By Matthew Hatfield

Correspondent

Pursuing their first postseason victory since 1995, the Nansemond River Warriors traveled to Norfolk on Friday night to take on the Norview Pilots in the opening round of the 5A-South regionals. For 34 of the game’s 48 minutes, the Warriors were in front, but the final seven minutes belonged to the home team.

Scoring 19 unanswered, the Pilots navigated their way to the second round of the playoffs, ending the Warriors’ four-game winning streak and eliminating Nansemond River 19-7.

“We put the ball on the ground three times in the first quarter. You can’t turn it over four or five times and expect to win against a good team,” stated Nansemond River head coach David Coccoli.

“We were inside the 20 twice and didn’t score. When that happens and you give a good team life, they take advantage of it. They played a heck of a second half and deserved to win.”

Things did not exactly start the way the Warriors wanted with Norview scooping up a pooch kick on the game’s opening kickoff. However, the Nansemond River defense was able to hold and force the Pilots to try a 32-yard field goal, which they missed.

While the battle was billed as a potential shoot-out between explosive offenses since it was the lone first-round matchup in the state between two squads averaging over 38 points per game, the story in the first half was the two defenses.

The lone touchdown of the first half was a 21-yard pass from Kiere Landry to fellow senior Marquis Braimer with 5:46 left in the first period. On Nansemond River’s next offensive possession, they drove deep into Norview territory and came up empty when a 28-yard field goal to start the second quarter was no good.

After both teams exchanged punts to start the second half, Norview put together a 13-play, 73-yard drive capped with D.J. Mack lofting a 16-yard touchdown pass to Anton Ashby under heavy pressure. That appeared to tie the game, but the extra point was unsuccessful, leaving the Warriors in front 7-6 with 2:06 left in the third period.

In their final game in a Warriors uniform, senior defenders Demetrius Stitmon and Layvaun Baum were instrumental in pressuring Mack as the two recorded 11 total tackles apiece. Also effective was Norview’s pass rush. The Pilots were able to apply more pressure on Landry in the second half with the Warriors’ Deondre Lacey, a two-way senior starter on the line, sidelined due to injury.

“We tried to get in more of an I-formation and try to stop the blitz,” Coccoli noted. “They did a good job defensively and held us in check. They made the plays they needed to.”

Trying to hold on to the lead late, Norview senior Devon Watford came up with his second takeaway of the night when he intercepted a pass alongside the sideline. Five plays later, Norview went up 12-7 with 7:06 remaining on Kevin Marks’ four-yard touchdown run. Sophomore Gerard Stringer blocked the extra point.

But Nansemond River’s offense was unable to generate much at all after a hot finish to the regular season. The Norview defense clamped down and held them to 56 total yards and seven straight incompletions, including another interception.

Senior tailback Terrence Lambert led the offensive effort with 91 yards rushing on 22 attempts with 67 of those yards coming before intermission. Four turnovers and 75 yards in penalties kept them from extending some of their drives.

Nansemond River, which achieved its first winning record since 2002, closes out the year at 7-4 overall in Coccoli’s second season at the helm.

“The kids got their first winning season, so they should be proud of that,” Coccoli said. “It’s a good foundation to build for the future.”