Maury trounces Indian River to advance to its third consecutive state championship game
NORFOLK — Indian River’s defense did something Saturday that few teams have been able to do this season against Maury. The Braves stopped the Commodores on their first possession of the game and forced them to punt.
An energetic Braves defense came off the field pumped and ready to go.
But that feeling would be shortlived as the Commodores’ offense, defense and special teams got rolling and beat Indian River 55-0 to advance to next week’s Class 5 state championship game in Charlottesville. Maury will play Stone Bridge, which beat Matoaca, for the Class 5 state title at 5 p.m.
“They get the three-and-out and, of course, they’re going to be hyped,” said Maury coach Dyrri McCain. “But it was key for us to stay poised enough to know we’re fine. We’re not over there bickering. Then the second drive, we come out and score, and then we move on from there. I don’t think much is going to get us rattled just because we’ve been there before.”
The Commodores (14-0) got the ball back after an Indian River punt, and on the third play, quarterback Au’Tori Newkirk threw a quick pass to wide receiver Lebron Bond, who took it 77 yards for the touchdown to help give Maury the 7-0 lead.
Bond, who finished with two touchdowns for 116 yards, also had confidence in the offense.
“I knew our offense was going to get back and we were going to score and put up points,” he said. (On that play), I knew my linemen were going to block for me, and the quarterback threw a good ball to me and I just did it. I know nobody is going to catch me when I get the ball.”
Maury’s defense forced another punt and Ari Watford blocked and recovered it deep inside Indian River territory.
Two plays later, Leon Clark scored on a 1-yard run.
The Commodores’ special teams weren’t finished because on the very next Indian River punt, Kendall Daniels got the block and Hunter Collins picked it up and returned it 17 yards for the touchdown.
Indian River, which came into the game with a seven-game winning streak and last week upset unbeaten and two-time defending Class 5 Region A champion Green Run, never recovered as the rout was on.
Turnovers and penalties stymied the Braves the rest of the game. It got so bad that the game had a running clock in the second half as McCain got a chance to pull his starters after halftime.
But when the game was over, there was no jumping around, no celebration and no Gatorade showers.
It was a subdued group that is focused on next week’s state title game.
The Commodores have lost the past two, including a 27-21 loss to Stone Bridge in 2022.
“It’s a real good feeling (to go to the state title game), but we just got to finish the deal this time,” said senior running back Melvin Lowe, who finished with 70 yards rushing, including a touchdown. “That’s what we’ve been hounding about during the whole offseason and summer workouts. We just got to finish this time.”
The Commodores are just the fifth program from Hampton Roads to play in three consecutive state title games, joining Phoebus, Oscar Smith (2015-17, 2019-21), Lake Taylor (2018-20) and Hampton (1995-98). The Phantoms went four consecutive years from 2008-11 and are making their third straight appearance next week.
“It’s not easy to get back there,” McCain said. “So the fact that we’re here again, we kind of know at this point that we’re not going to take any team lightly. … We’re going to be ready to go. It’s solely about getting it done.”
Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com
