This Week in Sports: IWA strives for perfection

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Despite leading Hampton Christian 40-0 at the half en route to a 50-13 home-opening win on Friday, Isle of Wight coach Dale Chapman was not completely satisfied.

His Chargers, 2-0 in their first non-conference games, were flagged for several personal fouls, some because of rough play, some because of his players getting mouthy.

Chapman was not so much worried about the physical infractions — &uot;As long as they’re hitting, I can live with that. It’s not like we’re doing anything intentional,&uot; he said after the game — but those flags thrown for trash-talking were objectionable to the coach.

&uot;Yeah, we were very concerned&uot; about the unsportsmanlike calls. The players’ names responsible for the 15-yard penalties were written on a sheet of paper held by one of the assistant coaches and, Chapman said, the staff was going to &uot;make sure those guys are going to have some extra work on Monday&uot; at practice.

The Chargers punted with 9:30 left in the game, the team’s first punt of the season.

With the blowout win, Isle of Wight played many members of what Chapman calls his &uot;2&uot; team, the back-ups.

&uot;I think our second team did well,&uot; he said. He pointed out the play of quarterback Daniel Brown, a 6-foot sophomore who backs up senior Rusty Brake. Brown entered the game on the final series of the first half Friday and got considerable playing time in the second half. &uot;He’s hungry to play,&uot; said Chapman.

* Great Bridge whipped Lakeland High 42-15 on Friday in a Southeastern District clash in Chesapeake. The Wildcats’ Casey Turner, who is second on the South Hampton Roads’ career passing yardage list, threw for 276 yards and five touchdowns to drop the Cavaliers to 0-2.

Lakeland, which trailed 28-0 at halftime, got short touchdown runs from quarterback Josh Meeks and running back Cedrick Johnson in the second half.

Great Bridge, which improved to 2-0, held a 443-208 advantage in total offense.

Lakeland hosts Maury at 7 p.m. Friday in the Cavaliers’ home opener.

* Nansemond-Suffolk Academy dropped a 33-7 decision to Trinity Episcopal School on Friday in Richmond.

The Saints, 0-2, played well defensively and trailed just 12-0 at halftime, but the host Titans, 1-1, pulled away in the second half.

NSA’s lone touchdown came on an 86-yard kickoff return by senior Chris Skeeter in the third quarter.

Junior running back J.R. Crowder, a 6-foot, 200-pounder, led the Saints with 72 rushing yards on 20 carries, while Skeeter had 28 yards on six totes.

Trinity quarterback William White, a sophomore, burned NSA for 254 passing yards and two touchdowns.

The Titans had 417 yards of offense compared to NSA’s 152.

* Kudos to Kwamane Harris of Windsor High School. Harris, a junior quarterback,

has already thrown five touchdown passes in the Dukes’ first two games. Harris has connected on four of those to tight end Ryan Acey.

* Southampton High School’s kicking game started off Friday’s 52-13 loss to Tabb on a shaky note. Punter Eli Matthews had his first two punts blocked, then kicked the third for just 10 yards. Much to his credit, he punted well the rest of the game.

Southampton High School head coach Littleton Parker had few words to say

about his team’s performance against Tabb. When asked about his offensive line not giving quarterback Sidney Rawls much time to throw, he said &uot;that was obvious.&uot;

* The Southampton High School volleyball team opened the season 3-0. The Lady Indians beat Bruton and Warhill 3-0. Then, Southampton battled Lafayette for over two hours in a 3-2 win. It was the first time Southampton has ever beaten Lafayette in volleyball. Samantha Urquhart led the Lady Indians with 22 kills and five blocks. Other contributors in the big win included Maggie Phillips with 15 kills and 14 assists, Megan Revelle with six kills and three blocks, and Alexis Foster with nine kills, 15 assists, and two blocks.

* The Brunswick Academy volleyball team must have

the ugliest socks in the history of high school sports. The Lady Vikings sported Ronald McDonald-style maroon and white striped socks in last week’s game against Southampton Academy. All that was missing were the big red, floppy shoes. Speaking of ugly uniforms, Tabb High School’s football uniforms are bright orange, like VDOT vests, only with numbers.

* Sara Felts, a former volleyball star at Southampton Academy, is seeing significant playing time as a freshman at Winthrop University. Although the team opened the season at 1-5, Felts, who is 6 feet, 2 inches, was second on the team in blocks per game and has recorded 27 kills.

She had nine kills against Towson State. Winthrop, a Division 1AA school, plays in the Big South Conference.