Playoff football: Oscar Smith 35, Salem 34

VIRGINIA BEACH

Sequan Gooding is known as a solid possession receiver with good hands.

He showed off his talents early Friday night with two touchdown receptions during the Eastern Region Division 6 championship game against Salem.

But Gooding won’t be remembered for those catches.

He will be praised, however, for stopping Salem running back Divante Walker at the 1-yard line on a two-point conversion try with 1:42 left in the game.

His tackle prevented Salem from taking the lead and allowed Oscar Smith to escape with a 35-34 victory in front of approximately 4,200 fans at the Sportsplex.

The Tigers claimed their fourth region title in five seasons. Oscar Smith will play the winner of the Northwest Region next Saturday in Northern Virginia.

Gooding’s tackle thwarted a furious Salem comeback. The SunDevils scored 27 unanswered points after falling behind 35-7 at halftime.

Salem quarterback Bucky Hodges had just scored on a 1-yard run when SunDevils coach Robert Jackson decided to go for two points.

“We were going for the win,” Jackson said. “It was do or die. I’m sure if (Oscar Smith) had the same choice, they would have done the same thing, too.”

Salem called timeout before the two-point conversion, which was followed by a timeout by Oscar Smith.

Gooding said he was surprised that Salem was going for two points.

“But when they came to the line, I knew they were doing something with Divante Walker,” he said. “And I saw they went sweep as soon as Bucky got the ball. The wing back tried to block me, but I shed my block and made the tackle.

“I knew I stopped him because my momentum was going forward and his was already going backwards and I just kept driving.”

Gooding was reminded about his two touchdown catches earlier in the game, but said they didn’t compare to the tackle.

“I could care less about the touchdowns,” said Gooding, who has committed to Western Michigan, where he expects to play wide receiver. “We won the game. It was for the team. Now we’re going to Northern Virginia.”

Said Oscar Smith coach Richard Morgan: “He came up big and I’m proud of him. He’s a senior and we leaned on him.”

The play reminded Morgan of another big play, one in which the Tigers were on the losing end.

“We had a heartbreaker in 2004,” he said. “We had Landstown beat. We went for two and didn’t get it. Tonight, we stopped them at the goal line. I guess eventually everything evens itself out.”

Morgan added that he didn’t care about the victory margin. All that mattered was Oscar Smith advanced.

“We lost by two last year and nobody talked about Bayside winning by two,” said Morgan, who improved to 19-7 in the postseason and 4-4 in region championship games. “They talked about how great Bayside was.”

Key stats S – Walker 12-98, rushing. Hodges 11-57, 3 TDs, rushing; 15-22-1, 155 yards, passing. OS – Coleman 17-20, rushing; Williamson 20-23-1, 264 yards 3 TDs, passing. Jones 7-77, TD receiving; Gooding 3-64, 2 TDs, receiving

Oscar Smith 35, Salem 34

Salem 7 0 14 13 — 34

Oscar Smith 21 14 0 0 — 35

OS—Jones 23 pass from Williamson (Davis kick)

OS—Williamson 8 run (Davis kick)

OS—Stallings 1 run (Davis kick)

Sal—Hodges 24 run (Jones kick)

OS—Gooding 21 pass from Williamson (Davis kick)

OS—Gooding 40 pass from Williamson (Davis kick)

Sal—Walker 3 run (Jones kick)

Sal—Hodges 3 run (Jones kick)

Sal—Church 34 pass from Walker (Jones kick)

Sal—Hodges 1 run (run failed)

Salem Oscar Smith

First downs 21 15

Rushes-yards 30-181 25-4

Passing yards 155 264

Passing 15-22-1 20-23-1

Punts-average yards 1-38 2-38

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Penalties-yards 7-50 7-55

Larry Rubama, (757) 446-2273, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com