Kinston Falls
KINSTON - Goliath strolled into Kinston Friday night. Unfortunately for
the hometown Vikings, David was missing his slingshot.
Kinston High (2-4), playing without leading rusher Mike Thompson, walked
away with a 35-19 loss, courtesy of visiting Wilmington Hoggard (5-0),
which is ranked No. 3 in the latest 4-A football poll. But the Vikings
from Kinston walked away with their heads held high.
“I told the guys they can take this game and decide whether to grow from
it or take a step back,” said Kinston coach Tony Edwards.
To hear his players tell it, Kinston is ready to build on the
closer-than-the-odds-makers-predicted loss.
“This game builds us up for our conference,” said senior quarterback Bo
Ingram, who completed nine passes for 123 yards for the Vikings in
Green. “They’re No. 3 in the state, if I’m not mistaken. Playing teams
that are ranked is good. It’s a learning experience.”
The Vikings in Blue scored early and often, with runs from Rashad
Williams and Saquan Coggins serving as bookends to a 35-7 scoring spree
going into the fourth quarter.
Kinston’s lone first-half score came on an 11-play drive in the first
quarter that was capped by a 16-yard scoring run from running back
Antonio Phillips. The senior, filling in for the injured Thompson,
finished with 81 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 15 carries.
“It feels terrible watching the game from the sidelines,” said Thompson,
who has led Kinston’s offense with seven total touchdowns and a 130-plus
yard rushing average through the team’s first five games. “Antonio and
(Khristian Murphy) picked up the slack a lot. They did great.”
Murphy ran the ball 11 times for 35 yards, all of which came in the
first half.
Hoggard started the scoring on its opening drive, taking just over two
minutes and four plays to drive 48 yards. Williams, who led all rushers
with 225 yards, ran it in from 29 yards for one of two touchdowns on the
night.
Kinston answered on its next possession when Phillips scored from 16
yards - one of his two scores.
“I just followed my blockers,” he said. “(Hoggard) was pretty good, but
our linemen really stepped up.”
Hoggard scored the next four touchdowns to make the score 35-7 going
into the fourth quarter, but Kinston displayed a gritty, never-say-die
attitude, scoring twice in the final quarter while holding the Vikings
from Wilmington to three-and-outs on their only two possessions of the
quarter.
“Kinston deserves a lot of credit,” said Hoggard coach Scott Braswell.
“They came out and played hard. We got a couple of quick scores
early, but they dug in and fought back. It would have been easy for them
to give up, but they didn’t.
“I’m very impressed with the way Kinston has developed over the last two
weeks from the film we got. They’re going to be a very good football
team.”
Kinston defensive back Kewitt Koonce intercepted a pass late in the
third quarter to chip away at Hoggard’s momentum, and Phillips scored
his second touchdown on a seven-yard run one possession later.
The hometown Vikings’ final score came with 2:03 remaining in the fourth
quarter. Kinston appeared to be stopped when Hoggard’s stingy defense
forced a fourth-and-21 from Kinston’s 37. But the Vikings in Green
decided to go for it, and Ingram heaved a bomb down the sideline that
was tipped by a Hoggard defensive back into the hands of Kinston
receiver Ricardo Davis for a 62-yard strike that set up a one-yard
touchdown run by Sir’tera Brewer.
“We finally got a break on that last series,” said Edwards, referring to
the long pass play. “I know we didn’t win, but things may finally be
turning around. This is a game we can build on. They were ranked third
in the state. I feel like we have a chance at winning the conference.”
