After a relatively close game last week against Brunswick Academy, Isle of Wight Academy wasn’t messing around this week.

The Chargers held Fuqua School to just 81 yards of total offense, including only 29 in the second half, and cruised to a 37-0 win in Virginia Commonwealth Conference football action Friday night.

IWA is ranked No. 1 in the Virginia Independent Schools Division III poll.

Isle of Wight head coach Dale Chapman said his team was given a jolt by Brunswick Academy last week.

“We played a little flat last week against Brunswick, and they hit us in the mouth. I think that’s what we needed. Every once in a while, a team needs to be challenged,” Chapman said. “I challenged the defense all week. We had one of the best Wednesday practices in the 16 years since I’ve been here. They were focused and they were ready.”

The scoreboard at IWA was not working due to a lightning strike during the week. Lightning not only struck the scoreboard but also Fuqua School’s defense. The Chargers took the opening kickoff and marched down the field in four plays (aided by a Fuqua face-mask penalty) and scored on a one-yard run by Heath Price. Justin Vick kicked the extra point to put IWA up 7-0.

An interception by Price, one of three on the evening, set IWA up for another score in the first quarter. An 11-yard run and a 12-yard run by quarterback Daniel Brown helped move the team down to the Fuqua 6. Brown then hit Zack Lamb in the end zone for a touchdown. Vick’s extra point made it 14-0.

IWA kept the scoring going at the beginning of the second quarter. With a 17-yard pass from Brown to Zack Warnick and 11-yard runs by Price and Marshall Nixon, the Chargers (5-0) made it down to the Fuqua 20 but stalled. Vick, a first-year kicker as a junior, booted a 36-yard field goal for a 17-0 lead.

The Chargers scored on their first series of the second half to put the game away. Brown broke though the backfield and scored on a 37-yard touchdown run for a 23-0 lead.

IWA also scored on a 6-yard touchdown run by Ryan Quesinberry and a 1-yard run by Warnick.

Defensively, IWA held the Falcons offense in check, especially in the second half. Fuqua had just 29 yards of offense in the second half, 22 of it came in one play. The Falcons had 7 yards of rushing in the second half.

“The defense was very strong and very aggressive. That’s what I asked them to do before the game,” Chapman said.

Brown was 6-for-9 through the air for 73 yards. Heath Price rushed for 81 yards on 13 carries, Quesinberry rushed for 78 yards on 13 carries, and Brown ran for 63 yards on five carries.

The Chargers host a big game against Broadwater Academy Friday at 7:30 p.m.