King’s Fork (1-0, 0-0) at Indian River (0-1, 0-0) – 7 p.m.

Last year – Indian River 32-14

Maybe it was simply because it was the opening game under coach Joe Jones, or perhaps it was because A.J. Harper took care of business by rushing for two touchdowns and 175 yards, but Jones’ new more-balanced offense put the ball in the air only seven times in KF’s win over Norview.

The Braves also opened with a non-district contest, a 26-13 loss to Lake Taylor. IR managed seven rushing yards against the Titans. Quarterback Frankie Hamrock threw TD passes of 21 yards and 57 yards to former QB, turned receiver Dravon Poittilo. Indian River is 4-0 against King’s Fork.

As with all the games set for tonight, whether or not Hanna gets here during the game might be the biggest factor for the teams’ gameplans.

Great Bridge (1-0, 1-0) at Lakeland (1-0, 1-0) – 7 p.m.

Last year – Great Bridge 42-15

Big plays carried the day in a huge way for the Cavaliers as they beat Hickory for the first time since 2002, and did so with a 34-7 rout.

Debuting head coach Glenwood Ferebee touted the offensive changes he was making. QB Neil McKoy averaged more than 23 yards per completion and WR Donavan Wright averaged 32 yards per catch for his four receptions, three of which were touchdowns.

The biggest surprise might have been Lakeland’s defense, which held Hickory to 70 rushing yards, 20 passing yards and practically shutout Hickory’s offense as the Hawks’ only score came on a fumble recovery.

Great Bridge started life without record-setting quarterback Casey Turner last week with sophomore Brad Hudson at QB last Thursday against Deep Creek. GB led 7-6 at halftime before pulling away to a 34-12 final.

Nansemond River (0-1, 0-1) at Western Branch (1-0, 0-0) – 7 p.m.

Last year – Western Branch 42-19

Western Branch rallied with two touchdowns in the last three minutes to beat Churchland last week 21-14. Receiver Javanti Sparrow scored all three WB touchdowns, two receiving and one on a kick return.

Last season, WB was 10-2 in reaching the Eastern Region semifinals. NR’s opening opponent last Thursday, two-season-old Grassfield, got its first on-field victory in program history, 35-6 over the Warriors.

Trinity Episcopal (0-1) at Nansemond-Suffolk (0-1) – 7 p.m.

Last year – Trinity Episcopal 33-7

The Saints have lost back-to-back meetings against the Titans after NSA defeated Trinity Episcopal in its return to varsity-level football in the 2005 season.

Trinity started its season with a 44-21 loss in Lynchburg to Virginia Episcopal. The Titans’ QB, Will White, threw 48 times against VES.

NSA opened its campaign with a 20-7 loss against Windsor. NSA’s defense stood up to the Dukes’ rushing attack pretty well, but Windsor took advantage of good field position for two of its three scores. Now the Saints face a much different offense ahead of conference games the next two weeks against Norfolk Christian and Bishop Sullivan.