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Breakdown: Beach District could be up for grabs

by Andy Hilton, recruit757

So, who’s your pick at the Beach? Ocean Lakes is no longer the juggernaut that they were with the departure of somewhere around ten key players. Will the other teams at the Beach get as much pleasure trying to exact revenge on Joe Jones’ team?

Other teams at the Beach have lost talent as well. Some of it to graduation and some to transfer. Instead of looking at rosters, today we’re looking at the schedule.

It’s typically a round-robin. There are 11 high schools in Virginia Beach and we used to have an all-inclusive schedule that had all schools playing only each other. That changed last year when the Beach District started making exceptions.

There is only one exception this year. Cox dropped Princess Anne, so on 10/21 Cox visits Granby while Maury visits Princess Anne.

Both the Comets and the Commodores struggled last year, so the new games could be easy wins for the Beach District.

Here’s the team by team quick analysis, including last year’s record and the opener for each team:

Bayside 7-4 (8/26 vs. Green Run): The Marlins open against nearby Green Run, then travel for Kempsville, Kellam and Tallwood. That’s potentially a soft start since those four teams were 12-29 last year. The Marlins have J.P. Davis quarterbacking full-time this year and should find success.

Cox 8-4 (8/26 vs. Tallwood): the Falcons saw the Lions quite a bit at passing league this summer, and their roles don’t seem to have changed. Yes, Cox will break in a new quarterback with A.J. Smith taking the reins, but they haven’t lost to Tallwood since 2008 when they fell in a defensive battle by a score of 7-0. Cox gets Green Run, then a bye, then Kellam and Landstown. That should be a recipe for a good start.

First Colonial 4-6 (8/26 vs. Princess Anne): the Patriots struggled to go 4-6 last year. Since Head Coach Sam Scarborough missed most of the summer reps due to a health issue, the 2016 squad may suffer some. Quarteback Scotty Watson transferred back to Salem and rising freshman Colt Minson decided to go to Bishop Sullivan and ride the bench behind Tyler DeSue. FC runs a Wing-T offense, so Scarborough should be able to simply plug athletes into the system. Their bye doesn’t come until week nine, so the sledding could get tough if injuries mount.

Kellam 5-6 (9/1 at Tallwood): Kellam is a dark horse to make a run at the Beach, but they draw the short straw and get their bye in the opening week. Chris DeWitt manages to put the right guys in the position to make plays. Trevon Thorpe should step up and be a leader, but there are no superstars on this squad.

Landstown 4-6 (8/26 vs. Kempsville): the Eagles missed the playoffs in 2015. They play six games then take a bye in 2016. Tommy Reamon couldn’t ask for a much better schedule. They open up against Kempsville (0-10), Princess Anne (3-7), Tallwood (4-6) and Green Run (3-7). The talent is there at Landstown. Athletic QB Brent Stukes could be a difference maker on both sides of the ball.

Ocean Lakes 12-1 (8/26 at Salem): this isn’t last year’s Dolphins squad. Joe Jones will have them well coached, but this is a group of players that has not seen a lot of varsity playing time yet. Most of them played behind some really talented high school ballplayers last year and it’s now their time to step out into the spotlight. After Salem, OLHS gets First Colonial and Princess Anne before getting an early bye week.

Tallwood 4-6 (8/26 at Cox): the Lions are desperate for a breakout season. They’ve fallen just short of the playoffs recently. The first half of their schedule looks brutal with Cox (8-4), Kellam (5-6), Landstown (4-6), Bayside (7-4) and Salem (8-3) starting off the season. On top of that, Tallwood gets their bye at the end of the season. They’ll have win and wait in order be sure that they’re headed into the playoffs, if they can make it this year.

Green Run 3-7 (8/26 at Bayside): New coach Justin Conyers has his work cut out for him. He has new schemes, some new talent, and a new motivation to make Green Run great. They’re looking to shock Bayside to start the season. If they can generate some momentum, a playoff bid is not out of the picture since they follow Bayside by hosting Cox, visiting First Colonial and hosting Landstown.

Kempsville 0-10 (8/26 at Landstown): Kempsville gets no rest. They open with Landstown, Bayside, and Salem. They get First Colonial and Princess Anne before hosting Ocean Lakes on 9/30. They’ll know by the end of Septemaber if they have a chance.

Princess Anne 3-7 (8/26 at First Colonial): The Cavaliers are certainly headed in the right direction under head coach Jelani Fair. They won no games in 2013, won two in 2014 and won three games in 2015. They could be playoff bound at .500 in 2016. PA starts against First Colonial, who they beat last year by a score of 18-13. If they can shock Landstown in week two, they’ll have momentum going into the September 9 game against Ocean Lakes.

Salem 8-3 (8/26 vs. Ocean Lakes): if the SunDevils can get over the hump against OLHS, they’ll set themselves up nicely for the rest of the season. Games against Kempsville, Princess Anne, and Tallwood are next. They could go 4-0 to start the season.

The Beach District is more of a toss up than ever. It should be exciting to watch.

– Andy Hilton