Sophomore tailback Courtland Simmons ran for 120 yards and four touchdowns — all in the first half — as Norfolk Academy thumped visiting Granby 49-7 Friday night at Wynne-Darden Stadium.
“I couldn’t have done it without my line, without my receivers,” Simmons said. “The blocking was perfect. I couldn’t ask for any better and took the advantage of the opportunity.”
From the start, Norfolk Academy (6-1) took advantage of a Comets interception and then two turnovers on downs, setting up all three of Simmons’ scoring runs to jump out to a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
“It was interesting how they kept going for it on fourth down, middle of the field, in some different positions that teams normally wouldn’t do,” Bulldogs coach Steve Monninger said. “I think they felt like they had the upper hand and were maybe a little too confident not knowing who we were. We were able to take advantage of those short fields, get big stops and turn them into points.”
Simmons combined with Parks Andrews to spur an 11-play drive to start the second quarter, capped by Andrews’ 8-yard TD dash. Simmons’ 32-yard scamper set up the score.
Two plays later, Granby QB Montavion Jones tossed another errant pass, which Luke Buchanan hauled in. Simmons took the ensuing handoff and dashed down the right side for a 25-yard scoring run. The Bulldogs led 35-0 at the break.
“When we did our inside zone counters, the line opened up a huge hole and made the opportunity for me,” Simmons said. “When we did have outside runs, the receivers opened up the opportunities for me. All I had to do was just run off their butts and then I was in the end zone.”
The second half started with a running clock, and the Bulldogs’ Sean Duffy added a pair of rushing TDs.
Granby (2-6) broke up the shutout attempt with a little less than two minutes remaining on a 1-yard dive by Jones.
“Exploded on offense, especially with the running game, and then really just kind of like nailed him down on defense,” Monninger said. “It’s just considered complementary football. All three phases of the game, really impressed how we handled work in the trenches.”
The Bulldogs finished with 291 yards rushing and limited Granby to 106 total offensive yards.
It was the first time Norfolk Academy has played a public school since 1979, a 6-0 loss to Green Run.
“During the week when we prepared, we talked about it with the kids,” said Monninger, whose team next faces Collegiate of Richmond with a possible Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division I playoff spot on the line. “The reality is that we just treat it like an opponent, and the guys are excited about it. They know it’s a new experience. But to them, it was just another week of football.
“I think the people on the outside, they think it’s a much bigger deal. And I understand that — and I think so too. This is a signature win for our program and it’s a statement win as well. It will rattle a lot of cages in the 757, and I think that’s really cool.”
— Darrell Cuenca
Kickoff return lifts No. 5 Indian River
Answering a Deep Creek comeback, Indian River’s Donovan Brown returned a kickoff 85 yards for a tiebreaking touchdown with 4:59 remaining to give the No. 5 Braves a 28-21 homecoming victory in Chesapeake.
Lord Malik Heru completed 24 of 32 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns — to Elijah Boggs for 16 and 13 yards — for the Braves (6-1). Indian River ran for just 47 yards on 16 carries, though.
Deep Creek’s Mike Jones ran for two touchdowns and 81 yards on 14 carries, and he made five catches for 168 yards. Teammate Isaiah Coleman ran for 134 yards on 13 attempts. Largely due to that pair, the Hornets (2-5) outgained Indian River 321-248 and amassed 202 second-half yards.
TDs by Boggs and Travis Wiggins put Indian River ahead 14-0. Jones’ 21-yard run made it 14-7 at halftime.
Deep Creek moved the ball 50 yards on the second half’s first possession but fumbled it away. The Braves drove to a fourth-and-4 at the Hornets’ 11 and sent Noah Martinez out for a field goal, but a penalty for illegal procedure prompted coach Brandon Carr to go for it on fourth-and-9 at the 16. Heru, a freshman learning to handle the spotlight, completed a touchdown pass to Boggs in the end zone’s left corner with 2:34 remaining in the third quarter.
“I was just looking for my guy in the back of the end zone again. He was there, I got him a shot at the ball and he came down with it,” Heru said.
Deep Creek countered with Deijon Taylor’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Delshawn Matthews on the fourth quarter’s first play. After the Hornets forced a punt, Jones’ 26-yard TD capped a 54-yard, nine-play drive. Peter Cubas-Salgada’s third PAT of the night forced a 21-21 tie.
But not for long.
Brown, who made six catches for 61 yards, made a kickoff return to put the Braves ahead for good before Martinez drilled his fourth PAT of the game. Deep Creek got to the Indian River 31 on a last-ditch drive, but Jason Preston broke up a fourth-and-3 pass intended for Jones to clinch the victory with 52 seconds remaining.
— Reported by Charlie Baumgardner
No. 14 Lake Taylor pulls out victory over Churchland
Workhorse Keon Johnson scored his fourth touchdown of the night on a 1-yard plunge with 46 seconds remaining, giving No. 14 Lake Taylor a wild 43-35 victory at Churchland in Portsmouth.
Johnson ran for 224 yards on 40 carries, and Jeremiah Ferebee supplemented him with 17 carries for 111 yards, including an early 55-yard TD.
The Titans (7-1), who began the night leading the Class 3 Region A power ratings, never trailed the Truckers (5-3), who are in good shape to make the Class 4 Region A playoffs. But the game got dicey near the end.
