Deshaun Wethington had touchdown runs of 47 and 80 yards, a 19-yard catch-and-run off a busted play, and in total accounted for almost 70 percent of the King’s Fork offense. As Bulldogs coach Joe Jones put it, “On offense, I was glad we had No. 4 [Wethington].”
King’s Fork took a 21-0 lead into halftime and never looked back, shutting out host Tabb 31-0 in a 4A South Region playoff opener at Bailey Field. The Bulldogs outgained the Tigers 279-177, and Wethington was a huge part of that.
“We stammered and sputtered on offense some,” Jones said. “Of course when you’ve got a guy like Wethington, who can break it from anywhere, it makes coaches look good.”
The teams traded inconsequential possessions in the early going, as the first four overall possessions went for a mere 26 yards. Then King’s Fork took over after a Tabb punt at the 47-yard line, with 4:19 left in the quarter. One play later, Wethington was standing in the end zone, having gone off-tackle and untouched for 47 yards.
The Tigers’ next possession helped them flip the field somewhat, but a dropped pass from senior tight end Ben Burdett and a delay of game penalty kept them from converting a first down from the Bulldog 43.
It turns out this flipped field position only made for a longer Wethington touchdown, as the sophomore halfback took the first play of the second quarter 80 yards, again untouched. The drive took all of one play and 13 seconds.
Junior Brent Hinson took the ensuing kickoff 48 yards, bulldozing defenders along the way and giving the Tigers their best starting field position at the King’s Fork 42. The Tigers pushed all the way down to the Bulldogs’ 11, taking 5 minutes off the clock in the process, but could not punch it in. Tabb was stuffed on a fourth down try with 6:37 left.
This was the closest the Tigers would get to a score on the evening.
The Bulldogs defense shined, holding Hinson to only 52 yards on 33 carries and forcing a whopping seven interceptions from the Tiger’s quarterbacks. JaQuon Diggs, TyQuan Weston, Notorious Brown, and Kane Miskel all got in on the act, combining for 182 return yards off the turnovers.
If not for some silly blocking in the back penalties, Miskell and Diggs would have had a couple of interception returns for touchdowns. These are the types of errors Jones knows the Bulldogs can’t have to advance in the playoffs.
“We’ve got to play smarter,” Jones said. “The first pick-6, we hit a guy 40 yards down the field. We can’t make those kind of mistakes next week.”
As the Bulldogs move on to play No. 1 Phoebus, the Tigers reflect on missed opportunities.
“We wanted to keep the ball out of their hands because of the talent they have at running back,” Tabb coach Matt Lawson said after the game. “We did a nice job against the option tonight. I’m pretty proud of our kids but we’ve got to keep going.”
King’s Fork 31 Tabb 0
Totals
King’s Fork; Tabb
Total Offense: 279; 177
Rushing Offense: 32 for 250; 41 for 139
Passing offense: 22; 38
Turnovers: 0; 7
King’s Fork QB Uriah Adams: 4/7, 22 yards, TD. 14 rushes for 46 yards, TD
Tabb QB Nicholas Hunter: 6/18, 33 yards, 5 ints; 6 rushes for 16 yards
Tabb QB Wil Marks: 2/5, 5 yards, 2 ints
Tabb RB Michael McGinley: 10 rushes for 31 yards
Tabb RB Brent Hinson: 21 rushes for 52 yards
King’s Fork RB Deshaun Wethington: 10 rushes for 170 yards, 2 TDs. Rec, 19 yards
