERHS, in Divisions 3 and 4, qualified for the postseason.
“It’s a good feeling,” said ERHS senior defensive end Dale Wood, who leads the team with 89 total tackles. “… It doesn’t get much better, especially being the only team around here to make it. It makes you feel important.”
After taking its toll on practice schedules locally, Hurricane Sandy did Coleman one favor, allowing him to personally scout Washington & Lee (a Northern Neck District school in Montross) in a makeup game last Saturday against Colonial Beach.
He didn’t see a great performance from those Eagles.
W&L suffered its third straight loss in a 12-0 shutout that marked the program’s first-ever defeat in 43 years against rival CBHS. Yates didn’t use the storm as an excuse, though it postponed a game against undefeated Essex to a Wednesday and forced W&L to play Colonial Beach three days later.
“It’s been difficult. It’s been very difficult, but at the end of the day you can’t use those excuses,” Yates said. “You just have to play football. You’ve got to face a little bit of adversity and we have… we’re trying to get our bearings back. We lost some players last week [to injury]. But I think we’re ready to compete, finally.”
Coleman’s defense will be preparing for three offenses – a spread, pro-style and single-wing. Starting running back Dexter Thompson and Kwame Gray, a 2011 all-state kick returner, lead W&L’s ground game with 1,528 yards and 13 touchdowns on 273 carries combined.
“That’s kind of their M.O. They’re going to run the ball and play good defense,” Coleman said.
W&L went 10-2 a season ago with 23 seniors on the roster, including 10 of 11 defensive starters, Yates said. Like East Rock, all three of Washington & Lee’s recent losses have come against playoff teams with winning records.
W&L will have to find a way to slow down senior tailback Sharif Price. The All-Shenandoah District first-team pick has rushed for 1,387 yards and 18 TDs on 164 carries behind a massive offensive line that was a much-hyped unit entering the season.
“They made sure it wasn’t just hype,” Price said.
Harman has been prolific for ERHS in his own right, completing 72 of 142 passes for 1,145 yards with eight TDs. Nearly half of his completions have found senior playmaker John Wright, who has 833 yards and six receiving TDs, three kickoff return scores and a pick-six on defense at cornerback.
“Other teams that have played them have thrown the deep ball a lot,” Harman said after studying film this week. “And we have John Wright, a deep threat. We can get the ball out if we need to pass.”
ERHS is in a mini-slump of its own, losing two of its last three games. Last week at Riverheads, East Rock turned the ball over just once, but couldn’t get on the same page. Wright said mental mistakes were to blame in the 30-6 loss that had the Eagles believing they’d be boarding a bus today.
On Saturday night after witnessing W&L’s loss, Coleman sent out a mass text that shocked and excited his players.
“It said, ‘We’re playing at home, boys,’” Wood recalled. “Yeah, there were two or three exclamation points at the end.”
East Rock’s football field is certainly not the Big House. But the Eagles (4-1 at home) believe playing in front of their fans can boost their defensive vigor and help them avoid another first-round playoff loss like the one last year at then-undefeated King William.
“It’s not like we have 100,000 people or anything, but you hear them cheering and it pumps you up,” Wood said. “…And just the fact we’re a third-year school and hosting a playoff game, that’s just amazing.”
That is, the ninth-seeded Washington & Lee High School Eagles (5-5) against the eighth-seeded East Rockingham Eagles (7-3) in the first round of the prep football playoffs at 7 p.m. in Elkton.
Besides being a mirror matchup of multiple offenses and mascots, the comparisons might stop there.
East Rock, hosting a playoff game for the first time in its three-year history, appears to have the edge in roster experience and size up front in today’s Division 2 East Section tilt. Thus, Hunter Harman – East Rock’s confident, red-haired junior quarterback – believes the Eagles are in prime position to win their first playoff game in their second consecutive trip to the postseason.
