Turnovers Costly for Poquoson in 30-10 Loss to Dinwiddie

Friday, September 03, 2010

POQUOSON – The play was a simple seam route to the tight end and Tavares Johnson read it right from the snap.

As soon as he saw the ball fluttering in the night sky, the Dinwiddie cornerback jumped the route and raced down the sideline with Tee McConnell’s errant pass riding shotgun for a game-clinching 55-yard touchdown.

“I just went and got it,” Johnson said.

It was that kind of night for McConnell and Poquoson. A high snap here, an interception there and just like that the Islanders were staring at a final scoreboard on Friday that read Dinwiddie 30, Poquoson 10.

“Should have been 16-10,” Poquoson coach Elliott Duty said.

Five times Friday night, the Islanders drove the ball inside the Dinwiddie 35-yard line only to come away with no points. Lengthy drives opening the third and fourth quarters both ended with Poquoson fumbles inside the Dinwiddie 25.

“When you’re inside the 20(-yard line), much less the 10, against a team like that, you’ve got to take advantage,” Duty said. “We had a chance to put fear in them.”

Instead the Islanders (0-1) coughed up the football three times in crucial situations. Another drive was derailed with a snap sailing over McConnell’s head on third down, pushing the Islanders out of field-goal range.

“We got to correct that,” Duty said of the turnovers. “We’ve got to hold on to the ball.”

It was an infuriating result for a Poquoson team that is expected to contend for a Bay Rivers District championship. The Islanders played sound defense against the Division 5 state power for most of the night – limiting the Generals (1-0) to just 84 yards in the second half.

The problem was that quarterback Chris Hall and Co. gained 288 yards in the first half, with 140 of them coming on two plays.

Leading 3-0 early in the second quarter, Hall dumped a screen pass to Drakar Harvell, who darted 90 yards for the touchdown behind stellar blocking. Hall, who has committed to play at Virginia Tech, connected on a 50-yard pass with Darius Hawkins later in the quarter to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Hall.

Hall accounted for 339 of Dinwiddie’s 372 yards of total offense. He completed 12 of 27 passes for 289 yards and ran for 50 more on 13 carries.

Still, the Islanders were within one possession after Thomas Garris’ 2-yard touchdown run with 1 minute, 22 seconds left in the third quarter. Garris’ run capped a quick, three-play scoring drive that started with a beautiful 64-yard catch by freshman Austin Turner. McConnell's two-point conversion pass made cut the lead to 16-8, giving Poquoson a chance.

But Harvell answered with an 89-yard touchdown on the following kickoff.

“We played our hearts out,” Duty said.

The Islanders, who next play on Sept. 17 against Lafayette, blocked two punts – including one for a late safety.

Poquoson’s offensive line had its hands full blocking6-foot-2, 250-pound defensive lineman Corey Marshall, who also has committed to play at Virginia Tech. With the Islanders trailing 16-8 and driving in Dinwiddie territory in the third quarter, Marshall made his biggest play of the game by sacking McConnell on third down.

“He wouldn’t be going to Blacksburg for no reason,” Duty said. “I’ll be rooting for him next year.”

McConnell finished with 161 yards on 8-for-22 passing.

There was one bit of silver lining for Poquoson: Things should only get better.

“They are as quick a team,” Duty said of Dinwiddie, “as we’ll see all year.”

 

DINWIDDIE 30, POQUOSON 10

Dinwiddie 3 13 7 7 – 30

Poquoson 0 0 8 2 – 10

First quarter

Din: Thompson 27 FG

Second quarter

Din: Harvell 90 pass from Hall (run failed)

Din: Hall 3 run (Thompson kick)

Third quarter

Poq: Garris 2 run (D. Hill pass from McConnell)

Din: Harvell 89 kick return (Thompson kick)

Fourth quarter

Poq: Blocked punt for safety

Din: T. Johnson 55 interception return (Thompson kick)

Team statistics

Din         Poq

First downs        12           16

Rushes-yds         22-83     42-122

Passing yds         289         161

Passing                 12-27-0 8-22-1

Fumbles-lost     1-1          2-2