Teams ready to play — again
Published 11:06 pm Thursday, September 20, 2018
All Suffolk teams will be in action again this weekend, looking to get back on schedule after they played games earlier this week due to last week’s anticipated storm.
King’s Fork High School (3-0) at Grassfield High School (0-3) (Saturday 11 a.m.)
The Bulldogs will look to maintain their perfect record against Grassfield this weekend. The 3-0 start is the best Coach Scottie Littles has had with this program, and he will look to extend that.
Tuesday evening, the Bulldogs pitched a shutout against Hickory High School. Grassfield is coming off of a loss to Oscar Smith High School Wednesday evening. The momentum is with the Bulldogs, and Littles feels his team will be ready come Saturday.
“We’ve been prepared for this type of situation six months ago,” Littles said. “Those kids hit the weight room hard and worked hard in the strength and conditioning program. They’ve prepared their bodies for this a long time ago. We are going to continue to push and be better.”
King’s Fork will look to be ready for a good Grassfield team playing at home.
“They got some good skill position players over there,” Littles said. “They do some things well, and we feel like they are a pretty good opponent. They are going to challenge us with some things with it being a short week, but we will be ready.”
Lakeland High School (0-3) at Oscar Smith High School (3-0) (Saturday 11 a.m.)
It doesn’t get any easier for the Cavs as they go on the road to face an always-tough Oscar Smith team. Lakeland is the only Suffolk team without a win yet this season, but they’ll try to change that Saturday.
Lakeland is coming off a loss to rival Nansemond River High School. They played well enough in the first half to keep the game close, however, the game got away from them in the second half. Offensively, Lakeland has 13 points on the season. That will need to change against Oscar Smith.
“I told the guys after last game that they needed to have a short memory,” Coach Kevin Knight said. “It’s been rough on us so far, but we have been through all of this before.”
Defensively, Lakeland remains stout. They have created multiple turnovers in each game. When the offense gets going, Lakeland will start a win streak of their own.
“We are going to start to win some football games,” Knight said. “That’ll follow with another playoff appearance and hopefully a championship. We still believe in these guys, and they believe in themselves.”
Lakeland will be at Oscar Smith at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Nansemond River High School (2-1) at Indian River High School (3-0)
This game between the Warriors and Braves will likely be the game of the week in South Hampton Roads. The teams battled it out last year. Indian River won the regular season matchup 26-10 at Nansemond River. However, the Warriors won the most important matchup in the regional semifinals.
Now, the Warriors will travel back to the Braves’ field to try to win their second road game of the season.
“I think we sort of created another rivalry with them,” Coach Justin Conyers said. “This game is a big one for us. We know we are going to have to play a full four quarters of football and just be ready.”
Nansemond River’s rushing attack was on full display Tuesday as they ran for more than 300 yards against Lakeland. They could arguably be 3-0 right now if it weren’t for a second-half comeback from Maury High School.
The Warriors know if they get ahead early they will have to protect their lead better this time. They had 10 sacks against Lakeland and will look to get after the opposing quarterback Friday as well.
Nansemond River will be at Indian River at 7 p.m. Friday.
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy (4-0) at Portsmouth Christian School (0-2)
NSA will look for their fifth consecutive win Friday when they take on Portsmouth Christian. The Saints dominated Isle of Wight Academy on Monday for their fourth win. NSA has experience playing two games in one week and feels they will be more than ready tonight.
George Pettaway has been a terror for other teams to stop on the ground. Other skill players like Zac Morris and Ben Koppelman have also contributed. The offensive line has been stout for the Saints in their first few games.
Portsmouth Christian has allowed more than 80 points in its first couple of games. NSA will look to keep attacking on offense to go to 5-0.
NSA will be at Portsmouth Christian at 7 p.m. Friday.