King’s Fork advanced in the Class 4 Region A playoffs after a 25-8 win at Warhill.

The Bulldogs went into last Friday’s matchup with Warhill as the underdogs as they traveled to Williamsburg as the No. 6 seed in the region. Warhill owned the No. 3 seed in the region and had just two losses on the season prior to their matchup with the Bulldogs.

King’s Fork came out in the first quarter with some momentum, getting on the board with a field goal. In the second quarter, Bravion Campbell and Nate Edghill scored on touchdown passes from quarterback Leonta Johnson. The Bulldogs were up 18-0 before Warhill got on the board in the third quarter.

“We knew coming in that records during the regular season didn’t matter,” coach Kermit Buggs said. “I felt like we came out getting a lot of hats to the ball. We knew they were a Wing-T team and that once we started to shut some things down, they had to go a different route, so I was proud of how those guys started out.”

The Bulldogs defense in the second half was able to prevent Warhill from making a run. Johnson finished with 196 yards passing. Edghill’s touchdown went for 50 yards, as he was able to show his speed. Leo Wethington also added a touchdown in the second half and had over 100 total yards for the game. Jamari Simmons had a big game defensively for the Bulldogs.

Buggs said Southeastern District play prepared the Bulldogs for their first round playoff matchup.

“We play in one of the conferences in the area we knew facing those kinds of teams would help prepare us for the playoffs,” Buggs said.

After finishing the regular season 3-7, there were many questions about the Bulldogs and what they are capable of achieving. They had been in close games all season long, even losing their regular-season finale game to Grassfield by two points. However, the Bulldogs were able to quickly put that behind them to get their first playoff win in Buggs’s first season as coach.

The Bulldogs will go on the road once again this Friday night when they take on Churchland (9-2), which holds the No. 2 region seed in the region. The Bulldogs know it’s going to take another week of strong focus to be successful this week.

“We have to make sure we take care of the ball and stop the run,” Buggs said. “As long as we make sure we are taking care of ourselves, we should be fine.”