New Kent suffers more growing pains in loss to Smithfield

New Kent quarterback Mike Burt puts a move on Smithfield defender Marcus Gundy on a run for a first down in the third quarter.

Alan Chamberlain photos

In a vast departure from seasons past, New Kent’s football team has presented stiff challenges to every opponent faced so far this season. Friday’s Senior Night clash with Smithfield’s invading Packers was no different.

The Trojans overcame a 20-6 halftime deficit to overtake the Packers. But as is often the case with young teams (New Kent has only six seniors on its 37-man roster) in the throes of rebuilding, untimely errors helped the visitors escape with a 33-20 victory. New Kent fell to 2-5 while Smithfield improved to 4-2.

“I’m real proud of them,” Trojan head coach Clark Harrell said afterward. “We could have come out in the second half and laid down, but we didn’t.

“I told our seniors that this is first time in their four years that a New Kent team has ever scored on Smithfield,” he said. “Last year, that scoreboard read 43-0 at halftime.”

And Harrell should know. He was on the opposite sideline a year ago as the Packers’ head coach. Now he is tasked with turning around a program that hasn’t produced a winning season in 11 years. Already his Trojans have matched last season’s win total and are poised to accomplish something no New Kent football team has done in eight years — win three or more games.

“But rebuilding a program is a journey,” he added. “It’s a process, and it’s taking steps. It doesn’t always happen as fast as you want it.”

No one, however, can argue that the Trojans have failed to improve. All six previous contests have been winnable, and against the Packers, the hosts had their opportunities.

Smithfield took advantage of good field position off a short Trojan punt and a 25-yard return to find the end zone on their first offensive series. Running back Lowell Patron raced the final six yards around the right side to cap a three-play, 25-yard drive and help open a 7-0 lead.

The Trojans, however, answered quickly. One their first play following the Packer kickoff, running back Davion Barnes bolted off the right side untouched for 76 yards and a Trojan TD, narrowing the gap to 7-6.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Packers fumbled away the ball near midfield. Bryce St. Clair recovered, handing New Kent opportunity to take the lead, but the Trojan drive stalled at the Packer 25 yard line where Barnes was stopped for no gain on fourth down and three.

Smithfield’s defense targeted Barnes the rest of the way, never allowing the area’s top rusher to break loose on any runs for more than eight yards. He finished with 170 yards and two TDs on 33 carries.

The Packers, meanwhile, put together a dozen plays that amassed more than 10 yards, including an 18-yard William Robinson touchdown run and a 21-yard Nicholas Turner-to-Christopher Pierce scoring toss to create the visitors’ halftime bulge.

“[The Packers] have got a lot of speed, and with the kind of speed they’ve got, our young players had trouble dealing with that,” Harrell said.

His team, however, caught a break early in the second quarter when Turner fumbled and defender Wyatt Terry pounced on the loose ball at the Packer 23. Three plays later, R.J. Morris took a pitchout around the right side on a seven-yard TD sprint. Barnes’ conversion run closed the gap to 20-14.

Another break came New Kent’s way when an apparent 71-yard TD burst by Robinson came back thanks to an illegal block. The teams then waged a field position battle won by New Kent when defensive lineman Mike Dorer covered a Packer fumble on the visitors’ 34 yard line.

Quarterback Mike Burt’s nine-yard keeper on fourth down and three from the 26 kept the Trojan drive alive. Five straight carries by Barnes led to his second TD, this time from three yards away, to tie the game with 7:03 left to play. A fumbled snap on the point-after try prevented the hosts from moving in front, and more mistakes followed.

On the next series, a personal foul call for grabbing the face mask handed Smithfield a first down on the Trojan 30 yard line, eventually leading to Pierce’s second TD catch. An interception ended New Kent’s next possession, with the Packers capitalizing on a Patron 62-yard TD run for a 33-20 lead. Then with under 3:30 to go, Morris seemingly made the contest a one-score game, returning Smithfield’s kickoff 82 yards, but an illegal block wiped out the TD.

Harrell, meanwhile, downplayed the fact he was facing his old team, saying the matter never entered into the contest.

“I don’t know how much of a factor all that was,” he said. “There probably were some over there who wanted to beat me, but when the whistle blew, we just played ball.”

New Kent defender Lamont Brandon drags down Smithfield ball carrier William Robinson.