The gridiron regular season finales

Published 10:07 pm Thursday, November 5, 2015

Nansemond-Suffolk Academy senior wide receiver/defensive back Dominic Claxton and the Saints aim to close out their regular season with a win tonight to secure home field advantage in the state semifinals next week.

Nansemond-Suffolk Academy senior wide receiver/defensive back Dominic Claxton and the Saints aim to close out their regular season with a win tonight to secure home field advantage in the state semifinals next week.

Each Suffolk football team has various objectives left to achieve in the final week of the 2015 regular season.

Nansemond River High School will try to wrap up the Suffolk city title on Friday, and Lakeland High School will look to stay in the playoff picture. Meanwhile, King’s Fork High School and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy will aim to secure home playoff games with wins against conference foes.

King’s Fork High School senior quarterback Ryan Kluck and the Bulldogs look to return to their winning ways tonight in their last game before the playoffs. (Caroline LaMagna photo)

King’s Fork High School senior quarterback Ryan Kluck and the Bulldogs look to return to their winning ways tonight in their last game before the playoffs. (Caroline LaMagna photo)

Lakeland (2-7) at Nansemond River (6-3) — 7 p.m.

Last season: Warriors 24, Cavaliers 0

Email newsletter signup

Warriors coach David Coccoli knows his team has secured a place in the playoffs, but he is not distracted by how tonight’s game affects Nansemond River’s standing.

“I don’t know if it affects us at all, to be honest with you,” he said. “I’m not worried about that, I’m focused on playing Lakeland.”

And he sees the Cavaliers as a team on the rise.

“I think they’re a better football team than their record states,” he said. “They’ve moved the ball well offensively on some very good teams. They had a really long run against Indian River (High School) last week, and they’ve got some athletes, and they’re an improving football team.”

Lakeland High School junior running back Damontra Milteer navigates the Indian River High School defense last week and will look for more running room tonight against host Nansemond River High School.

Lakeland High School junior running back Damontra Milteer navigates the Indian River High School defense last week and will look for more running room tonight against host Nansemond River High School.

Coccoli highlighted Lakeland freshman quarterback Tyquan Holloman, junior wide receiver Alajuwun Langston and sophomore running back DeAndre Faulk as athletes his team will need to be able to defend well.

The Warriors will be without starting junior cornerback Raymond Goodman due to injury.

Kevin Knight said tonight’s contest is a big one for his team.

“This is our rivals we’re playing — this is Nansemond River,” he said. “So we’re ready.”

Knight’s understanding of Lakeland’s playoff situation is that the Cavs hold a playoff-qualifying spot right now, but if they lose tonight, “there might be a chance that we’re out of it,” he said.

He praised the Warriors for their multiplicity of athletes and said that on their recent game film, he noticed “they play on all three phases of the game, and when you do that, you have success.”

Hampton Roads Academy (2-7) at Nansemond-Suffolk (6-3) — 7 p.m.

Last season: Saints 76, Navigators 20

Nansemond-Suffolk does not have a playoff home game wrapped up as was previously understood, but the Saints can seal the deal tonight with a victory over the Navigators.

HRA enters this game coming off an unusually disappointing outing against host Isle of Wight Academy last Friday night. The extremely shorthanded Navigators fell behind 35-0, and then an injury to senior quarterback Chris Leavey forced them to forfeit the game with 8:44 remaining in the third quarter.

During the first half of this week, NSA coach Lew Johnston was unsure if tonight’s game would happen, but he said Hampton Roads Academy notified Nansemond-Suffolk on Wednesday that it would be able to play.

“This game holds importance,” he said. “Whether they’re a good football team or not, we want to be undisputed TCIS champions.”

Should Nansemond-Suffolk lose, it would share the Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools title with either Norfolk Academy or Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School.

It is Senior Night for the Saints, particularly significant for them this year given that 17 of the 34 players that have been on the varsity roster are seniors.

“I’ve seen a different level of focus and intensity in them so far this week, so I’m confident we’re going to come out and play well,” Johnston said.

NSA will be without sophomore offensive guard Chris Murphy and senior offensive lineman/linebacker Connor King, but senior offensive lineman/linebacker Ben Anderson will be back.

King’s Fork (5-4) at Deep Creek (2-7) — 7 p.m.

Last season: Bulldogs 55, Hornets 0

While the Bulldogs will not be able to raise the bar on last season’s 8-2 regular season record, they have much to play for tonight.

“We know we’re in the playoffs, and we know we need to win this one to lock up the No. 3 seed and a home game for the playoffs,” King’s Fork coach Joe Jones said.

The Bulldogs have faced three challenging opponents in a row the past few weeks and have come up short each time.

“I thought we played better the other night against Oscar Smith (High School),” Jones said. “We’ve been working our butts off to get things back on track and to get back to our winning ways.”

He noted that the Deep Creek High School Hornets will not be without their motivating forces tonight, as well.

“They’re going to be battling for possibly a playoff spot,” he said. Plus, “it’ll be their last home game.”

Jones said Deep Creek has a couple of weapons that can make things happen if they get the ball in space — junior quarterback Jaylen Jefferson and junior running back D’Angelo Mullen-Morrison.

“We’ve got to do a good job of containing them,” Jones said.

Then, on offense, Jones noted his team needs to be consistent and must take care of the football.

The Bulldogs will be playing without senior linebacker/slotback John Spearman, who they are saving for the playoffs after he recently suffered a leg injury.