Chargers, Cougars To Battle For Supremacy
When Torrian Pace And The Chantilly Chargers Travel To Vienna On Saturday To Face Chris Coyer And The Oakton Cougars, It Will Be For A State Playoff Berth And The Regional Championship. Our Live Radio Coverage Begins At 12:30pm Online Here On The Gameday Radio Network....
Chantilly's Roger Strittmatter has come along this season and is now playing his best football. He was 5 of 11 last week for 78 yards, and the Chargers will need another solid performance from him Saturday against the Cougars....
Photo By: Marc Gold / Gameday Magazine
Oakton's Trey Watts has been the big play threat for the Cougars in the passing game this season, racking up 552 yards and 7 touchdowns. Look for Watts to make a few big plays down the field against the Chargers on Saturday....
Photo By: Barry deNicola / Gameday Magazine
#3 OAKTON vs #8 CHANTILLY
Kickoff: 1:30pm Saturday November 22nd, 2008
Where: At Oakton High School - Vienna, Va
MEDIA COVERAGE:
The Gameday Radio Network
Live Coverage Begins At 12:30pm Live
Online At GamedayMagazine.com
BROADCAST TEAM:
Grant Paulsen - Play By Play
Andy Hayes - Sideline Color Commentary
Ken Kincaide - Color Commentary
Bruce Bornarth - Halftime Analysis
Derek LeComte - Engineering
VIENNA, VA - With the cold weather on the way in this weekend, there are two teams that are scorching hot heading into the Northern Region Championship game to be played Saturday at 1:30pm. The top seed Oakton Cougars have been perfect in 2008, winning all twelve of their games this season. However, the one team that arguably played them the toughest will make the short bus trip across Fairfax to try to end their magical season.
The Chantilly Chargers hold the distinction of the hottest team in the post-season after beating Annandale and Westfield to earn a second chance at Oakton. In the first meeting between the Cougars and the Chargers, Oakton held on to a 17-15 win at home.
The Chargers were shutout in the first half of that game, and the Cougars were shutout in the second half of that game. So how do you analyze the rematch? Good question, and hopefully in this preview I can provide you some answers.
The first thing you need to know is for all intents and purposes, you can throw out what happened in the regular season. This game will come down to a few very important things, defense, defense, and did I say defense?
Say what you want about prolific tailbacks and big play quarterbacks, this game will be decided by the team that plays the most sound on the defensive side of the ball. Both Chantilly and Oakton feature dynamic playmakers on offense, and that will pose some interesting problems for both teams.
Chantilly is hot right now mainly because of the play of senior Torrian Pace. Pace is the leading rusher in the region with 32 touchdowns and 2,609 yards. However, in the last two weeks, Pace has been unstoppable. His 368 yards against Annandale and 351 yards against Westfield may go down as the best two consecutive performances in Northern Region playoff history.
Oakton's cupboard is not bare either, and while many of those in attendance will be there to watch Pace, they will also see a show from the likes of quarterback Chris Coyer, and tailbacks Trey Watts and Jonathan Meadows.
Oakton's dangerous trio can break a game wide open at any given moment in the game, and that will be something to watch Saturday. How Chantilly defends these guys will tell the story of how successful they are on the scoreboard at the end of the game.
I broadcast the first game with Bubba Purcell, and it really was a strange game. Both teams looked sub-par in one half, but in the end, the Cougars found a way to preserve the win. I'm sure both coaches don't care how they prevail on Saturday, as long as they do. Understandably, this game is interesting on many levels.
The first for me is the question of who gives the Northern Region the best chance at another state championship. There is little doubt that the team heading up I-95 next week from the Virginia Beach area is going to be loaded with talent and speed, most likely more than both teams playing Saturday.
Traditionally though, the Concorde district has fared well against the Beach area teams and for one very important reason, their physicality. I would venture to say Chantilly is the more physical team on offense, but defensively I would give that edge to Oakton.
The truth is, no matter who wins Saturday, most in the state won't give either team a chance next week to advance to the state title game. But I believe that the winner of this game will be in Blacksburg two weekends from now.
The Chargers and the Cougars are pretty similar teams with a few minor differences. Both teams live by the big play on offense, and both teams play solid run defense. The Cougars hold an advantage in big area, and that is in the passing game. Coyer has completed over 65% of his passes this season, and Oakton is not afraid to put the ball in the air. Chantilly on the other hand does not throw much, but to their defense, when you have a back like Pace taking handoffs to the house from 90 yards out, why throw it.
So as we get set for a heavyweight fight on Saturday for the Northern Region championship, let's take a further look at these two teams and how they match-up the second time around.
