NSA in action; other three schools on bye
Published 9:26 pm Thursday, September 5, 2019
The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy football team will be in its third week of action while the three Suffolk Public Schools have a bye week this week.
With Hampton Roads looking to get a few effects from Hurricane Dorian, it has put a dent in the plans for late-week athletics. Even though Lakeland High School, Nansemond River High School and King’s Fork High School are all on byes, their games likely would have been moved up earlier in the week if they had been set to play. The Saints as it stands are currently set to face Christchurch School Saturday afternoon, but things can change.
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy (0-2) at Christchurch School
The Saints aren’t looking to start the season down 0-3 as they go on the road to try to get their first win this weekend. NSA is coming off of a second loss to Blue Ridge School in a game where the Saints had a lead but allowed a comeback, giving Blue Ridge the win.
Coach Mike Biehl mentioned that it was frustrating the way things went for the Saints; however, he feels confident in his group bouncing back.
“Just looking at our film from these two games, we have done some good things,” Biehl said. “Now it’s all about building on the good things we do throughout the game. When we put our foot on the gas, we don’t even want to have a chance to take it off.”
Last season, NSA defeated Christchurch 41-6.
NSA is still scheduled to play at Christchurch at 1 p.m. Saturday, but the weather could cause the game to be rescheduled.
King’s Fork High School (1-0) bye week
The Bulldogs went on the road last week and took down Smithfield High School. Everything wasn’t perfect; however, Coach Kermit Buggs was happy with his team’s effort in his debut on the sidelines. King’s Fork showcased a stout defensive game plan, not allowing the Smithfield offense to score any points last week. Smithfield’s only touchdown came off a turnover from the Bulldogs’ offense.
Offensively they got an all-around performance as quarterback Leontae Johnson passed for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Leo Wethington added more than 100 yards rushing, and Kahari Rodgers added more than 50 yards receiving.
Buggs wanted to take this week to make sure the team stayed conditioned and ironed out some things. King’s Fork will have a big test when they host Indian River High School next week, so getting a head start on them was also important during the bye week for the Bulldogs.
King’s Fork will host Indian River at 7 p.m. Sept. 13.
Nansemond River High School (1-0) bye week
The Warriors football team started the season strong last week with a win over Norview High School. It was evident that the talent the Warriors returned and added showed that Nansemond River was going to be a force this season.
During the bye week, the Warriors spent time working on themselves and getting a chance to get a head start on Western Branch High School. Coach Justin Conyers said he wanted to approach the bye week as if they were preparing for a game against themselves.
“Our opponents is ourselves for this week,” Conyers said. “We played a week earlier than what we normally do, so we just used the week to regroup and let the kids rest up and get started on Western Branch.”
Nansemond River will be back in action Sept. 13 at home against Western Branch.
Lakeland High School (0-1) bye
The Cavs opened up the season at home last week against Wilson High School. Despite having a lead throughout the first half, Wilson mounted a comeback to spoil Lakeland Coach Joe Jones’ sideline debut with the team.
Jones said the team’s lack of experience may have played a role in the loss. They have several first-time starters, and Jones knows that going through situations like the Wilson game will only help the team get better.
For the bye week, Jones wanted to make sure some of his players got healthy. They also wanted to use the week to buckle down on fundamentals. Next week will be a very interesting game for Lakeland and Jones as they take on Oscar Smith High School. It will be Jones’ first appearance back at Oscar Smith since taking over as Lakeland head coach, which should cause for an exciting matchup.
Lakeland will be at Oscar Smith at 7 p.m. Sept. 13.