King’s Fork finished off its first victory of the football season on Monday evening, beating Indian River 35-14, four days after the Bulldogs gained the 35-14 lead in a game started at Nansemond River High School.

Lightning delayed and eventually suspended Thursday’s game with just over 10 minutes left in the fourth period and Monday’s portion, played at King’s Fork in the first action seen on King’s Fork’s field this season because of the ongoing issues with the light poles.

The key series of Monday’s final 10:52 came after Indian River advanced the ball from its own 20 to the KF 20 in three plays.

With the Braves looking for a quick touchdown to make things interesting, King’s Fork’s defense tightened up. Senior safety/linebacker Dominique Patterson made a one-on-one tackle to stop a screen pass at the line of scrimmage on first down and Demontre Brown led a charge of Bulldogs through the Indian River offensive line to stop a second-down running play for a 3-yard loss. Incomplete passes came on third and fourth downs to end Indian River’s only possession on Monday.

King’s Fork ran the ball and ran out the final 5:12. Laray Kindred, now at tailback after starting the first three games of the season at quarterback, carried four times for 17 yards on the last drive. Kindred finished with 16 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown. Patterson led KF’s offense with 12 carries for 158 yards and an 80-yard touchdown run that made the score 21-0 back in the second quarter on Thursday.

Matt Hommell, the Bulldogs’ new starting quarterback, finished with a touchdown run and 2-for-4 passing for 17 yards.

“We decided it last Sunday in preparation for this game. One of our coaches brought the idea up, to have Matt play quarterback and move Laray to best utilize more of his talents,” said King’s Fork head coach Joe Jones.

Jones said he met with Hommell and Kindred individually for about 30 minutes each to discuss the new plan.

“We were looking for something to spark us a little,” said Jones.

On the defensive side, King’s Fork held Indian River to 0 rushing yards. Freshman quarterback Corwin Cutler was 12-for-21 passing for 247 yards and two touchdowns for the Braves. Kerry Spellman caught both touchdowns on plays of 64 and 85 yards. Tishon Madison had two sacks for KF.

Next up, and now with a short week to get ready, King’s Fork faces 4-0 Great Bridge at Lakeland on Friday evening. Great Bridge is coming off a 42-0 win over previously unbeaten Lakeland.

“It’ll be a big test,” said Jones. “I watched (Great Bridge) live on Friday and they looked really good in all phases of the game. We’re going to have to work our butts off to get ready, but we’ve got confidence now.”

The last two home dates on KF’s schedule, homecoming versus Deep Creek and the final regular season game against Nansemond River, are planned for Saturdays, Deep Creek on Oct. 17 and Nansemond River on Nov. 7, at noon.