KEY MATCH-UPS
Presented By: AOC Solutions
Oakton Front Seven vs Chantilly's Running Game
In the first meeting, the Cougars held Torrian Pace to under 100 yards rushing (87 yards to be exact) and that was a major reason why they won the game. With that being said, Pace did get on a roll against the Cougar defense in the second half, and if the Chargers come out running the football like they did in the final 24 minutes in the first game, then Oakton could be in trouble. Look for Oakton to try to disrupt the Chantilly run game by pressuring inside with their linebackers. Jack Tyler had a tremendous game against the Chargers in the regular season, but the play of Kevin Culkin and Joey McCallum was every bit as impressive. This trio of linebackers caused havoc at times in the backfield, and they will do their best to repeat that on Saturday. One key point that I believe gives Chantilly the advantage though in this match-up is the education factor. The Chargers learned how to exploit Westfield's defense after struggling in the regular season against them, and I think that big offensive line for Chantilly along with Pace will crack the combination of how to run against Oakton with success too on Saturday.....Advantage Chantilly......
Chantilly Secondary vs Oakton Receivers
You are probably asking yourself, why is Hayes talking about this match-up? Well, here's the reason. The Chargers changed their approach last week against Westfield by playing predominately man coverage, and stacking the line of scrimmage. They dared Westfield to throw to win, and even though Jordon Anderson rushed for 200 yards, that yardage came basically on two long touchdown runs. The change in approach put pressure on the quarterback, but it forced a key interception late in the game. However, Chantilly's secondary also gave up some big pass plays down the field when they didn't get enough pressure on Westfield's Danny Fenyak. I think this is important to highlight because I would be surprised if Chantilly didn't take the same approach defensively against Oakton this week. The Cougars are most dangerous when they can hand the ball off to Meadows, and run Coyer out of the spread. If the Chargers can neutralize Oakton's ability to run the ball some, the pressure will fall to Coyer, and then to the Chantilly secondary. Again, Coyer is completing 65% of his passes, so this recipe could backfire, but as most teams have learned this year, you can die a lot faster against Oakton if you let them run the ball at will. With that being said, Oakton has the ability to hit the big plays down the field, and despite Chantilly's solid performance last week at times in the secondary, the Cougars will find a way to exploit the Charger secondary if they play man coverage. Bottom line is, Oakton has too many weapons to take away, whether that be on the ground or via the passing game.....Advantage Oakton......
KEYS TO VICTORY:
Presented By: The Fractured Prune
FOR OAKTON:
- Avoid Costly Turnovers
- Wrap Up And Gang Tackle Pace
- Find Balance Early On Offense
FOR CHANTILLY:
- Get Pace At Least 35 Carries
- Take At Least 6 Shots Deep Down The Field
- Limit Oakton's Big Plays
EXPERT PROGNOSITICATION:
Presented By: Ticonderoga Farms
Understand this, Saturday's game featuring Oakton and Chantilly will be the toughest to predict. Oakton has certainly played better in the last 7 weeks then they did the first time against Chantilly, and the same can definitely be said for the Chargers too. I believe Chantilly's hot start in the playoffs is in part due to how they played against Oakton in the second half of the first meeting between these two teams. That is when Chantilly found their way offensively, and since that time they have been near impossible to stop for four quarters. If there is one big factor to watch on Saturday, it is who wins the turnover battle. Oakton turned the ball over a couple of times and so did Chantilly in the first game, and whichever team wins the turnover battle Saturday should win the game. Neither team in my opinion is far and away better than the other one, and that leads me to how I will predict this game. I watched a good Westfield defense get dismantled by Torrian Pace last week for 351 yards and 5 scores. The Bulldogs were in position to make the tackles, and Pace just ran through them. Defensively, Oakton had trouble with Pace in the second half of the first game, and that has me leaning toward Chantilly in this game. I think it will be close, and I won't be shocked or surprised if Oakton wins this game, but I think Pace is the X-factor in this game. If he plays like he did last week against Westfield, the Chargers will be playing again next week.
