Lakeland at NRHS

Last season — Lakeland 14, Nansemond River 9

As the first cross-town football match-up of 2013 ensues tonight, the game’s host enters it with renewed confidence stemming from its first win of the season last week.

“It helps us a whole lot in our preparations,” Warriors head coach Tracey Parker said of owning the 35-14 road victory over Indian River High School.

The Cavaliers (0-4, 0-3 SED) are still seeking what Nansemond River (1-3, 1-2) is experiencing, but Lakeland head coach Bryan Potts sees tonight as “a good opportunity for us to get our first win. I’m looking forward to it.”

Potts pointed to a constant for players in Suffolk rivalry games.

“Little motivation needed for it,” he said. “They grew up with these (opponents), they’re neighbors with some of these guys.”

Lakeland’s victory over Nansemond River last season helped bar the Warriors from the playoffs, but Parker did not see the need for himself or his players to use that as motivation.

“I think they understand where we’re at in our season, what happened last season, and what we need to do this season,” he said.

Because of the realignment, both teams are still in the playoff picture, and Parker said if the season ended right now, the Warriors would be in.

Potts sees the game as a potential momentum shift in Lakeland’s season, and said, “Just the timing of it is good because now we’ve got guys coming back from injuries,” and he’s seen his team finally doing the small things it takes to win.

Returning from injury will be junior quarterback Miles Goodman and senior defensive end Marché Everett.

Parker said it will be important for the Warriors to be fundamentally sound on defense because Lakeland has some good skill players in the receiving corps and the backfield, including Goodman.

“They played well in a lot of games this season,” Parker said of the Cavs.

Nansemond River will look to run the ball, and Lakeland knows it. Potts highlighted NR senior running back Latrell “Vegas” Sandifer, describing him as the Warriors’ key weapon.

“We’ve got to contain him,” Potts said. “I think he doesn’t like to run in between the tackles, so we’ve got to keep him boxed in.”

The Warriors have some injuries that may sideline players, and Parker said some players will be game time decisions.

Indian River at King’s Fork

Last season — King’s Fork 36, Indian River 14

After the Bulldogs’ narrow loss to Grassfield High School and a 44-43 double overtime home win last week against Great Bridge High School, KF head coach Joe Jones said, “We’re a couple plays away from being 4-0 and a couple plays away from being 2-2.”

He said they are fine with 3-1 and will treat each game like it is the biggest of the season, including tonight against the Braves (1-3, 1-2).

Jones said there is “a lot of hype going into this game because we’ve got homecoming and the opportunity to go 4-1,” putting the Bulldogs in a position to make a strong push in the season’s latter half.

He said the Braves have athletes and speed, and “they just try to get the ball to these guys in space.”

King’s Fork will need to tackle well, and he said, “We’ve got recognize formations and know what they like to do out of those formations and play to our strengths there.”

Offensively, Jones said the Bulldogs need to continue to sustain blocks longer.

“We’re a running team, but we want to pass effectively, so we’ve worked a lot on that this week.”

Nansemond-Suffolk at Portsmouth Christian

Last season — Saints 44, Patriots 7

With a 47-0 win over St. Anne’s-Belfield School, the Saints (4-1, 1-1) successfully bounced back last week from the first loss of the season the week before.

“It’s been a good learning experience for us,” NSA head coach Lew Johnston said.

“We can’t afford a letdown,” he said. “I think the kids understand that now. We want to win out and then see how we stack up.”

To that end, their sole focus this week has been the Patriots (2-4), a team Johnston said has very good size. So, if the NSA’s power running game is to work, the NSA offensive line will need to be at the top of its game. The return of junior offensive tackle Shay Wood from a muscle pull in his leg will help, but senior offensive tackle Lee Willis will still be sidelined with back spasms.

Johnston said PCS uses a spread offense and likes to throw the ball around, which requires a lot of finesse on defense to stop.

“We’re going to have to make the right alignments and the right calls,” he said. “We’ll be changing up our coverages like we always do.”

All of the local football games will kick off at 7 tonight.