All season long, the King’s Fork football team’s offense has been trying to catch up to its defense.

But on Friday night, the Bulldogs saw their defense struggle in a 24-6 loss to Western Branch.

Plagued by turnovers and going up against a Western Branch defense that had pitched back-to-back shutouts, the Bulldogs struggled all night to gain any momentum. Meanwhile, the Bruin rushing attack used six different players to total 211 yards.

After the Bulldogs were unsuccessful in moving the ball on their first drive, WB moved down the field and scored on a 23-yard field goal with 5:38 remaining in the first quarter.

A few minutes later, the Bruins made their way to the red zone again. Quarterback DeMarta’ Johnson scored on a 5-yard scamper, giving the Bruins a 10-0 lead with 0:36 remaining.

KF turned the ball over with 0:19 left in the first quarter on a play in which quarterback Matthew Hommell never received the snap. The turnover was the first of three on the night for the Bulldogs.

KF’s defense held the Bruins on their next two drives though and a pass interference call on Western Branch gave the Bulldogs the ball at the WB 13 with 4:33 remaining.

The opportunity passed though as KF turned the ball over after a miscommunication on a double reverse play with 3:14 remaining in the first half.

WB took over on its own 12 and running back Leondre Walker broke away for a 59-yard run, almost scoring if not for a touchdown-saving tackle by Donta Steward with 0:37 remaining.

After calling timeout, the Bruins didn’t take long to score as Javon Ford would find his way into the end zone to give his team a 16-0 lead.

Both teams went scoreless in the third quarter. The Bulldogs missed a critical opportunity as they were not able to score from six yards out of the end zone, turning the ball over on downs with 2:27 remaining in the third.

The lone Bulldogs score on the night came on a 93-yard punt return by Dominique Patterson with 7:37 remaining in the game.

King’s Fork (1-7, 1-6) next travels to take on city rival Lakeland (6-2, 5-2), who is in the running for the playoffs. The Bulldogs finish the season at home against rival Nansemond River (1-7, 1-6).