Chantilly - 35
Oakton - 31
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
Presented By: Moe's Southwest Grill
AVERAGE POINTS SCORED PER GAME:
Oakton: 35.9
Chantilly: 29.6
AVERAGE POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME:
Oakton: 16.8
Chantilly: 18.3
LAST 4 MEETINGS:
10/03/2008 Oakton - 17 Chantilly 15
10/05/2007 Chantilly - 35 Oakton - 23
11/18/2006 Chantilly - 23 Oakton - 14
09/29/2006 Chantilly - 21 Oakton - 0
PLAYOFF RECORDS:
Oakton: 10-4
Chantilly: 5-2
HOME RECORD OVER THE PAST TWO SEASONS
Oakton: 10-2
Chantilly: 8-4
AWAY RECORD OVER THE PAST TWO SEASONS
Oakton: 7-3
Chantilly: 9-2
TEAMS PLAYED IN 2008 WITH A WINNING RECORD:
Oakton: 7 teams
Chantilly: 5 teams
STAT LEADERS:
PASSING:
Chris Coyer - Oakton QB (72 of 111 for 915 yards, 9 TD's and 2 INT)
Roger Strittmatter - Chantilly QB (50 of 110 for 850 yards, 7 TD's and 6 INT)
RUSHING:
Torrian Pace - Chantilly RB (277 carries for 2,609 yards, 32 Touchdowns)
Kevin McGrath - Chantilly FB (130 carries for 783 yards, 5 Touchdowns)
Trey Watts - Oakton RB (82 carries for 576 yards, 13 touchdowns)
Jonathan Meadows - Oakton RB (134 carries for 780 yards, 10 touchdowns)
Chris Coyer - Oakton QB (93 carries for 933 yards, 10 touchdowns)
RECEIVING:
Chris Vaughn - Chantilly WR (8 receptions for 149 yards, 1 TD)
Mike Ryan - Chantilly TE (16 receptions for 276 yards, 2 TD's)
Trey Watts - Oakton RB (31 catches for 552 yards, 7 touchdowns)
Wade Reynolds - Oakton TE (16 catches for 279 yards, 1 touchdown)
Jay Young - Oakton WR (12 catches for 179 yards, 4 touchdowns)
LEADING TACKLERS:
Jack Tyler - Oakton LB (102 tackles)
Joey McCallum - Oakton LB (67 tackles)
Isaac Sine - Chantilly LB (108 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss)
Steve Gombos - Chantilly LB (57 tackles, 17 tackles for a loss)
INTERCEPTION LEADERS:
Joey Kopfman - Oakton DB (3 Interceptions)
Jack Tyler - Oakton LB (2 Interceptions)
Andrew Leonard - Oakton DB (2 Interceptions)
Michael Fries - Chantilly DB (3 Interceptions)
Kris Martin - Chantilly DB (2 Interceptions)
Brian Abatemarco - Chantilly DB (2 Interceptions)
PACE'S STRETCH RUN SHOULD REMIND COUGAR FANS OF 2005:
Torrian Pace's recent performances may seem familiar to Oakton fans, as it was just three years ago when former Cougar tailback, Keith Payne, took his team on his shoulders all the way to their first State Championship with a 12-2 record...
As a senior, Payne carried the ball 258 times, rushing for over 2,100 yards and an impressive 28 touchdowns. In addition to his stunning numbers on the ground, he also caught seven passes for 140 yards and 2 more touchdowns.
On the road to the State Championship game, Payne lead Oakton to a Northern Region Title by rushing for 247 yards and five scores in their defeat of Northern Region top dog Westfield.
Even with all of these accomplishments, shockingly, Keith Payne had his critics. They said he was too big (standing 6'2" and 225 pounds) and not fast enough (4.5 forty) to be a running back in college.
However, these same voices were silenced when they were witness to his performance in the State Championship game against the highly favored Landstown Eagles and top recruit Percy Harvin.
After watching his performance, University of Virginia head coach, Al Groh offered Payne a scholarship to play football for the Cavaliers.
In the State Championship game, against the favorite Landstown Eagles, Payne rushed for an astounding 250 yards and 4 touchdowns on 25 carries against arguably one of the best defenses in the state. This was a career high for the Oakton tailback, achieved during the most important game of his varsity career.
Not only did he get it done on the offensive side of the ball, he dominated on the defensive side as well, holding D1 recruit and the nation's top player, Percy Harvin, to only 49 yards of offense from his linebacker position.
During the regular season of his senior campaign, Payne rushed for more than 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns.
As a junior, he was named honorable mention All-Met, as well as a first team All-District and All-Region player, when he rushed for 1,100 yards and 17 touchdowns on 157 carries. That year, he also caught the ball 13 times for 240 yards and another two touchdowns.
Topping the honors he received as a junior, the unstoppable Payne garnered even more accolades his senior year. Not only was he named to the first team All-District and All-Region teams once again, he was also named the Concord District Player of the Year, first team All-State, first team All-Met and AAA Player of the Year...
Currently, Keith Payne is enjoying a successful career as a Cavalier, proving over and over again that he was the right choice for head coach Al Groh, who was willing to take a chance on the "too big" and "not fast enough" running back from Oakton High School...
