Warriors’ second half push gets win

Published 6:44 pm Saturday, October 15, 2016

After being shut out on the road last weekend, the Nansemond River High School Warriors regrouped with a 27-7 win at Great Bridge Friday night to improve to 4-3 on the year.

During the week, coach David Coccoli said his team made some changes to its personnel in hopes of success, and they achieved it.

At halftime, it was a tied game at 7-7. The Warriors had given up a big play on their opening drive for a touchdown. They recovered with a 30-yard touchdown run by Ray Goodman in the second quarter. The defense came up big again for the Warriors, as they only allowed that first-quarter touchdown and only 30 second-half yards.

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“This win felt good,” the Warriors’ Henry Moreno said. “We were clicking on both sides of the ball, and that’s exactly what we needed. Now we have to get back to work and prepare for King’s Fork.”

The Warriors were led by JeVon Waller, who had 158 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Sophomore Kori Riddick got the start at quarterback for the Warriors Friday night. He was 3-7 for 48 yards, but he rushed for 16 yards and a touchdown. Nansemond River had 200-plus yards in the second half while scoring 20 points.

“We made some changes offensively, and they paid off,” Coccoli said. “Hopefully they will pay off as we go through the rest of the season.”

Next, the Warriors return home to face cross-town rival King’s Fork for their homecoming game at 7 p.m. Oct. 21.

“We are going to correct the mistakes we made in this game and get ready for a tough King’s Fork,” the Warriors’ Dy’Quan McGhee said. “We know what we have to do, and that’s execute on all sides of the ball.”

Nansemond River 0 7 13 7- 27

Great Bridge–       7 0 0 0- 7

NR stats:

Passing: Riddick (3-7-48yds)

Rushing: Waller (17-158-2tds), McGhee (1-22), Oliphant (1-15), Riddick (4-16-1td), Raymond (4-42-1td), Harrell (6-33), Faulk (3-25), Moore (3-24)

Receiving: Stringer (1-34), Whear (2-14)