Despite controlling the time of possession and keeping the New Kent offense in check most of Friday night’s home game, the Panthers were unable to stop the Trojans from busting out big plays during a 16-13 loss.
On their first possession of the game, Bruton strung together a methodical 10-play drive that took up almost half of the first quarter.
The drive was capped off with a Daniel Jones 13-yard touchdown run to the right side of the field. Bruton’s extra point was blocked, but the Panthers still held a 6-0 advantage.
On New Kent’s opening possession, a failed center-quarterback exchange resulted in a fumble that was recovered by Bruton’s Dailon Donley. Sticking with a ground-and-pound approach, Bruton burned off the remaining 5:07 in the first quarter.
The Panthers were on offense for 10 minutes, 46 seconds of the opening 12 minutes of play. Bruton was forced to punt minutes later, and New Kent seemed poised to answer with a touchdown of its own.
New Kent drove down inside Bruton’s 10-yard line but turned the ball over on downs on an attempted pass. After a long, but eventually stalled possession from Bruton, New Kent received the ball on its own 28-yard line with 20 seconds left.
What happened next was a common theme during the game. Led by a pair of 380-pound offensive linemen, New Kent running back Davion Barnes sprung through the middle of the offensive line and raced past every Bruton defender en route to a 77-yard touchdown run.
Barnes finished the game with 273 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.
A missed two-point conversion from New Kent kept the game tied at 6-6 heading into halftime.
New Kent was set to receive the opening kickoff, but the Trojans’ Lamont Brandon fumbled the ball during the return and set Bruton up with good field position.
The Panthers couldn’t do much with the fumble, eventually turning the ball over on downs after coming up a yard shy on a fake punt. Just four plays into New Kent’s next drive, the Trojans again coughed up the ball and Bruton again recovered.
This time, the Panthers were able to take advantage. With the ball on the New Kent 1-yard line, Bruton quarterback Greg Dockery pushed his way through the pile for a touchdown that put Bruton up 13-6 with 7:23 left in the third quarter.
New Kent again seemed poised to tie the game as the Trojans used big runs by Barnes to get to Bruton’s 1-yard line. However, the Bruton defense stood strong and kept New Kent out of the end zone thanks to a swarming defense.
“We just moved around and we bring a lot of pressure and get into the backfield,” said Bruton Coach Reggie Jones. “We try to stay as disciplined as we can and converge on the football. That’s the game plan week in and week out.”
Pinned deep in their own territory, Bruton was forced to punt after a three-and-out and a 40-yard punt return by New Kent set the Trojans up in scoring range.
After the Bruton defense shut down two running attempts with Barnes, the Trojans used a jet sweep to R.J. Morris to fool the defense and find the end zone, knotting the game up at 13-13.
With the game tied with less than four minutes to play, Barnes again busted off a big run for the Trojans, this time for 65 yards. The long run allowed New Kent to burn precious time off the clock before calling timeout with six seconds left.
“Every game you have maybe three or four games that directly affect a football game. And those plays right there, they affected us,” said Jones about the long runs by Barnes. “[New Kent] didn’t drive on us, they just got big gashes and capitalized.”
New Kent’s kicker Julian Thacker came through for the Trojans, booting an 18-yard field goal with just two seconds left to give New Kent a 16-13 lead.
Bruton (1-3) had one final attempt to win the game on a Hail Mary with one second left, but Dockery’s pass was picked off and the game was finished.
The Panthers will look to snap a three-game losing skid when they travel to take on Tabb Oct. 2.
New Kent: 0 6 0 10 — 16
Bruton: 6 0 7 0 — 13
First Quarter
B: Jones 13 run (kick blocked), 6-0
Second Quarter
N: Barnes 77 run (pass failed), 6-6
Third Quarter
B: Dockery 1 run (Malik kick), 13-7
Fourth Quarter
N: Morris 3 run (Thacker kick), 13-13
N: Thacker 18 FG, 16-13
New Kent; Bruton
First Downs: 9; 16
Rushes-Yards: 36-315; 44-164
Passing Yards: 0; 106
Comp-att-inc: 0-1-0; 10-14-1
Fumbles-lost: 3-2; 0-0
Penalties-yards: 2-10; 6-30
New Kent: Davion Barnes (26 car, 273 yards, TD), R.J. Morris (7 car, 38 yards, TD)
Bruton: Greg Dockery (10-14, 106 yards, 14 car, 52 yards, TD, INT), Daniel Jones (7 car, 29 yards, TD, 6 rec, 58 yards)
Grafton’s Run Game Spurs Clippers to Victory
The Grafton run game was almost unstoppable Friday night as the Clippers rushed for 341 yards and six touchdowns during a 49-14 rout of Tabb.
Grafton opened the first quarter with a pair of long touchdown runs, the first a 69-yarder from Aaron Daugherty and the second a 55-yard QB keeper from DJ Dobbins.
Tabb responded with a long touchdown run of its own to open the second quarter as Carter Wood scampered 41 yards for a touchdown that brought Tabb within eight points.
