Football powerhouses Oscar Smith and Phoebus will clash in a regular-season game in November
Oscar Smith and Phoebus, ranked first and second, respectively, in Hampton Roads, will end the high school football regular season with perhaps the most highly anticipated game between Hampton Roads teams this season.
They have agreed to play on Nov. 5, most likely at Oscar Smith.
“The game is a lock,” said Phoebus coach Jeremy Blunt, who added that the contest is currently scheduled for Oscar Smith but he hopes it will be moved to Darling Stadium — the Phantoms’ home field in Hampton — because more tickets can be sold. “I’m sure it will be a sellout.”
Phoebus (4-0) and Oscar Smith (3-1, with its only loss coming to nationally ranked California school St. John Bosco) both had an open date Nov. 5. Oscar Smith coach Chris Scott agrees the matchup will draw widespread interest.
“It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere before the playoffs start,” Scott said. “Coach Blunt has done a great job over there for a while.
“We’ve gotten together periodically for 7 on 7, but haven’t had a chance to play one another. I think it’s going to be an exciting game between two of the dominant programs in the Hampton Roads area and the state.”
The programs are perennial state powers but play in different Virginia High School League classifications in postseason based on their enrollment.
Oscar Smith has appeared in seven of the past 11 state championship games in its division, winning a third state title last season in Class 6. Phoebus has seven state championships, including four straight from 2008-11, and made its last championship-game appearance in 2018 in Class 3.
“It will be kind of an ‘iron sharpens iron’ right before the playoffs,” Scott said, “and before we both make a (playoff) run.”
Which is exactly why Blunt sought out the Tigers when an opening became available on the Phantoms’ schedule. Blunt said he learned this week that Heritage — which postponed their game scheduled for this past Friday in the wake of a shooting at the school last Monday — indicated it was likely going to cancel.
Blunt then sought a matchup with Class 5 state power Highland Springs, but when that did not happen, contacted Oscar Smith. Blunt said he understands that defending Class 6 state champion Oscar Smith will be favored and that a loss could jeopardize what appears to be a likely No. 1 seed in the Class 3 Region A playoffs.
He said playoff seeding is not a good reason to avoid such an appealing matchup.
“Is home-field advantage a real thing, anyway?” he asked. “We’ve had it before and not taken advantage and we’ve won big games on the road in the playoffs.
“We want to play the best team possible because our goal is to maximize our strengths and expose our weaknesses. Our goal is to be ready to play for a (Class 3) state championship at Liberty University the second week in December.”
