The Nansemond River High School football team made a big statement on Friday night within the city of Suffolk and beyond.

After falling behind 6-0 early on against host King’s Fork High School, the Warriors responded with six unanswered touchdowns, snapping a three-game losing streak to the Bulldogs with a 42-6 blowout win.

“That was very surprising,” Nansemond River coach David Coccoli said. “I thought we were going to have a good game, but we probably played our best game this season, and I’m very pleased with how we played on all sides of the ball.”

When King’s Fork faced the Warriors last year, it wrapped up its second consecutive Suffolk city title with a 47-20 victory. In that game, the Bulldogs got a lot of help from their star feature back, Deshaun Wethington.

He seemed to be setting the tone for another KF blowout this year less than a minute into Friday’s game when he ran for a 58-yard touchdown on the Bulldogs’ first play from scrimmage.

Coccoli said the Warriors had only 10 people on the field for that play, accepting blame for the error.

But Wethington only gained 32 yards the rest of the night.

Acknowledging Wethington’s status as one of the best running backs in South Hampton Roads, Coccoli complimented his defenders, noting that to limit Wethington like they did, “that’s quite an accomplishment for those kids.”

Coccoli praised his entire defense, particularly his front six, which included junior linebacker Henry Moreno, senior linebacker Layvaun Baum, junior defensive end Isaac Hason, senior defensive lineman Deondre Lacey, senior defensive end Demetrius Stitmon and junior defensive lineman Brandon Reese.

On offense, Nansemond River spread the ball around, with five different players scoring touchdowns.

But leading the way for the Warriors was senior running back Terrence Lambert, who finished with 17 carries for 187 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown was from 58 yards out and gave NR a 14-6 lead near the end of the first quarter.

Senior running back Larry Goodman scored two rushing touchdowns, one from two yards away that helped make the score 21-6 before halftime and the other from 32 yards away in the fourth quarter that led to the final score.

Sophomore running back JeVon Waller registered eight carries for 60 yards and a touchdown, senior wide receiver Chris Henderson had two carries for 97 yards and a score and senior quarterback Kiere Landry rushed four times for 41 yards and a touchdown.

“My hats off to them. They kicked our butts tonight.” King’s Fork coach Joe Jones said he told Nansemond River after the game. “Coach Coccoli’s done a great job with building that program.”

After the Bulldogs got off to a good start, the game became a struggle for them, and the Warriors “got more momentum as it went on and just physically outplayed us,” Jones said.

“I thought we were going to re-group at halftime and challenged the guys some, and we didn’t respond, and that’s something that we’re not used to doing — not responding,” he said.

Jones admitted he and his staff were stunned by the game, but his faith in his players remains strong.

“We get to re-group and start from scratch with the fundamentals of blocking and tackling and focusing in on what we do best and what’s been successful for us and just get better at it,” he said.

Next Friday night, Nansemond River (5-3) visits Grassfield High School, while King’s Fork (5-3) hosts Oscar Smith High School.