Friday night’s conclusion to the regular season for Nansemond-Suffolk Academy was a good bit closer in the first half than some expected.

The Saints mustered one touchdown in the first quarter. They added two more in the second, but also gave up a 25-yard touchdown pass against senior quarterback/running back Quincy Mock and the 5-4 Hampton Roads Academy Navigators.

NSA head coach Lew Johnston knew what his team needed.

“I threatened them to within an inch of their life at halftime,” he said, proposing to pull his first team players if they continued to underperform.

It did the trick, as the Saints scored 40 points in the last 24 minutes of play to win 63-14.

“We really got on them in the second half and pounded them,” Johnston said.

He gave plenty of credit to the Navigators, though. He said if the teams had been playing on a dry field, HRA’s athletes would have been even more dangerous. Noteworthy was Mock, who is the team’s running back and has recently had to fill in behind center because the Navigators’ quarterback has been injured.

“That Mock kid is tough, but it got so slippery that his mobility became pretty limited,” Johnston said.

The Saints defense was able to contain him in the second half, but HRA’s defense could not say anything similar.

“They couldn’t stop our run game,” Johnston said, as Nansemond-Suffolk successfully piled up 516 yards rushing to the Navigators’ 51.

Junior fullback David Gough’s back tightened up on him early in the game, and since his services did not end up being required, he got most of the night off.

Junior running back Addison Peak picked up the slack with 13 carries for 217 yards, three touchdowns, a two-point conversion, and he also kicked in an extra point.

Senior running back Jake Grady had a big night with 130 yards and three more scores on 11 carries.

Senior quarterback Jackson DeMello went 5-for-9 passing the ball for 45 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end John Mobley.

Sophomore running backs Graham Moore and Reed Browne also scored touchdowns on runs of 37 and 15 yards, respectively.

Freshman Keshaun Moore led the Saints on defense with five tackles and two sacks.

“I told the kids, ‘Congratulations on a great season, see you next season,’” and they looked at him, somewhat confused, and he finished, “which begins on Monday.”

Nansemond-Suffolk (8-2, 3-2) will play in a playoff game next weekend, but details of when, where and against whom will not be clear until after this weekend.