Ryan Pabon proved to be the breakout player of the night for Grafton, rushing four times for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Pabon opened his night with an 81-yard touchdown less than a minute after Tabb’s first touchdown.
On Tabb’s next possession, a quick three-and-out led to a punt by Stanley Henderson. Grafton’s Demetrius Moore fielded the punt and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown to put Grafton up 28-6.
A 6-yard touchdown run by Rodney Haggins and a two-point conversion with 3:36 left in the first half kept Tabb within two scores of the Clippers.
After a quiet third quarter from both teams, Grafton blew the game open in the fourth quarter.
Five seconds into the final quarter, Trevaun Walker plunged two yards for a touchdown, which was followed up three minutes later by a rushing touchdown from Chase Greene.
Pabon capped the game with a 33-yard touchdown run with 6:09 left to play.
Grafton (3-1) will look to win its third consecutive game when the Clippers host New Kent on Oct. 3. Conversely, Tabb (2-2) will look to rebound from the loss during a home game against Bruton on Oct. 2.
Tabb: 0 14 0 0 — 14
Grafton: 14 14 0 21 — 49
First Quarter
G: Daugherty 69 run (R. King kick), 7-0
G: Dobbins 55 run (R. King kick), 14-0
Second Quarter
T: Wood 41 run (kick missed), 14-6
G: Pabon 81 run (R. King kick), 21-6
G: Moore 57 punt return (R. King kick), 28-6
T: Haggins 6 run (Wusk pass from Marks), 28-14
Fourth Quarter
G: Walker 2 run (R. King kick), 35-14
G: Greene 18 run (R. King kick), 42-14
G: Pabon 33 run (R. King kick), 49-14
Tabb; Grafton
First Downs: 17; 10
Rushes-Yards: 50-187; 25-341
Passing Yards: 79; 19
Comp-att-inc: 10-22-1; 1-8-1
Fumbles-lost: 1-1; 1-0
Penalties-yards: 6-45; 8-70
Tabb: Rodney Haggins (17 car, 83 yards, TD), Carter Wood (13 car, 75 yards, TD)
Grafton: Ryan Pabon (4 car, 140 yards, 2 TDs), DJ Dobbins (1-8, 19 yards, INT, 11 car, 73 yards, TD)
Lafayette Blows Past Jamestown
The Lafayette football team had no trouble putting down Jamestown at Wanner Stadium Friday night, cruising past the Eagles 66-21.
By the end of the first 12 minutes of play, Lafayette had scored four touchdowns and held a 30-0 advantage. At halftime, Lafayette’s lead had grown to 38-7.
The Rams tacked on another 22 points in the third quarter and called off the dogs in the fourth quarter as the Eagles scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to close out the contest.
Lafayette (4-0) has scored more than 40 points in each of its four games this season and has looked like the best team in the Bay Rivers District by far. The Rams will continue their season at home against York on Oct. 3.
Meanwhile, Jamestown (0-4) is looking for its first win of the season but is showing more signs of life than during last year. The Eagles will play host to Warhill on Oct. 2.
Individual statistics were not reported for this game.
Lafayette: 30 8 22 6 — 66
Jamestown: 0 7 0 14 — 21
Fuqua Tops HRA in Penalty-Ridden Contest
Friday evening’s game between Hampton Roads Academy and Fuqua was not a pretty one as both teams combined for 215 penalty yards.
However, Fuqua scored two second-half touchdowns to defeat the Navigators on the road 14-6.
After a scoreless first half, Fuqua got on the board first as Devin Allen scored a 6-yard touchdown on a QB keeper to put the Falcons up 7-0.
Fuqua again got on the board after a mishandled snap during a punt by HRA gave the Falcons the ball inside the red zone. Five plays later, Tyler Frink scored on a 7-yard touchdown run to put the Falcons up 14-0.
Late in the fourth quarter, HRA took to the air as quarterback Chris Leavey threw eight straight times before connecting with Devone Humphrey on a 7-yard touchdown pass.
Unfortunately for the Navigators, the score was too little, too late as Fuqua was able to run out the clock and hold on to the win.
HRA (2-2) will host Norfolk Academy on Oct. 2.
HRA: 0 0 0 6 — 6
Fuqua: 0 0 7 7 — 14
Third Quarter
F: Allen 6 run (kick good), 7-0
Fourth Quarter
F: Frink 7 run (kick good), 14-0
H: Humphrey 7 pass from Leavey (kick failed), 14-6
HRA; Fuqua
First Downs: 12; 18
Rushes-Yards: 16-11; 62-238
Passing Yards: 108; 58
Comp-att-inc: 11-33-1; 7-15-0
Fumbles-lost: 2-1; 2-0
Penalties-yards: 10-100; 12-115
HRA: Chris Leavey (11-31, 108 yards, TD, INT), Thomas Bagley (5 rec, 62 yards)
Fuqua: Tyler Frink (28 car, 127 yards, TD), Devin Allen (16 car, 49 yards, TD)
