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.”