By Matthew Hatfield
Correspondent

The Nansemond River Warriors showed \their 42-6 rout of city rival King’s Fork last week was no fluke when they traveled to Carolyn F. Bernard Stadium in Chesapeake on Friday night to take on the Grassfield Grizzlies, who entered with a record of 7-1 overall.

Spoiling Grassfield’s Senior Night, Nansemond River exploded for a 28-0 lead after one quarter of play and never looked back in defeating the host Grizzlies, 59-18.

Gaining 205 of their 435 total yards on the night in the first period, the Warriors now move to 6-3 overall. Their 59 points also marked the most scored on Grassfield in its school’s history.

“We really played well tonight and I’m proud of the effort,” said second-year Warriors head coach David Coccoli.

Nansemond River opened with a nine-play, 76-yard drive, converting all three of their third-down tries. The final one was a 54-yard touchdown pass from Kiere Landry to Chris Henderson. Then it was the defense’s turn as safety Marquis “MD” Braimer intercepted Grassfield on its first play from scrimmage.

Demetrius Stitmon, a standout on the Nansemond River defense, made a juggling catch on a screen pass and stiff-armed a defender on his way to a 25-yard gain that would set up their second touchdown of the night, a 29-yard run by Terrence Lambert.

“I think the Nansemond River team has finally arrived to play some football,” said Lambert, who rushed for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 16 carries. “We’re back to having our first winning season since 2002. We’re enjoying this great moment and having so much fun.”

Another three-and-out forced by the Warriors gave them the ball back, and Henderson provided excellent field position with a 43-yard punt return, leading to Larry Goodman’s three-yard touchdown run that pushed their advantage to 21-0.

Grassfield’s offense went nowhere on their first four possessions, totaling minus eight yards. While the Grizzlies would draw closer on a 85-yard scoring sprint by heralded recruit and two-sport star Grant Holloway, the Warriors came up with two crucial defensive stands in the red zone during the second quarter.

One came on an interception in the end zone by sophomore JeVon Waller, who impacted the game in all three phases as he returned a kickoff 45 yards to help set up a 21-yard field goal from Evan Lomax and scored on a two-yard run.

Coming in, Grassfield’s defense had not given up more than 34 points in any contest this season and limited opponents to 15.9 points per game. With 13 seconds before half-time, Braimer’s 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown gave the Warriors a commanding 38-10 lead.

“Brian Maus (offensive coordinator) called a great game and defensively I thought we held them in check,” Coccoli added. “Holloway’s one of the best receivers in the state and he did get one (touchdown), but I thought the turning point in the game was Braimer’s kickoff return toward the end of the half. That got us up four scores.”

Seven different players found the end zone for the Warriors. Four of their touchdowns on the night measured 50 yards or longer, including a 51-yard run by Raymond Goodman that created a running clock with 6:44 remaining in the game.

Nansemond River came up with three takeaways, the final one being an interception by sophomore Gerard Stringer. On the night, the Warriors committed no turnovers, just four penalties for 35 yards and held Holloway to a single catch for 19 yards.

“I feel like we came out really strong. We just had to cut down on some of the mental errors and had to make some tackles,” commented Stitmon. “This is definitely a momentum boost because with them being ranked like they are and being a 6A team, we know we have what it takes to compete and go for a run in the playoffs.”

On Nov. 6, Nansemond River will close out the regular season at Arrowhead Stadium against Lakeland. A victory over the Cavaliers would send them into the playoffs on a four-game winning streak.