Indian River moves on to final
Hinton’s long TD on first play of 2nd half rallies Braves
CHESAPEAKE — Malachi Hinton ran for two touchdowns, including a 70-yarder on the second half ’s first play, as Indian River overcame Kempsville 22-14 Friday night in a Class 5 Region A semifinal.
The victory earned the third-seeded Braves (9-3) a trip to top-seeded Green Run next week for the championship game, whose winner will advance to the state semifinals.
The seventh-seeded Chiefs (6-6) earned a 14-6 lead in the first half on the strength of 22- and 15-yard rushing touchdowns by Ty’Jae Curtis, who ran for 157 yards in the first half, and two PATs by Morgan Hurst. Curtis battled cramps in the second half and finished with 183 yards.
Noah Martinez’s 30-yard field goal with 6:48 left in the second quarter cut Kempsville’s halftime lead to 14-9.
Hinton’s burst just after halftime put the hosts ahead to stay.
“I knew the cutback was going to be there, and when I saw it, I just exploded,” he said.
Down 16-14, Kempsville went on an 18-play drive that bridged the third and fourth quarters. A roughing-the-passer call on fourth-and-11 set up the Chiefs at the Indian River 12, but a holding penalty moved them back to the 22.
On third-and-26 from the 28, Indian River defender Jordan Harris recorded his school single-season-record 21st sack, and an incompletion ended the threat.
“We needed a big play, and I was able to get a hold of the quarterback,” Harris said.
The Chiefs again drove, but on fourth-and-long, the Braves’ Jason Preston intercepted a long heave and returned it 67 yards to the end zone with 1:02 to go.
“Our defense was relentless down the stretch,” Indian River coach Brandon Carr said.
— Reported by Gary Lassiter
More Class 5 Region A
It wasn’t easy for Green Run, but the Stallions stayed unbeaten by earning a home victory over Beach District rival Salem in a Class 5 Region A quarterfinal.
De’zhawn Smith’s 5-yard touchdown run put top-seeded Green Run (12-0) ahead with 5:44 left in the first quarter, but after a missed PAT, SunDevils quarterback Jason Williams connected with Blake McClung on a 78-yard touchdown pass less than a minute later. Princeton Ortiz’s kick put Salem ahead 7-6, and that score remained through halftime.
K’Saan Farrar’s 15-yard TD run halfway through
Green Run 18, Salem 10:
the third quarter and Smith’s 1-yard TD run with 1:29 left in that period gave the Stallions an 18-7 lead.
Ortiz kicked a 37-yard field goal with 2:53 left in the fourth to give Salem (7-5) slight hope of extending its winning streak to four, but Green Run snuffed it.
Class 5 Region B
Maury 34, Nansemond River 14:
In a low-scoring game by Maury’s lofty standards, the undefeated Commodores ousted the Warriors at Powhatan Field. Maury will return there next week to face Warwick for the region trophy.
For the second consecutive week, Maury (12-0) began a playoff game with a kickoff return for a touchdown. The Commodores expanded their margin to 21-7 in the second quarter and to 34-7 in the fourth quarter before the Warriors (9-3) got their final touchdown.
Class 4 Region A
Warhill 31, Churchland 0:
After being shut down in the first half, Warhill surged after intermission and Isaiah Rembert finished with 156 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
The victory moved the second-seeded Lions (12-0) into the region championship game next week against the Hampton-Phoebus winner. If it’s the Phantoms, it will be a clash of unbeaten teams.
Warhill managed just 49 yards of offense and four first downs in the first half, though Camden Thompson gave the Lions a 3-0 lead by kicking a 28-yard field goal with 14.9 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
As Warhill’s defense continued to shut down the third-seeded Truckers (8-4), quarterback Liam Francisque and his teammates got untracked. They had 264 yards of offense and 10 first downs in the second half.
Francisque capped a nine-play, 59-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run. After
the Truckers went threeand-out, the Lions marched 56 yards on five plays for a 17-0 lead with 4:05 to go in the third quarter. Francisque carried the final 20 yards.
Churchland showed signs of wear as interceptions by Ta’vyion Blockett and X’Zavian Mason deep in Warhill territory preserved a shutout. Dontavius Booker ran for 66 yards on 23 carries and Aveyon Jordan had 69 total yards, but the Truckers couldn’t convert them into points.
The Lions ran only three offensive plays in the fourth quarter — a short pass that Taylan Eady took down the sideline for an 88-yard touchdown, Rembert’s 75-yard TD run and a kneeldown on the game’s last play.
— Reported by Charlie
Baumgardner
Class 3 Region A
Heritage 23, Hopewell 6:
The No. 5 seeded Hurricanes (7-5) won their sixth straight game and advanced to a region final for the first time in nine years with an upset of No. 1 Hopewell (8-4).
The Hurricanes fell behind 6-0 early on an 83-yard touchdown run by Blue Devils quarterback Mic’Kahari Tatum. Wesley Dominguez got three of those points back with a short field goal in the first quarter.
Heritage took the lead for good in the second quarter as quarterback Derrick Gurley Jr. connected with Sterling Anderson on a touchdown pass of about 30 yards. Gurley’s TD pass of about 40 yards to Zach Ray increased the lead to 16-6 in the third quarter.
Ty Wilson’s 88-yard touchdown run with 4:10 remaining in the fourth quarter clinched the victory. Sean McCallum led a stellar defensive effort by the Hurricanes with two interceptions.
“This is a huge win, the biggest for Heritage in a long time,” coach Scott Woodlief said, noting the Hurricanes have not reached a region final since
2014. “Everyone came together and the defense was a solid wall.
“Every kid did what we asked them today and it was an all-around team victory.”
The Hurricanes will travel to play the Lake Taylor-Lafayette winner next week for the region title. Heritage last won a region title in 2013.
Class 2 Region A
Poquoson 14, King William 6:
The Islanders advanced to the region championship game for the third time in four seasons with a win at Poquoson Middle School.
The No. 1-seeded Islanders (9-3) will host No. 3 Ameila County — a 14-8 winner over Southampton — for the title next week. The Islanders are the defending region champs and also won the crown in the spring 2021 season.
Baker Green’s 1-yard TD run with 59 seconds left in the first quarter gave the Islanders a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Eli Tyndall capped a drive of almost eight minutes to start the second half, running 7 yards for a touchdown to increase the Islanders’ lead to 14-0 with 4:03 left in the third quarter.
The Islanders played without linebacker Mason McGavran, but Chase Bullard came back from injury and filled that spot.
“Chase came back and made a lot of stops, and so did (outside linebacker) Nathan Quiroz,” Duty said. “We pitched a shutout on defense, but we moved some kids around and asked some kids to step up and they did.
“We had a great week of practice and it will be great to practice this week on Thanksgiving Day.”