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By Matthew Hatfield

Contributing Writer

The song says two of three isn’t bad, but the one local team logging a loss in this week’s football might disagree. Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and King’s Fork High School both picked up wins, while Nansemond River High School fell to Oscar Smith.

NSA Cruises to TCIS Win

Nansemond-Suffolk Academy put forth arguably its crispest performance of the 2022 campaign, shutting out TCIS rival Norfolk Christian by a count of 48-0 to improve to 5-2 overall.

Coach Mike Biehl was extremely pleased with how they performed in all three phases, especially given that illnesses sidelined a host of players.

“It really was a complete game and so many guys stepped up because we had about seven kids out sick.  Two starters went home early the day of the game,” Biehl noted. “For us, we’re trying to push our level and standard with each week as we try to move forward.”

Senior quarterback Gabe Wansart directed the attack by completing 18 of 25 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns with just one interception. That gives him 24 TD passes on the season. Junior wideout Isaiah Fuhrmann caught four passes for 156 yards and a score, his 13th TD reception of the year.

Also contributing were receivers Preston Groves and Caden Bradford. Groves hauled in four balls for 84 yards and a score, while Bradford had five receptions go for 33 yards, including a touchdown.

Winning out is important for NSA to be playoff-bound. In the latest VISAA Division II power ratings, the Saints were sitting the No. 4 seed, just ahead of Blue Ridge.  NSA visits Fredericksburg Christian (7-1) on October 29th before traveling to St. Anne’s-Belfield.

 

King’s Fork Rebounds from Loss

Coming off a 52-21 loss to Oscar Smith, the King’s Fork Bulldogs returned to the winner’s circle with a comfortable 53-20 triumph on the road over the Hickory Hawks in Chesapeake.

King’s Fork bolted to a 27-0 half-time lead, jumping out in front right away thanks to a 54-yard touchdown run from Kaletri Boyd and 50-yard return on a fumble recovery by Malachi Nixon.

Sophomore running back JaVon Ford carried the ball 17 times for 134 yards and three touchdowns.  Boyd had 90 yards rushing and a couple of touchdowns on three attempts to go with three receptions for 57 yards. Sophomore receiver Jahmel Mackey added a 70-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.

On the night, King’s Fork racked up 566 total yards with 349 on the ground and 217 through the air.

The Bulldogs close out the regular season against Suffolk rivals Lakeland and Nansemond River. Winning both should lock up the No. 1 seed in the Region 4A playoffs.

Nansemond River Drops to 5-3

Heading to Chesapeake to take on two-time reigning Class 6 State Champion Oscar Smith, the Nansemond River Warriors varsity football team knew it would be a tall order to try to follow up a surprising win by their junior varsity squad over the Tigers from the night before.

While the defense held the Tigers to its second lowest scoring total of the season, they were unable to find the end zone in a 28-3 loss.

The Warriors were held to 186 total yards with 103 passing and 83 rushing. They converted just 3 of 12 third downs and were 0 for 5 on fourth down.

Oscar Smith rushed for 250 of its 392 total yards.

Nansemond River’s lone score came in the second quarter courtesy a 38-yard field goal from Dallas Slaughter.  It was his fifth field goal of the season.

At 5-3 overall, Nansemond River is tied with Kecoughtan for the No. 3 seed in Region 5B, trailing only Maury (5-1) and Woodside (6-2).