New School Names Proposed By School Board

 After the names "Twin Rivers High School" and "Mechanicsville Middle School" were scuttled as possible successors to Lee-Davis and Stonewall Jackson respectively, the Hanover County School Board held a retreat this past Friday and discussed the issue.

Hanover County Public Schools released the following statement midday on Tuesday:

At its planning retreat Friday, the Hanover County School Board reached consensus on new names for the schools formerly known as Lee-Davis High School and Stonewall Jackson Middle School.

The board signaled support during open discussion for Mechanicsville as the new name for the high school and Bell Creek as the new name for the middle school. A formal vote is expected at the board’s October 13 meeting. 

The board also voiced its appreciation for the input it received from families, staff, and the broader community over the past several weeks, as well as the work of the School Renaming Committee.

School Board policy stipulates that schools cannot be named after any person, living or deceased.

Once the board has voted, new mascots will be chosen for the two schools. That is a school-based decision and we will communicate more information about the mascot selection process as it becomes available.

Thank you for your time and input throughout this process.

Lee-Davis Wins 50th Tomato Bowl

Click on the title of this entry to read the thoughts of Lee Davis Head Coach Jason Meade on the fourth down resilency of the Confederates and how it was key in winning their first Tomato Bowl since 2004.

The win "returns the favor", spoiling the Patriots' 50th Anniversary Celebration, just as Patrick Henry did one year earlier at Lee Davis' 50th, winning in Mechanicsville, 14-13.

This marks Patrick Henry's first 0-3 start in 20 years and the first time since Hanover High opened in 2003 that the Patriots lost to all three county school rivals in the same season.

Tomato Bowl Preview---Times-Dispatch

Click on the title for today's article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch on tonight's Tomato Bowl!

Lee-Davis 2009 Preview from DigitalSports.com

Click on the title to see and read Stephen Lewis' preview of the 2009 Lee-Davis Confederates!!

Week 9 Preview: Big Games.....

1) Hermitage (5-0, 6-2) at Deep Run (5-0, 8-0)----gonna be a big weekend in Twin Hickory. Saturday night, Governor Sarah Palin will hold a rally on this final weekend of campaigning, and there's this little football game going on the night before. As much as my son (a Hermitage junior) would want me to pick the Panthers, I just can't do it. For part of this season, it can be argued Deep Run, and not Varina, should have been ranked #1 in the Central Region. Two factors give Deep Run the edge for the moment.....

---Antone Exum: he almost guarantees a special teams touchdown in a game when he steps on the field. He's also led DR over Hanover on the road.
---Home Field: there's nothing like being on the home field. Even better, it's great not to be in Chester Fritz Stadium, one of the more unique home football settings in the Central Region.

My gut says: Deep Run 27, Hermitage 20, with the winning TD in the final eight minutes.

2) Clover Hill (4-2, 6-2) at Cosby (4-2, 5-3)---Two factors come into play in this major Dominion District battle.....

---Home Field: Advantage, Cosby. That helps, plus they are looking for revenge after losing to CH last season. BUT......Cosby is coming to the end of a grueling schedule, having played the following four teams in the past five games (no disrespect to George Wythe.....)

Monacan, Manchester, Hanover, and L.C. Bird. They only defeated Monacan. So, they come into the game having lost three of four.......

Which brings us to:

---Last Friday night. While Cosby went toe to toe against Bird, Clover Hill had the night off. A rare bye week, especially this late. A time to rest some bumps and bruises. Will that help? Can't hurt. But it's up to them to have had TWO good weeks of practices to keep them in late season form.

My gut says: Cosby takes it, 28-21.

3) Hanover (2-2, 5-3) at Lee-Davis (2-2, 3-5): PH fans better (gulp!) root for Lee Davis on THEIR Senior Night, too! The Patriots are on the outside of the playoffs looking in and need help on top of having to beat Mills Godwin and Hermitage. Their best chances right now are Clover Hill knocking off Cosby and, yes, Lee-Davis finally coming through at home for a signature win.

The Confederates have shown propensity for intense and great play, they have fallen short in every game played against a tougher opponent. In my opinion, this is their last chance, as Atlee does not play on Lee-Davis' level. But for all that "moral victory" stuff, they could finish a seven-game home schedule (thanks to the Tomato Bowl moving to Mechanicsville for their 50th anniversary) with a record of:

2-5.

With wins over only Armstrong and Henrico. Losing to Hermitage, PH, Manchester, Highland Springs, and Hanover at home would negate the "moral victory" view, in my opinion.

But, with ALL that....Hanover simply has too much to lose and they know they have to win. Lee-Davis will not be their John Marshall.

My gut says: Hanover 14, Lee-Davis 12

OH-----and Patrick Henry 34, Mills Godwin 14. According to my gut. :)

Quick Updates!

SCORES:

Clover Hill 62, Manchester 41
L.C. Bird 55, Huguenot 6

Lee-Davis 43, Armstrong 6

Cosby 17, Monacan 14 (game with D5 playoff implications!)


PH/Tucker on the air at 605pm on WHAN, hope to have podcast up later this week and game summary posted later tonight or tomorrow.

A Tomato Bowl For The Ages: Patrick Henry 14, Lee-Davis 13

What a game!

