No. 3 King’s Fork escapes with a tough road win against rival Nansemond River

SUFFOLK — King’s Fork coach Anthony Joffrion doesn’t particularly like rivalry games.

That’s because it takes his players time to settle down and play Bulldog football.

Such was the case Thursday as the third-ranked Bulldogs trailed Suffolk rival Nansemond River by 11 points at halftime.

Fortunately for King’s Fork, he got them to settle down in the second half. The Bulldogs scored 22 unanswered points and then had to hold off a late Nansemond River rally to escape with a 32-27 win. King’s Fork has now won 14 regular-season games in a row, including 12 in the Southeastern District.

“The biggest thing we told them at halftime was we were letting the rivalry become more than it was. We just had to focus on us,” Joffrion said. “It was great to see at halftime that our kids stuck together, and our coaches. And we did what we were supposed to do that second half. And we found a way to get a tough win.”

For the second consecutive week, both King’s Fork and Nansemond River were playing Thursday night games.

Last week, the games got moved for a Luke Bryan concert that was postponed.

This week’s game was moved because of an impending storm that was supposed to hit Hampton Roads on Friday.

“It’s a little different,” Joffrion said. “Thursday night lights.”

Nansemond River, which was coming off a tough loss to Oscar Smith, scored first when Tyrell Grant Jr. threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Christian Jordan. But the Bulldogs missed the extra point.

King’s Fork answered when running back JaVon Ford II broke a 58-yard run for a touchdown to take a 7-6 lead.

Back came Nansemond River as Grant threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Holloway.

King’s Fork cut into the deficit with a field goal, but Nansemond River running back Melvin Brown scored on a 52-yard run to give the Warriors a 21-10 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs quickly cut into the deficit with three consecutive scores, including Zy’Dar’eyus Wynn’s 40-yard punt return that helped give King’s Fork a 32-21 lead in the third quarter.

“I’d seen my teammates blocking and doing their job, and then I saw a hole and I just finished it,” he said.

The Warriors made it close thanks to Grant’s 1-yard touchdown run.

They had a chance to take the lead with 5:07 left, but fumbled the snap on the King’s Fork 1.

Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com