WEEK 9 FOOTBALL AND VOLLEYBALL TITLE RESULTS!

Hanover began the night the #1 seed in Division 5, but precariously so, as Hopewell, Lee-Davis, and Dinwiddie were close behind.

By night's end, Hanover was looking up at these three schools, and the Confederates took over the top spot.

Hanover, who led at Varina most of the night, took a 20-14 lead on a Sam Rogers touchdown pass to Donte Haynesworth with 3:35 to go. The point after attempt failed.  It would come back to haunt them.

Varina hit paydirt on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Wood to Donovan Dowling with 14 seconds left to tie the game. Their PAT attempt failed, but.....a roughing the kicker penalty was called on Hanover, giving Varina a second chance at an extra point. They didn't miss the second time, and the Blue Devils survived at home 21-20.  The Hawks suffer their third painful road loss in Capital District play, are now 6-3 overall, and must defeat Glen Allen at home next Friday to insure a post-season berth.

Hopewell, the #2 seed, played catch-up all evening with #4 Dinwiddie before falling at home to the Generals 28-21.  Both teams are now 6-3 to join Hanover at that mark......as well as Lee-Davis.

The Confederates found Armstrong a bit pesky early on, as the Wildcats took an early 12-6 lead before Chris Simpson cranked up the running game, rushing for 251 yards and four touchdowns as Lee-Davis celebrated Senior Night with a 47-24 victory.

The win vaulted Lee-Davis unofficially (by our calculations) into the top seed in Division 5 with one week to go.  Here's the standings, based on our calculations:

1) Lee-Davis         27.333
2) Dinwiddie         27.000
3) Hopewell          26.667
4) Hanover           26.556
5) Midlothian        26.000
6) Atlee                24.778

Lee-Davis will likely clinch home-field throughout the playoffs with a win at Atlee next Friday.  Atlee, to make the playoffs, MUST be Lee-Davis, have Manchester beat Midlothian, and either Glen Allen beat Hanover or Prince George beat Hopewell....so their playoff chances are very remote.  Had they won that Douglas Freeman game in week 3, things would be much different.

Of greater concern to Atlee is the condition of linebacker Tye Burriss, hurt on a fumble return on the last play of the first half tonight at Highland Springs, and wideout Tyler Thomas, who was hurt on a PAT attempt midway through the 3rd quarter, was down on the field for some 20 minutes before being taken off on a stretcher and dispatched by ambulance to a local hospital for observation.

Atlee went toe-for-toe with Highland Springs in the first half; the only difference being a Raider extra point attempt being blocked. But the Springers came out swinging in the second half, scoring on their first two possessions, both touchdown runs by Ryan Scott, the unexpected player of the game for Highland Springs, as he scored three times en route to the 35-21 victory.  Morris Jackson rushed for 172 yards and scored his 30th touchdown of the season in the loss, as Atlee falls to 5-4.

IN ASHLAND.....Patrick Henry fought valiantly on Senior Night but fell to Mills Godwin 26-20. The Eagles, who had shut out PH a year ago 43-0, were led by senior QB Dane Forlines, scoring two touchdowns.  The Patriots fall to 3-3, 3-6 with a trip to Hermitage for their season finale next week.

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VOLLEYBALL: The Atlee Raiders swept both the boys and girls Capital District Volleyball Tournament titles Friday night!  On the boys side, Atlee swept Glen Allen 25-21, 25-19, 25-16, as Kevin Eye had 36 assists and Matt Rohr fired off 18 kills for the 20-3 Raiders, who advance to next week's Central Region tournament, opening Monday against Deep Run.

On the girls side, Atlee made it 9 set wins over 3 matches against arch-rival Lee-Davis to take the Capital trophy home.  Player of the Year in the Capital, Hailey Brooks, had 12 assists, 7 kills and 8 aces while her senior teammate Karlie Suber had 18 digs, 7 kills and 4 aces as the Raiders improve to 26-2, now preparing for their first round Central Region match on Tuesday evening against Deep Run.

Lee-Davis, led by Jordan Martin's 15 assists, enter the Central Region tourney with a 19-5 record, where they will meet Colonial District Champion Mills Godwin.  The two teams were in the same division (Gold) in the 2012 Virginia Volleyball Classic Labor Day Weekend but never faced each other.....