HRFT 2023 - Week 8: Oscar Smith Tigers at King's Folk - Southeastern District Game

No. 5 King’s Fork upends No. 7 Oscar Smith as the Bulldogs move a step closer to clinching their first outright Southeastern District title.
SUFFOLK - Nothing, not even the pouring rain, was going to ruin this night for King’s Fork.
The fifth-ranked Bulldogs, who have never won an outright Southeastern District title, moved a step closer to it with a 21-19 victory over No. 7 Oscar Smith on Friday night.
King’s Fork, which shared the title with Oscar Smith in 2017, now has a commanding two-game lead with games remaining against Deep Creek and Hickory.
“This is huge,” said King’s Fork coach Anthony Joffrion. “I think it’s big for our program and big for our community. The last couple of years, we’ve been finishing second. And I told our kids, we finally established a culture, and I really feel like it showed tonight.”
With rain falling for much of the game, including a torrential downpour at the end of the first half, the Bulldogs put the ball in the hands of running back JaVon Ford II.
He did all of this while nursing shoulder and knee injuries, and he had to be carried off the field twice because of cramps.
“I would do anything for my family,” Ford said. “You got to do what you got to do to get the win. I just did it for the city and my teammates.”
Ford, who is one of the top juniors in the state with more than 10 scholarship offers, carried the load as he rushed 44 times for 239 yards and three touchdowns.
Oscar Smith, which has won at least a share of 17 of the past 18 district titles, scored first when Brandon Nesbit scored on a 27-yard touchdown run. The Tigers missed the extra point, but led 6-0.
Ford scored from 1 yard out just before the half, and Jean-Pierre Bilé kicked the first of his three PATs to put King’s Fork ahead 7-6.
Ford scored his second touchdown in the third quarter when he broke a 35-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a 14-6 lead.
But Oscar Smith (5-3) refused to go away as freshman quarterback Lonnie Andrews threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jamauri Knox. The two-point conversion failed and the Bulldogs led 14-12.
Ford scored his third touchdown on a 3-yard run with 6:31 left for what many thought was the nail in the coffin.
But on third-and-20 from the Oscar Smith 19, Andrews scrambled and found Travis Johnson for an 81-yard touchdown pass with 5:20 left to make it 21-19.
The Tigers had one more chance to win, but Bulldogs defensive back Kaevon Blanding sealed the game with an interception with 50.6 seconds left to all but clinch the district title.
“It means a lot because I’ve never beaten this team before,” Ford said. “But as a team, we always wanted to do it. This year, we got a chance to do it, so we had to come out here and do it.”
Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, [e-mail]