Bayside intercepted five passes Friday night on its home field and relied on Kam Kirby’s two touchdown passes to Breon Hardnett to beat No. 11 Salem 34-21 in a Beach District game.
Salem starting quarterback Landen Curles was out with an injury. After Kirby’s 5-yard touchdown run, Kyron Brown picked off a Cam Hall pass and ran it back 45 yards for a 13-0 first-quarter lead just 23 seconds later.
Hall threw a 30-yard TD pass to Kaden Drenning on the next possession to pull the SunDevils within 13-7. They then stopped Bayside at the 1-yard line to keep their halftime deficit at six points.
Salem’s Markus McCoy intercepted a pass and returned it for an apparent touchdown, but the long return was nullified because of a penalty for a block in the back. Bayside’s Isaiah Newton picked off a pass on the third play of the SunDevils’ ensuing drive, leading to Kirby’s 11-yard TD pass to Hardnett.
Despite another Hardnett TD reception, Salem scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and recovered a Brown fumble with 4:21 left, giving the SunDevils (2-1) a chance to move ahead.
But on fourth-and-16, Jy’Aire Collins intercepted a desperation pass for his second pick of the game. He returned it to the Salem 30, and Brown scored the clinching TD run from 21 yards two plays later.
Bayside was coming off a game in which it lost 37-20 to Kempsville, having fallen behind 28-0 in the first half, and fell out of the 757Teamz Top 15.
“As always, you are what you resolve to be. Things will happen, and it’s how you respond to it,” Bayside coach Jon White said. “Our guys learned from their own mistakes last week.”
– Reported by Charlie Baumgardner
Norcom masters Manor
Cortez Phillips and Carlik Franklin ran for two touchdowns as Norcom pulled away for a 38-8 victory at Manor in an all-Portsmouth clash.
“We’re just glad we made it through the gauntlet of our first three games, and now we can focus on the district with this win,” said Norcom coach Anthony Hawkins, whose team began the year with defeats to Thomas Jefferson of Richmond, Petersburg and 2024 state Class 4 runner-up Varina.
Diandre Atkins helped give the Greyhounds (1-3) a 7-0 lead, wresting a 30-yard touchdown pass from Emory Hurt away from a defensive back.
The Mustangs (2-2) came back as Ja’ron Sykes caught a 49-yard Tyrell Benton pass to the 1-yard line, then grabbed another pass for a 1-yard touchdown. Benton’s two-point conversion pass put Manor ahead 8-7.
A long reception by Marquell Johnson, who made five catches for 111 yards, set up Phillips’ 1-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.
Norcom’s Treveon Styles blocked a punt and recovered at the Manor 5, setting up a Hurt TD run that put the Greyhounds ahead 19-8 with 3:05 left in the second quarter.
The second half was all Norcom. While its defense stifled the Mustangs, Phillips ran for a 2-yard touchdown before the speedy Franklin scored from 19 and 2 yards.
Franklin finished with 75 yards on 13 rushes.
Manor fumbled seven times and lost two, and the teams combined for 260 yards in penalties.
– Reported by Gary Lassiter
Around the area
No. 9 Warwick 61, Heritage 0: The Raiders jumped out to a 37-point first-quarter lead and coasted in squaring their record to 2-2. Quarterback Zyire White-Epps accounted for the first three offensive touchdowns, on runs of 44 and 2 yards, as well as a 17-yard pass to Zamir Eley.
Included in the early blitz were Dylan Boone’s 25-yard interception return for a TD and linebacker Tracy Pope’s tackle for a safety and his 65-yard fumble return for a score. After the 37-0 first quarter, Raiqwan Edlow began the second-quarter scoring with a 46-yard touchdown run.
The lead ballooned via Tyler Ruder’s 40-yard field goal, Omari Meredith’s 20-yard touchdown run and Gamyr Thornton’s 32-yard run that included an improbable spin from the grasp of a would-be tackler.
No. 13 Poquoson 45, Grafton 10: For the better part of a quarter, it looked as if the Clippers might deny Islanders coach Elliott Duty career victory No. 150. Poquoson (4-0) bounced back quickly and won big to set up a showdown against No. 7 Lafayette (4-0) likely to decide the Bay Rivers District championship.