Going into the 49th Tomato Bowl, I believed we would see two evenly matched teams take the field, fitting to have a great game to cap off the 50th Anniversary celebration of Lee-Davis High School.

It was all that and more. In a thriller, Patrick Henry held on to defeat Lee-Davis, 14-13, winning its fourth consecutive Tomato Bowl.

This game was everything that last week's Atlee game was not. No fumbled snaps for Patrick Henry. Five total penalties. No turnovers. Successful fake punt. Big runs, big touchdown passes, defensive stands, quarterbacks pressured, you name it. And, in the end, it came down to three big plays.

First, the scoring. Both teams scored on their opening possession. Lee-Davis struck first on a 26-yard TD pass from QB Will Burton (9-22, 129 yds, 2 TDs) to WR T.J. Harvey. The Patriots respond with a quick, five play, 68 yard drive capped off by Adrian Cavanaugh's 10 yard scamper right up the middle for the tying score. It was tied at seven after one quarter.

In the 2nd, Patrick Henry took the lead, ending a drive with a one yard run, again by Cavanaugh, just breaking the plane of the goal, and Hayden Dyer's extra point made it 14-7, which was the score at halftime.

BIG PLAY #1---In the third quarter, Lee-Davis drove down to the Patriot six yard line. A snap from center went between the quarterback's legs, was recovered by running Tucker Walton, for a loss of ten yards. So, Lee-Davis had to settle for a 33 yard FG attempt by kicker C.J. Stevens, and it fell just short.

The 14-7 PH lead held steady. Into the fourth quarter we went, and I mentioned on the broadcast that the Patriots offense needed a sustained, time-consuming drive, saying you could only give Lee-Davis so many chances on offense before they would strike again.

Sure enough.

The Pats punt it away. Lee-Davis takes over at their own 49. One play later, it's a 14-13 game, after Burton hit T.J. Harvey again, this time on a slant pattern that Harvey took to the house for a 51-yard touchdown.

Extra point.......oh, wait a minute.

BIG PLAY #2---Lee-Davis decides to go for two. They fall one yard short of the goal line, and instead of a possible tie, going for the lead failed, and it remained 14-13.

Yet, Patrick Henry could not get a drive going to keep the clock moving and Lee-Davis had one more chance. And on fourth down.....

BIG PLAY #3---Burton's 22nd and final pass was long, down the right side, heading for, once again, T.J. Harvey. The pass held in the air just long enough, flew about two yards shorter than Lee-Davis wanted to, and gave DB B.J. Moss the second he needed to block the ball, and help secure the victory.

If the pass is half a second quicker and three yards further, Harvey catches it in stride and the Confederates celebrate a miracle comeback victory, the storybook ending to a golden anniversary.

Instead, the Patriots run out the clock and they return to Ashland 2-1. Tonight, the exclamation of "whew" heard from the PH faithful was not "Whew, we almost gave the game away", as was the case after last week's Atlee game. Tonight it was, "Whew, what a game!!!!"

Brandon Cash's only completed pass was a shovel pass to Cavanaugh that went for 40 yards, but he did carry the ball 22 times for 105 yards. Cavanaugh added 15 carries, 69 yards, and two touchdown runs to his one reception.

Lee-Davis' running game was held in check tonight. Tucker Walton, who carried for 127 yards against Hermitage two weeks earlier, carried nine times for only 14 yards. Burton carried seven times for 37 yards.

Lee-Davis now enters Capital District play a disappointing 1-2, but knowing full well they can compete with anyone. Meanwhile, the Patriots head home to open the Colonial District campaign against J.R. Tucker, hoping to make it 3-1.

PH NOTES:

--Two possible injury situations. Both lineman Michael Woodburn and two-way starter (and freshman) D'vante Derricott were helped off the field in the fourth quarter, each not putting pressure on an ankle. We'll try to get an update as soon as possible.

--Dwight Sweat was not suited up and did not play tonight.


Talk to you next Friday night from the home field in Ashland, 7:05pm on WHAN!! :)

Week Three Football Schedule

49TH TOMATO BOWL----PATRICK HENRY AT LEE-DAVIS (L-D's 50th Anniversary Event)

OTHER COUNTY TEAMS (in italics):

Douglas Freeman at Atlee
Deep Run at Hanover

OTHER COLONIAL DISTRICT TEAMS (in bold):

Henrico at J.R. Tucker
Mills Godwin at Highland Springs
Hermitage at Varina
Thomas Jefferson at Caroline
(John Marshall is idle this week....)

OTHER GAMES:

Armstrong at Colonial Heights
Hopewell at Brunswick
GW-Danville at Matoaca
Prince George at Monacan
L.C. Bird at Manchester
Huguenot at Clover Hill
James River at Cosby
George Wythe at Midlothian
Monticello at Powhatan
Prince Edward at Goochland
Windsor at King William, 7
St. Anne's Belfield at Trinity Episcopal, 4:15
Portsmouth Christian at Central Va. Disciples, 7
Greenbrier Christian at Blessed Sacrament Huguenot
St. Christopher's at Norfolk Academy, 4:30

all Friday games at 7:30 unless otherwise noted

SATURDAY GAMES

Benedictine at Christchurch, 1 p.m.
Collegiate at St. Alban's, 2
New Kent at Warhill