McFadden's 5TD's Soar Eagles To Title Game
Osbourn's Jerell McFadden Soars Over The Varina Defense For A Touchdown Late In Saturday's 47-28 State Semifinal Win. The Eagles Are One Win Away From Their Second State Title In The Last 3 Years....
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Osbourn's Jerell McFadden had a monster game against Varina on Saturday, scoring 5 touchdowns and accounting for 229 yards of total offense. The Eagles earned their second trip to the state championship game in the last 3 years. They won the 2006 state championship.....
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Eagle receiver Timmy Keith dodges the Varina defense on Saturday in the 47-28 Osbourn win. The Eagles will play Oscar Smith on Saturday for the state championship. The Gameday Radio Network will broadcast the game live online here at GamedayMagazine.com with our live coverage starting at 3:45pm.
Photo By: Dave Bernhardt / Gameday Magazine | VIEW GALLERY
MANASSAS, VA - The Osbourn Eagles once again defied statistics, probabilities and what seemed like overwhelming force to defeat the previously unbeaten Varina Blue Devils 47-28 and earn a spot in their second Division 6 state championship game in 3 years. Osbourn senior Jerrell McFadden turned in a performance for the ages with 238 all purpose yards and 5 TDs, and the Eagle defensive line overcame superior size to shut down Varina's running game. The Blue Devils offense sputtered, and the Eagles came from 14 points down and won going away.
The story in the pregame was 50 pounds - that's the average difference in the size of the Varina offensive line versus the Eagles defensive front. Tackles DeAntre' Rhodes and Marquis Wallace are both 6-4 and over 290 lbs., but the Eagles listened to their coach, kept their helmets and pads lower, and created a pile up at the line of scrimmage each play that limited Blue Devil running back Tre Johnson - who had rushed for nearly 2,000 yards on the season - to 19 yards rushing. On the other side of the ball, McFadden exploded for 158 yards on 33 carries as the Eagles used a number of different offensive sets and blocking schemes to frustrate the Blue Devil defense, who had not surrendered more than 24 points on the season. "I really have to give the credit to my assistant coaches, especially Sonny Hagy and Rich McClesky, as well as my players," said Eagle Head Coach Steve Schultze. "They devised and executed the plans that helped us overcome a really good Varina team tonight and got us back to State."
Both teams started out with early jitters, including an early fumble by McFadden, and the Blue Devils pulled it together early to put the Eagles in a first quarter hole. Varina QB Hermon Norrell found WR Billy Smith for a 32 yard touchdown pass on their second possession. Smith - who has a scholarship offer from East Carolina - has exploded during the playoffs. A mismatch for almost any high school defender at 6'5, Smith hauled in 4 catches for 102 yards and two TDs, bringing his playoff receiving yardage to 339 yards in 3 games. Then, at the end of the first quarter, the Blue Devils took advantage of Eagle confusion after a pass interference penalty. Sending in their version of the Wildcat formation, the Blue Devils snapped the ball to their senior linebacker and captain T.K. Hester, who scampered over the right side 25 yards to make the score 14-0 Blue Devils.
The Eagles never faltered, however. Seeing that the single wing formation was not producing, Schultze opted to send in senior QB Thomas Keith to run the spread formation. "Coach told me to go out and be a leader and do what I can do, and I knew we had the playmakers to come back" said Keith, who immediately began handing the ball off to McFadden and finding his favorite receiver, brother Timmy. Midway through the second quarter, Thomas called his own number, running 7 yards over the right side for a score. Then after a defensive stop highlighted by a crushing 4th down hit by McFadden on Hester, Thomas found Timmy for a 42 yard completion that set up their second touchdown, a 6 yard pass to McFadden. "Playing with Tim is like playing with another me," said Thomas. "I know where he is going to be, because I know where I would be."
The first half ended 14-14 in what was looking like a slug fest, but the game exploded in the first minutes of the second half. On the second play of the half, Eagle WR Rodney "Lucky" Whitehead snuck behind the Blue Devil secondary, and Keith hit him with a perfect pass for an 80 yard touchdown score. Things began to fall apart for the Blue Devils on the ensuing kick-off. Senior Donald Upshaw slipped after catching the kick, pinning the Devils back on the 5 yard line. Norrell narrowly avoided a safety after heaving the ball into the air into the hands of Smith, but his next pass was intercepted by McFadden, who both returned the pick to the 4 yard line and carried the ball into the end zone behind senior Tyler Brown, who plowed several holes on the night. Trailing 28-14 less than two minutes into the half, the Blue Devils again started in the shadow of their goalposts as Hester slipped on the kick return. Punting the ball from their own end zone, they surrendered excellent field position to the Eagles. However, Hester redeemed himself and his team, intercepting Keith's pass and returning it 55 yards for the score. The Blue Devils only trailed 28-21, but it was one of the few bright spots for them in the second half.
The Eagle defense began frustrating Norrell, who was forced to pass, by doubling Smith. Norrell seemed to have trouble reading the coverages, and Osbourn corners C.J. Jackson, Chaz Bates, and Damien Watermen blanketed his other options. On offense for the Eagles, McFadden took over the game. Schultze sent in defensive lineman Amarciel Roy as a blocking back for Keith, who used the extra time to pick apart the Blue Devil defense with his arm and his feet. "Today the spread worked," said McFadden, "so we stayed with it." Timmy Keith also played an excellent game as a blocker from motion sets. Still, the 3rd quarter ended with Osbourn leading only by a touchdown, but two turnovers, especially a fumbled kick return, doomed Varina as their defense could not get a chance to catch their breath.
McFadden played all over the field in the second half, ultimately scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter -from 1, 5 and 35 yards out - to extend the Osbourn lead to 47-21. Norrell found Smith late for a 27 yard touchdown reception, but the Osbourn fans had already kicked off the celebration. McFadden said confidence on the Eagle sideline surged in the second half, "After we came back from down 14 and took the lead, we were all saying, 'We got this!'. Then the defense started making stops, and we just took over." Sophomore Timmy Keith was especially emotional for being able to return to winning football playing with his brother. "We have been playing together since we can both remember, and now we are going to State!" Both Keith brothers have overcome the death of their older sister this season, which has provided special inspiration. "After she passed," said Timmy, "it seems we all just forgot everything else and started playing together."
"I carry her with me everywhere I go," added Thomas, "and now we're going to State."
The soft spoken McFadden made sure to stop by for a last congratulatory hug from his coach before heading home to ice his battered body. Schultze said the physical play of the Eagles, which emerged around his team's October 10 defeat of Farquier (which evened their record at 3-3), is what powers his team. Always one to deflect praise, Schultze is obviously a powerful force for Osbourn, as he was an emotional and vocal force on the sidelines the entire game. His tactics and leadership have his 9-4 team playing championship football, and no one is at all intimidated by the undefeated record of their opponent in the State championship, the Oscar Smith Tigers. "We've beaten 3 straight undefeated teams," said Thomas Keith. "It's just another game." His broad smile flashes confidently, indicating that he expects nothing less than victory.
The division 6 state championship game will be broadcast live on the Gameday Radio Network with kickoff starting at 4:30pm, and our live pregame coverage beginning at 3:45pm.....Stay tuned for more exciting coverage of the Osbourn Eagles and their incredible post-season run this week online here at GamedayMagazine.com......
