King’s Fork High School’s football team landed its first playoff win in school history on Friday night. All it took was a lot of defense and a dash of “Debo.”

Sophomore feature back Deshaun Wethington, known as “Debo” to his teammates, scored on two long runs in the first half, and the defense never gave host No. 8 Tabb High School a chance to catch up. The No. 9 Bulldogs won 31-0 in the Group 4A South Region playoffs at Bailey Field in Yorktown.

“No other King’s Fork team can lay claim to winning the first playoff game,” Bulldogs head coach Joe Jones said after the contest.

King’s Fork junior linebacker Kane Miskel got an interception in the first quarter, giving the Tigers a preview of what the second half would be like.

With four minutes remaining in the first quarter, Wethington ran for a 47-yard touchdown to get the first points on the board. The Bulldogs forced the Tigers to punt, and on the first play from scrimmage in the ensuing drive, Wethington ran 80 yards for a score.

“I was glad we had 4 on our team,” Jones said, referring to Wethington’s jersey number.

South Hampton Roads’ leading rusher came through with 10 carries for 169 yards and two touchdowns.

In the second quarter, the teams traded possessions with turnovers on downs. The Bulldogs were stuffed at the Tigers’ 1-yard line, but only gave up three yards on the ensuing possession, forcing another punt.

“Defense played great,” Jones said. “Coach (David) Waddell, our defensive coordinator, did a great job preparing.”

On the next possession, King’s Fork senior quarterback Uriah Adams began to assert himself. After Wethington helped get the ball to the Tabb 7-yard line, Adams tossed a touchdown to junior wide receiver/defensive back Akil Freeman, who was just getting started.

Jones said the goal was to get an early lead and force the Tigers to play from behind. It worked, as Tabb could never recover.

With the Bulldogs leading 21-0 lead at halftime, their defense stepped up its assault in the second half. Tabb had six offensive drives in the last two quarters of play that ended with an interception.

Sophomore linebacker Notorious Brown caught the first, setting up a 23-yard run by Adams for the final touchdown of the game.

Freeman ended the Tigers’ next two drives with interceptions, the latter of which he returned to the Tabb 10-yard line, setting up a 23-yard field goal by senior kicker Austin Wall.

Tabb drove to the Bulldogs’ 36, but junior defensive back TyQuan Weston got a pick, and the host’s final two drives were cut short with catches by senior defensive back JaQuon Diggs and another by Miskel.

King’s Fork surrendered only 128 yards rushing and 39 through the air while in Yorktown.

The No. 9 Bulldogs (8-3) will now face No. 1 Phoebus High School (10-1). The game will take place next Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Joseph S. Darling Memorial Stadium in Hampton.