PORTSMOUTH, Va. — With a minute to play in the first half, it looked like the week 1 matchup between Churchland and King's Fork was over. King's Fork led 26-0, and new starting quarterback D'andre Artis Boone looked completely unstoppable. "Our quarterback, he's gonna be very special," said King's Fork coach Anthony Joffrion after the game.
Boone threw multiple long touchdown passes and Fork's experienced defense had mostly stymied the Churchland running game. Denosh Rodgers and Jhamel Mackey were on the receiving end of touchdown bombs, while Darryl Wilson Jr. took a short pass and made his way to the house. Malachi Nixon had a pick 6 just before the half to push the gap to 26.
The Truckers, however, refused to quit at home, tacking on a touchdown as time expired in the 2nd quarter to cut the lead to 20.
The second half was disjointed from the kickoff. Neither team seemed to find a rhythm, and penalty flags began to flow. Both defenses had excellent moments. Churchland's Jordan Hayes picked off a pass in the end zone to prevent a Bulldog touchdown, while King's Fork's Joshua Pittman spent a lot of time in the opposing backfield on the night.
A Dontavious Booker touchdown run cut the lead to 26-13 with 11 minutes remaining, but things were scoreless from there. King's Fork walked away with a brilliant first half, a strange second half, and a 1-0 record. Churchland surely emerged with a level of confidence in their fight, staying firmly in a game that most thought was over before half.
"We just gotta clean up a lot of our mistakes, mental errors, we just have to keep getting better every day," said coach Joffrion, "we got comfortable at times."