LaMont Brown has carried the offensive load as Nansemond River’s starting tailback since for the last three seasons. Now a senior, Brown hadn’t carried the Warriors to a win over city rival King’s Fork, until Friday night.

Brown rushed for 207 yards and three of Nansemond River’s four touchdowns. The Warriors pulled away in the last eight minutes of the game for a 27-0 victory at King’s Fork, their first over the Bulldogs since 2005.

Brown had plenty of help. First and foremost for any running back, the play of the Warrior offensive line paved the way for a lot of Brown’s yardage.

“They did a great job. Their blocking, I mean, they’ve worked so hard in practice. They work hard all week and we go at each other in practice, but we come together on Friday nights to get these wins. They did a tremendous job,” Brown said of his big guys up front.

The Warriors went to work on their opening drive. Brown broke through the line for 12 yards on a 3rd-and-3 play on NR’s first series of downs.

Facing a 2nd-and-20, Brown got a handoff from Alexander Kase and raced 30 yards.

Brown got the call on nine of NR’s 12 plays. He capped the 70-yard march with a 4-yard touchdown run powered by the left side of the Warrior line.

Nansemond River’s defense played well enough that Brown’s first touchdown would’ve been enough.

The Warriors forced four turnovers, three interceptions and a lost fumble, plus benefitted from the Bulldogs committing 12 penalties. Many of the flags negated good Bulldog option-play gains on the ground.

With sophomore Uriah Adams getting the start at quarterback, King’s Fork drove 50 yards to the Warrior 20 before a fumbled handoff between Adams and Charles Clark was recovered by NR defensive end Willie Gillus.

The next Bulldog possession lasted one play with Carl Williams intercepting an Adams pass that overshot a receiver deep down the middle.

The defensive struggle went both ways though. Late in the first half, the Bulldogs turned away a Warrior drive into KF territory with Ethan Banks recovering a fumble.

An interception by Corinth Cross ended KF’s first chance with the ball in the second half and set up the Warriors at the KF 19.

The Bulldog defense kept it a tight game though. With the Warriors moving down to 4th-and-goal at the 2, Kase bobbled a pistol-style snap and KF linebacker T.C. Livingston raced in for a sack.

King’s Fork’s best offensive play of the night came via a fake punt. Late in the third period, punter/quarterback Matt Hommell, who’s split time at quarterback with Adams this season, took the long snap and fired long down the right side of the field for Noah Johnson and a 35-yard gain.

Despite the big play, the Warriors held the Bulldogs on downs four plays later.

“We just had to stop their option. We couldn’t let them pitch the ball out to No. 5 (Clark),” said Warrior two-way lineman Corey Barnes.

Repeatedly giving the ball to Brown paid off from there. On the following Warrior drive, Brown found a big hole and cut clear down the left sideline for a 47-yard touchdown run and a 13-0 Warrior lead.

KF’s next possession ended with a poor punt snap, Hommell escaping to get off a short punt, then NR’s Shannon Evans fielding the punt on the run and taking it 33 yards to inside the Bulldog 5. Brown dove over the goal line two snaps later. Brandon Roberts scored two points on an end around.

Gary Brooks got the third Warrior interception of the night. Justin Madison finished the scoring with a 55-yard touchdown run in the last minute of the game.

“We played together as one team and we won as a team,” Barnes said.

King’s Fork (1-2) travels to Great Bridge this coming Friday evening. Nansemond River (2-1) hosts Oscar Smith on Friday at 7 p.m.