The Lakeland High School Cavaliers remain winless after a 40-6 loss to rival Nansemond River High School on Tuesday.

Nansemond River improved to 2-1 on the season with the win, which also gave the Warriors a leg up on their fellow Suffolk rivals for the annual city crown.

Both teams were a bit rusty in the first half, but a strong second half by the Warriors allowed them to take off with their second win of the season.

“We still haven’t felt like we have played a whole half of football yet,” Warriors’ coach Justin Conyers said. “We were flat out there at first. We got it together in the second half and were able to get the win.”

The Warriors’ rushing attack wearied the Cavs defense as they ran for more than 300 total yards. George Wise got things started for Nansemond River, rushing for a 15-yard touchdown in the first quarter to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead. Wise went on to score one more time for Nansemond River throughout the game. He finished with 127 yards and two touchdowns.

In the second quarter, both teams traded touchdowns. A connection from Kori Riddick to Rashaad Williams for a 39-yard pass put Nansemond River up 14-0 with 9:42 left to play in the second. Lakeland followed that with a touchdown pass of their own from Tyquan Holloman to Nate Edghill, cutting the lead to eight with 7:58 in the second. At halftime, Nansemond River had a 14-6 lead.

The Warriors controlled the entire second half. Quijoun Gordon added a rushing touchdown in the third to push the lead to 20-6. In the fourth, Riddick added a keeper for a score, and Kevin Johnson added a 31-yard score of his own to keep pushing the lead up on their rival.

“We didn’t finish strong at all,” Lakeland Coach Kevin Knight said. “We were close in the first half. We didn’t do some things as clean at the start of the third quarter, which we needed to.”

“Lakeland is a great team, and I felt we responded better in the second half,” Conyers said. “We have to continue to find a way to get things clicking for four quarters of football.”

Both teams will quickly shift their focus to their second opponents of the week. Lakeland will travel to Oscar Smith, while Nansemond River will travel to Indian River. Both coaches are hoping mentally their players can make a quick turnaround in a less-than-ideal situation with two games in less than a week.

Nansemond River 40, Lakeland 6

NRHS 7 7 6 20—40

LHS 0 6 0 0—6

NR—Wise 15-yard run (Buchy kick)

NR—R. Williams 39-yard pass from Riddick (Buchy kick)

L—Edghill 19-yard pass from Holloman (kick failed)

NR—Gordon 15-yard run (run failed)

NR—Riddick 1-yard run (run failed)

NR—Wise 47-yard run (Johnson run)

NR—Johnson 31 yard-run (run failed)