ERHS coach Donnie Coleman is more cautiously optimistic, expecting a tougher W&L squad than the one that was outscored 51-0 in back-to-back games scheduled four days apart due to Hurricane Sandy.
But he sounded confident after his Eagles achieved their preseason goal of being a top-eight seed, which guaranteed them a home game in Round 1.
“The kids achieved that, but they’re not done. They’re not done,” said Coleman, who also played collegiate football at BC, prior to Yates. “The kids don’t feel like they’re done. … We’re going to take some shots on both sides of the ball. We’re not going to hold back.”
East Rock is the only Harrisonburg/Rockingham County school in the playoffs this year — none of the city/county’s four Valley District schools, all of which play at least one step higher than ERHS, in Divisions 3 and 4, qualified for the postseason.
“It’s a good feeling,” said ERHS senior defensive end Dale Wood, who leads the team with 89 total tackles. “… It doesn’t get much better, especially being the only team around here to make it. It makes you feel important.”
After taking its toll on practice schedules locally, Hurricane Sandy did Coleman one favor, allowing him to personally scout Washington & Lee (a Northern Neck District school in Montross) in a makeup game last Saturday against Colonial Beach.
He didn’t see a great performance from those Eagles.
W&L suffered its third straight loss in a 12-0 shutout that marked the program’s first-ever defeat in 43 years against rival CBHS. Yates didn’t use the storm as an excuse, though it postponed a game against undefeated Essex to a Wednesday and forced W&L to play Colonial Beach three days later.
“It’s been difficult. It’s been very difficult, but at the end of the day you can’t use those excuses,” Yates said. “You just have to play football. You’ve got to face a little bit of adversity and we have… we’re trying to get our bearings back. We lost some players last week [to injury]. But I think we’re ready to compete, finally.”
Coleman’s defense will be preparing for three offenses – a spread, pro-style and single-wing. Starting running back Dexter Thompson and Kwame Gray, a 2011 all-state kick returner, lead W&L’s ground game with 1,528 yards and 13 touchdowns on 273 carries combined.
“That’s kind of their M.O. They’re going to run the ball and play good defense,” Coleman said.
W&L went 10-2 a season ago with 23 seniors on the roster, including 10 of 11 defensive starters, Yates said. Like East Rock, all three of Washington & Lee’s recent losses have come against playoff teams with winning records.
W&L will have to find a way to slow down senior tailback Sharif Price. The All-Shenandoah District first-team pick has rushed for 1,387 yards and 18 TDs on 164 carries behind a massive offensive line that was a much-hyped unit entering the season.
“They made sure it wasn’t just hype,” Price said.
Harman has been prolific for ERHS in his own right, completing 72 of 142 passes for 1,145 yards with eight TDs. Nearly half of his completions have found senior playmaker John Wright, who has 833 yards and six receiving TDs, three kickoff return scores and a pick-six on defense at cornerback.
“Other teams that have played them have thrown the deep ball a lot,” Harman said after studying film this week. “And we have John Wright, a deep threat. We can get the ball out if we need to pass.”
ERHS is in a mini-slump of its own, losing two of its last three games. Last week at Riverheads, East Rock turned the ball over just once, but couldn’t get on the same page. Wright said mental mistakes were to blame in the 30-6 loss that had the Eagles believing they’d be boarding a bus today.
On Saturday night after witnessing W&L’s loss, Coleman sent out a mass text that shocked and excited his players.
“It said, ‘We’re playing at home, boys,’” Wood recalled. “Yeah, there were two or three exclamation points at the end.”
East Rock’s football field is certainly not the Big House. But the Eagles (4-1 at home) believe playing in front of their fans can boost their defensive vigor and help them avoid another first-round playoff loss like the one last year at then-undefeated King William.
“It’s not like we have 100,000 people or anything, but you hear them cheering and it pumps you up,” Wood said. “…And just the fact we’re a third-year school and hosting a playoff game, that’s just amazing.”