By Matthew Hatfield

Correspondent

Last year, the King’s Fork Bulldogs notched one of the biggest wins in school history when they toppled the Grassfield Grizzlies in Chesapeake on their way to achieving their first-ever playoff berth in football.

One season later, in the same setting with one of the key players from that squad, Davon Grayson, now a starting wide receiver as a true freshman for East Carolina, on the sidelines to support his alma mater, the Bulldogs appeared poised to knock off one of the top-ranked teams in Hampton Roads yet again.

Behind the sensational running of sophomore tailback Deshaun Wethington, King’s Fork was able to build a 14-point advantage with less than 13 minutes remaining in the contest. But they were unable to protect that lead as a couple of special teams plays resulting in touchdowns lifted the host Grizzlies to a comeback victory, 35-28 over the Bulldogs.

“We had one of our greatest moments last year on this field and now one of the most heart-breaking. It’s a tough pill to swallow,” admitted a dejected King’s Fork head football coach Joe Jones afterwards.

“We practice special teams a lot, emphasize it in practice every day and spend at least 30-45 minutes on special teams. It’s something we take seriously and we’ll continue to do that, and work on it even more now.”

Late in the opening period, King’s Fork struck first with a five-play, 67-yard drive that took only 2:03, using primarily inside dive runs. The scoring series was capped with quarterback Uriah Adams’ 10-yard touchdown run, but the extra point was blocked. Grassfield would go in front, 7-6 with 3:41 remaining in the first half, on a 71-yard touchdown run by Vincent Lowe followed by a successful extra point.

Before halftime, King’s Fork re-gained the lead when Wethington scored on a five-yard touchdown run. Adams would run in the two-point conversion to push the Bulldogs up by a count of 14-7 at intermission. In the first half alone, Wethington rushed for 158 yards on 16 attempts, half of which measured at least 10 yards.

Grassfield would knot the score up on a 12-yard touchdown run by Old Dominion commit Isaiah Harper with 7:31 remaining in the third quarter. King’s Fork didn’t flinch, responding with a 56-yard touchdown pass on third down from Adams to junior Ty’Quan Weston, who made an incredible catch with a defender blanketing him.

On the next offensive series, Grassfield was stopped on fourth-and-2 in King’s Fork territory when senior defensive back Jonathan Holloway knocked Lowe back four yards. The Bulldogs added to their lead three plays later on a 20-yard touchdown run from Adams, seemingly seizing control 28-14 with 1:46 left in the third quarter.

In what turned out to be a major momentum shift, the Grizzlies answered just 22 seconds later with a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Harper to slice the King’s Fork lead down to 28-21.

“They made a great play. We kicked it to him, had him wrapped up, but the bottom line was when we had him wrapped up on the sideline we didn’t finish the tackle and he broke away,” Jones said. “The kick return was the spark because we had just scored to go up two touchdowns.”

At the 10:14 mark of the fourth quarter, Grassfield tied the score at 28-apiece when Lowe blocked a King’s Fork punt, Harper scooped it up at the five-yard line and ran it in for a touchdown. The Grizzlies would go on to take the lead for good four minutes later and King’s Fork saw its final drive fizzle out just inside 45-yard line of Grassfield with under three minutes to play.

Wethington ended up with 241 yards rushing on 27 carries. Adams totaled 101 yards, 69 through the air on 6-of-8 passing and 32 rushing on 13 attempts. Weston made four receptions for 66 yards and intercepted a pass on defense.

King’s Fork outgained Grassfield on the evening 348-288, but the Bulldogs were plagued by 10 penalties for 65 yards and those two game-changing moments on special teams.

“I think the turning points were the kickoff return, got the ball back first play and ran an option for a 25-yard gain called back on a penalty, and we had things happen boom, boom, boom that hurt us, including the blocked punt, which was just a breakdown. We had our opportunities,” Jones said.

“What we take from this is confidence. Our guys know we can play with anybody. We felt good and felt like they weren’t stopping our offense. It’s just a matter of finishing and keeping our foot on the gas.”

King’s Fork hosts Great Bridge (2-1) Sept. 27.