New Kent Middle School Lions win Bay Rivers District championship

By Community Member | November 2, 2016 9:53 am

New Kent Middle School's football team, cheerleaders, and coaching staff celebrate with the Bay Rivers District championship trophy after a 20-8 win Saturday night.

New Kent Middle School’s football team earned the Bay Rivers District Championship title with a 20-8 victory over Berkeley Middle School on Oct. 29.

The Lions finished the season with a 7-1 record, bringing home the trophy for the first time in school history. The team outscored opponents 269-88 over the eight-game span.

“Their desire to be the best and determination to get better each day helped them achieve their goal of a championship set back in early August,” said New Kent Lions head coach Doug Smith in a press release.

“Our goal for this year was more than to win a championship. We wanted to continue the message started two years ago that New Kent Football is on the rise.”

Smith also commented and thanked his coaching staff for the support to develop the team throughout the fall season.

“As a coaching staff, our goal is to develop student-athletes to be fierce competitors with humble hearts,” the head coach continued. “We believe this year both the coaches and players were able to achieve our goals for the season.”

The victory over the Berkeley Bulldogs was extra special for New Kent, as they were the only team to defeat the Lions during regular season play. Smith hopes the goals set at the middle school level set a precedence for those players to contribute at the high school level as well as other localities to the improvement of football in New Kent County.