“We made it harder than it had to be, but we’ll fix that,” longtime Lake Taylor coach Hank Sawyer said.
Thanks to Ferebee’s 55-yard run and TDs of 3, 3 and 46 yards by Johnson, Lake Taylor led 27-14 before defensive lineman Travis Willis capitalized on a muffed Churchland handoff and returned it 26 yards to the end zone with 4:57 left in the third quarter. Ferebee’s two-point run put the Titans ahead 35-14.
“We knew if we kept the pressure on them that mistakes would happen,” Willis said.
But then mistakes started coming from the visitors. Logan Wynne threw touchdown passes of 25 yards to Floyd “Cinco” Logan V and 77 yards to Elijah Salmon. Then, three plays after a squib kickoff that the Titans couldn’t recover, Hayes ran for a 3-yard TD and a tying two-point conversion.
Suddenly, it was 35-35 with 8:44 remaining. The Titans punted before forcing Churchland into a three-and-out, and Magerald Clark returned the punt 16 yards to the Churchland 36. From there, Ferebee and Johnson combined for all the carries on the winning drive.
Clark clinched the victory by intercepting a desperation throw by Wynne, who was 9 of 32 for 181 yards.
— Reported by Gary Lassiter
Western Branch rallies, stops Great Bridge
Western Branch’s coaching staff implored the Bruins’ defense to get one more stop.
“We said in the fourth quarter, if we get that one stop and get the ball back, we have a good chance to win this ballgame,” Western Branch coach Rashad Cook said.
The Bruins’ defense did more than that, stopping Great Bridge four times in the fourth quarter to earn a 35-28 victory in a Southeastern District game at Great Bridge Middle School.
After tying the game on an Adin Watters’ 54-yard touchdown run with 9:22 left in the fourth quarter, Western Branch looked like a four-and-out away from taking over for the winning score. The Bruins forced the Wildcats to punt, but Western Branch fumbled and Great Bridge took over at the Western Branch 44.
The Bruins dug deep and, helped by a dead-ball, late-hit penalty, put the Wildcats in a fourth-and-20 from their 44. The Wildcats punted again, but the ball hit a Western Branch player and Great Bridge recovered at the Branch 23-yard line.
Great Bridge moved the ball to the Bruins’ 8-yard line and faced a fourth-and goal. William Englert’s pass was incomplete, but Western Branch was called for pass interference. Great Bridge had another fourth-and-goal at the 4, but Englert’s pass was picked off by Sage Greene-Sessoms and Branch took over at the 5-yard line.
With little time left, the Bruins started pushing the ball, aided by a Watters 48-yard run, putting Western Branch at the Great Bridge 35. The Bruins kept pounding the ball until Craigory McNeil scored on a 4-yard run with 57 seconds left in the game, giving Western Branch a 35-28 lead.
Greta Bridge had a final shot to pull out the game, marching down to the Bruins’ 32-yard line, but Englert’s Hail Mary fell incomplete.
“We faced adversity … and finding a way to come back, the final score says everything about our boys,” Cook said.
Englert had a big game for Great Bridge on its homecoming night. The senior passed for two touchdowns and ran for another. Ryan Stewart had an interception returned for a touchdown before halftime.
McNeil finished with three touchdowns. Watters had two.
— Greg Giesen
Other games
No. 2 Oscar Smith 68, Grassfield 7: Quali Price raced 55 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and scored on an 80-yard interception return and a reception before halftime to pace the Tigers to a sixth straight victory.
Lonnie Andrews threw two touchdown passes as Oscar Smith (6-1) built a 41-0 halftime lead. The Grizzlies fell to 0-7.
Cox 45, Tallwood 0: Tyre Jefferies rushed for 104 yards and three touchdowns, and Elias Field returned an interception 44 yards for a score as the Falcons (5-2) rolled to a third consecutive Beach District win.
Grady Swango caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Rex Miller and scored on a 4-yard dash for the Falcons, who led 38-0 at halftime.
Along with Field’s interception, Cox recovered three fumbles.
Friday’s scores
757Teamz Top 15
#1 Maury 66, Norcom 0
#2 Oscar Smith 68, Grassfield 7
#3 Warwick 56, Denbigh 8
#4 Green Run 38, #13 Bayside 14
#5 Indian River 28, Deep Creek 21
#6 King’s Fork 73, Lakeland 0
#8 Nansemond River 27, Hickory 20
Warhill 35, #9 Poquoson 28
#10 Lafayette 57, Gloucester 7
#11 Kempsville 72, First Colonial 0
#14 Lake Taylor 43, Churchland 35
#15 Salem 26, Ocean Lakes 17
Bay Rivers District
Grafton 48, Jamestown 35
Smithfield 34, York 14
Beach District
Cox 45, Tallwood 0
Kellam 48, Princess Anne 13
Eastern District
Norview 51, Booker T. Washington 14
Southeastern District
Western Branch 35, Great Bridge 28
Nondistrict
Norfolk Academy 49, Granby 7
Private schools
Brunswick Academy 42, Greenbrier Christian Ac. 14
Catholic 20, Christchurch 13
Atlantic Shores 48, Hampton Roads Ac. 20
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