By Matthew Hatfield

Correspondent

The King’s Fork Bulldogs celebrated one of the wildest and memorable wins in the school’s 14-year history on Friday night when they beat Oscar Smith 29-23 in a thriller before a packed home crowd. It snapped the 99-game Southeastern District winning streak by Oscar Smith, a perennial state power which suffered its first loss to a school from Suffolk or Chesapeake since 2006.

On Senior Night, quarterback Justin German threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns — the eventual game-winning score coming with 1:14 to play when he found receiver Cherrod Joe for a 53-yard strike on fourth-and-10. That gave the Bulldogs the lead, which they extended for the final margin after Chris Shearin ran in a successful two-point conversion.

Before that series, Oscar Smith took a 23-21 lead with 2:14 to go on a 56-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-11 where the Tigers quarterback spun away from a Bulldogs defender that nearly sacked him.

After King’s Fork’s go-ahead touchdown, the Tigers returned the ensuing kickoff 56 yards to the King’s Fork four-yard line. T.J. Hart made a game-saving tackle on the return. Hart, Devin Chambliss and Bryan Walker were responsible for crucial stops in the closing seconds as the Bulldogs kept Oscar Smith out of the end zone.

With the win, King’s Fork heads into the playoffs at 9-1 overall and the No. 1 seed for the Class 4, Region A playoffs that begin next week. The Bulldogs will play host to either Jamestown or Woodrow Wilson on Nov. 10 in the first round of the postseason.

See full coverage online later and in Sunday’s paper.