The King’s Fork High School football team was represented by 13 all-conference selections for 2015, led by senior Deshaun Wethington, who accounted for two of the Bulldogs’ six first-team nods and was named the Conference 17 football Co-Offensive Player of the Year.

Starring primarily at feature back, he shared the award with Lake Taylor High School senior running back Dazmine Palmer.

“As a competitor, it really didn’t sit well,” Wethington said of sharing the accolade. “But I’m happy that I was able to get the honor, and knowing that he was able to get it too shows me that he’s a great back also. It’s a great honor, and I’m just glad to get it two years in a row.”

Wethington won the same award outright last year when King’s Fork was part of the Ironclad Conference.

“He’s had a great, great career for us,” Bulldogs coach Joe Jones said, noting Wethington was a four-year starter who finished his high school years with 5,922 yards and 73 touchdowns on the ground, including postseason games.

Across 45 total contests, he averaged 131.6 yards a game and 8.2 yards a carry.

In terms of career regular-season yardage, he ranks second all-time in South Hampton Roads behind Salem High School’s Kevin Whaley, Jones noted.

Wethington finished the year having run for 1,716 yards and 25 touchdowns across 10 games — eight in the regular season and two in the playoffs.

“I thought it was well-deserved,” Jones said of Wethington’s recognition. Alluding to Palmer, he added, “It was a good honor to be shared with two good running backs.”

The coach was satisfied overall with King’s Fork’s tally of all-conference selections.

“I felt it fell in line,” he said. “Lake Taylor being undefeated, they had the most first-teamers, and they should have. They have an excellent football team. I felt the guys we got were well-deserved.”

Bulldogs making the first team included Wethington, as both a running back and all-purpose offensive player, senior Cullen Marshall, as both an offensive and defensive lineman, senior defensive end Avery Cutler and senior linebacker Notorious Brown.

Cullen Marshall was key to facilitating the Bulldogs’ potent run game as a three-year starter and the only returning starter this year on the offensive line.

“He was kind of the leader of that group,” Jones said. “He does a good job as a run blocker, which you have to be with us because we run the ball a lot.”

The coach estimated King’s Fork generated a little more than 2,500 rushing yards across 12 games this season.

On the defensive line, Marshall was also a force, ending up with 57 tackles, including 11 tackles for loss, and three sacks.

Avery Cutler began his sophomore year at defensive end, did not see as much time there as a junior but re-established himself in the role this season and earned prominence in it.

“He had a solid year for us there,” Jones said, noting Cutler finished the 2015 campaign with 54 tackles, including eight tackles for loss, and five sacks.

Notorious Brown had the respect of Lake Taylor’s coaches among others at the all-conference voting meeting, having made a good name for himself after being the Bulldogs’ leading tackler for the last three years.

“He’s been a great player and leader for us in his three years as a starter,” Jones said. “He’s kind of the quarterback of the defense.”

During the 2015 season, Brown recorded 97 tackles, including eight tackles for loss, and two sacks.

King’s Fork players making the all-conference second team included senior wide receiver Terry Tubbs, senior offensive lineman El’Haji Bakari, senior linebacker John Spearman and freshman defensive back Chris Shearin.

Bulldogs senior punter Ryan Kluck, senior defensive end Justin Holloway and sophomore kick returner Darran Butts received honorable mention.