SUFFOLK — The Warwick football team has averaged just over 43 points per game this season, but the Raiders’ calling card has been their defense. Through 11 games, they had allowed just a single touchdown, and that was to unbeaten Phoebus.
King’s Fork is not quite as renowned for its ability to keep opponents out of the end zone, but at 11-0, the Bulldogs had shown the ability to bend, but not break defensively. As the two teams clashed Friday night, a close, low-scoring struggle was expected.
Through three quarters, the teams played to the script, but Warwick broke through with a 28-
point outburst in the fourth quarter to rout the Bulldogs 42-13.
With the win, the Raiders (11-1) will travel to Norfolk next weekend to face the unbeaten, and untouched, Maury Commodores for the Class 5 Region B championship.
Two possessions changed the momentum.
On the first, Raiders running back Cameron Glenn, with his first two carries of the contest, went 3 and then 52 yards for touchdowns to put the visitors ahead 14-7.
A 24-yard field goal by Jean-Pierre Bile, on the ensuing third-quarter possession, kept King’s Fork within striking distance at 14-10.
After a 39-yard scramble by quarterback Eduardo Rios Jr., Messiah Delhomme increased the lead to 21-10 with a 1-yard scoring push. Warwick carried the ball six times for 80 yards on the drive, effectively exposing the weakness in the Bulldogs’ defense.
“We have to establish the run,” said Warwick coach Corey Hairston, who saw his team gain 279
yards on the ground, including 219 in the second half.
“We use the run to set up the pass, and sometimes we pass to set up the run,” said Rios, who had a pedestrian outing with seven completions for 81 yards on 17 passes. He did complete two touchdown passes, to Keon Batts, and a 23-yarder to 6-foot-5 wide receiver Dakota Brodus, who had to leap for the ball in the end zone.
A 30-yard field goal by Bile brought the hosts within one possession at 21-13. But Delhomme’s touchdown sparked the Raiders, who then benefited from Broadus’ score, followed by TD runs from Glenn (seven carries, 101 yards) and Ri’jon Hammond (10 carries, 73 yards).
Speaking of his opportunity to shine in a playoff game, Glenn said, “I’ve been practicing hard every day (to earn playing time).”
Warwick scored on its first drive by riding the legs of Delhomme, who carried three times for 52
yards. The drive culminated with the 19-yard pass from Rios to Batts, who beat his defender
to the back right corner of the end zone.
King’s Fork returned the favor on its second drive. JaVon Ford ran on four straight plays for 24 yards to put the Bulldogs near midfield. A 16-yard pass from D’Andre Artis-Boone to Keontae Bumpers set up the scoring play as Artis-Boone lobbed a perfect pass over two defenders into the back of the end zone, where ZyDareyus Wynn caught the ball in mid-stride.
King’s Fork came close to scoring on two other drives before the half. Malachi Nixon pounced on a Delhomme fumble at the Warwick 46, but the Raiders’ defense held tough and the
Bulldogs lost 2 yards on three plays before punting.
At that point, the defenses took over, with both teams collecting a pair of three-and-out drives.
With less than two minutes left in the half, the Bulldogs’ Darrell Wilson collected a punt on the hop and stumbled 15 yards to the Warwick 33, giving King’s Fork one last scoring chance before the
break.
Warwick’s defense stuffed King’s Fork, and the Bulldogs faced a fourth-and-12 from the Raiders’ 35. Artis-Boone’s pass to Wilson was complete, but ended up a yard short of the first down.
Jim McGrath, 757-813-3809, james.mcgrath@virginiamedia.com
