Playoff football: Phoebus 42, Great Bridge 0

HAMPTON

Pitch left, toss right and quarterback sneaks up the middle.

Phoebus employed a blue-collar blueprint in dominating Great Bridge in an Eastern Region Division 5 semifinal at Darling Stadium.

Colby Goodwyn rushed for 103 yards and three touchdowns in the Phantoms’ 42-0 thrashing Friday night.

“They whipped us,” Great Bridge coach Pete Gale said. “They’re a very good football team and it showed tonight.”

Phoebus (12-0) will play Lake Taylor in next week’s region final.

The Wildcats (9-3) forced Phoebus to punt on both its first-quarter possessions and had a chance to take a lead with less than five minutes remaining in the period, but Aric Speziale’s line-drive kick on a 38-yard field goal attempt sailed underneath the crossbar.

It was all Phoebus after that.

Goodwyn capped three straight drives with touchdown runs of 2, 17 and 2 yards, and quarterback Paul Morant connected with DaQuan Romero for a 42-yard scoring strike as the hosts went into halftime with a four-touchdown lead.

“I thought the defense did a good job for a quarter-and-a-half,” Gale said. “But when you’re down 28-0 and the offense is going three-and-out, the defense is on the field for a long time.

“Phoebus just wore us out.”

Wildcats quarterback Brad Hudson hit Zach Jones for a 8-yard pass to start the third quarter, but Jones fumbled away the ball. Phoebus’ Justin Lyles scooped it up and returned it for a 25-yard score to extend his team’s lead to 35-0.

Hudson left the game after Great Bridge’s next possession and finished 12 of 18 passing for 100 yards and two interceptions. He was sacked four times.

“He twisted his ankle,” said Gale, adding Hudson had re-aggravated an injury incurred against Churchland last week. “He couldn’t move.”

Senior Trey Bray finished with 12 receptions for 89 yards to lead Great Bridge, which was limited to 50 rushing yards and 127 passing yards.

The Wildcats were penalized nine times for 45 yards – most of those flags were for false starts by the offensive line.

“We’re going to be better,” Gale said. “We expect to be back here next year – better prepared.”

Phoebus 42, Great Bridge 0

Great Bridge 0 0 0 0 — 0

Phoebus 0 28 14 0 — 42

P—Goodwyn 2 run (kick failed)

P—Goodwyn 17 run (Goodwyn run)

P—Goodwyn 2 run (Enderson kick)

P—Romero 42 pass from Morant (Enderson kick)

P—Lyles 25 fumble return (Enderson kick)

P—Morant 9 run (Enderson kick)

Great Bridge; Phoebus

First downs 12; 17

Rushes-yards 25-50; 45-230

Passing yards 127; 107

Passing 18-34-3; 5-13-2

Punts-average yards 4-32; 3-34

Fumbles-lost 4-1; 0-0

Penalties-yards 9-45; 7-65