Grafton (1-3) forged a 10-0 lead behind Caleb Heretick’s 20-yard field goal and Xzavieon Hendrick’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Jshon Teague. But things went south for the Clippers following a poor punt snap that gave the Islanders two points on a safety.
From there, the Islanders’ ground-and-pound run game out of the Wing-T wore out the Clippers. Austin Conley sandwiched touchdown runs of 35 and 22 yards around Cody Little TD runs of 1, 3 and 5 yards as Poquoson led 38-10 by the middle of the third quarter.
Kahle Zerbe’s interception return gave Poquoson its final points and Duty’s 150th win as its coach.
“It takes a great coaching staff and a lot of great players to get to 150 victories,” Duty said.
York 34 Gloucester 0: The Falcons (2-1) ran the ball for almost 400 yards, with Evan Muangkhao accounting for almost 200, along with four touchdowns.
Muangkhao broke for a 93-yard TD run, while his other three rushing scores came inside the red zone. Falcons fullback Jordan Hawthorne ran 8 yards for the other score.
Brothers Carter Ward and Gavin Ward, edge rushers, and strong safety Cooper Leach were standouts on the York defense that held the Dukes (0-4) in check all night.
“We executed the way we needed to,” York coach Doug Pereira said. “We were pretty much downhill rushing the ball all night. I’ll give Gloucester credit; they played tough.”
Bethel 54, Denbigh 15: The Bruins (2-2) used the short game to build a big early lead in rebounding nicely from a loss six days earlier to Warwick and beat the Patriots (1-3) handily. Quarterback Alex Lewis ran for three 1-yard touchdowns and Amari Pryear ran for a 1-yard TD as the Bruins led 27-7 at halftime.
Lewis went to the air in the third quarter, passing 14 yards to Kasyn Campbell for a touchdown to make it 34-7. Darren Andrews scored a defensive touchdown for the Bruins, returning a fumble 65 yards to increase the lead to 40-7.
The Patriots retaliated on Kevin Parker’s 78-yard touchdown pass to Callen Morrison — complementing their 71-yard first-quarter hookup. Pryear added touchdown runs of 60 and 4 yard in the fourth quarter to stifle any comeback hopes by the Patriots.
St. Christopher’s 17, Norfolk Academy 10: The Saints (4-0) beat the host Bulldogs (3-1) in a duel of teams seeking a VISAA Division I playoff berth. The Richmond-area Saints took an early 14-0 lead with a pair of Chase Roberts touchdowns and held on.
Roberts had 183 all-purpose yards. South Carolina recruit Darius Gray had seven tackles (four for loss) and two sacks, and Aiden White had 12 carries for 97 yards. MJ Crocker, Austin Robinson and Drew Pendlebury each intercepted passes.
Friday night’s scores
757Teamz Top 15
#4 Green Run 20, Cox 7
#5 King’s Fork 56, Great Bridge 14
#6 Nansemond River 40, #14 Western Branch 6
#9 Warwick 61, Heritage 0
Bayside 34, #11 Salem 21
#13 Poquoson 45, Grafton 10
Bay Rivers District
Smithfield 32, Warhill 29
York 34, Gloucester 0
Beach District
Kellam 28, Ocean Lakes 21
Landstown 53, Princess Anne 6
Tallwood 20, First Colonial 17
Eastern District
Lake Taylor 53, Booker T. Washington 20
Norcom 38, Manor 8
Norview 20, Granby 7
Peninsula District
Bethel 54, Denbigh 15
Southeastern District
Deep Creek 41, Hickory 24
Nondistrict
Churchland 65, Henrico 0
Northampton 62, Windsor 22
Private schools
Catholic 33, Isle of Wight Academy 6
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy 56, Hampton Roads Academy 0
North Cross 53, Atlantic Shores Christian 12
St. Christopher’s 17, Norfolk Academy 10
Saturday’s games
#8 Indian River at #2 Oscar Smith, 1 p.m.
Greenbrier Christian at Randolph-Macon Academy, 7 p.m.