New Kent grinds out 41-14 triumph over Jamestown

New Kent running back Davion Barnes lunges for additional yardage as Jamestown's Austin Berry (7) and Tori Luedde make the tackle.

Alan Chamberlain photo

A devastating second half ground attack — one that avoided mistakes that plagued the first half — lifted New Kent’s host Trojans to a 41-14 football conquest of Jamestown’s Eagles. Friday night’s outcome, meanwhile, marked the Trojans’ first win, reversing a 0-2 start.

The hosts unleashed a one-two punch out a shotgun formation in the backfield. Led by Trenton Orie’s 196 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries plus Davion Barnes’ 166 yards (140 in the second half) and two touchdowns on 22 totes, the Trojans pounded the Eagles into submission.

The victory provided welcome relief for a team that had been on the short end of a pair of one-sided contests to open the season.

“We did a better job of not giving up the big plays like we did at King William and last week to some extent and creating some big plays in our favor,” said Trojan head coach Dan Rounds.

Big play number one came with the opening kickoff. Return man R.J. Morris gathered in the ball at his own six yard line and raced untouched 94 yards to the end zone to help give New Kent the early 7-0 lead.

The hosts appeared to go up by two TDs on their first offensive series when Orie scampered 51 yards to the end zone. A holding call, however, nullified the effort, and a short time later, Jamestown knotted the affair at 7-all.

“That put us in a bad spot,” Round said, fearing another meltdown. “When something goes bad, we let it stay with us, but we did a good job of fighting that off.”

The Eagles threatened to take the lead, but Duncan McDevitt’s 26-yard field goal try fell short. On the next play, Orie took a direct snap, started left, and cut back on an 80-yard sprint to the end zone. Peter Stano’s placement put New Kent up 14-7, a score that would stand into the second half.

“At halftime, we told our guys to stay consistent,” Rounds said. “We didn’t change much in our blocking scheme, but the key was we didn’t turn the ball over and we didn’t make penalties.

“We stressed on defense that we need to get off the field on third downs,” he said. “we had some kids that made plays and if you’re going to be a player, you’ve got to do your part and make plays.”

The Trojans overcame what normally would be a drive-killing holding call to mount a 68-yard drive culminating in Orie’s one-yard plunge with 30 seconds left in the third quarter. Jamestown answered with a scoring drive of its own to close the gap to 21-14, but New Kent marched 65 yards in nine plays to begin to pull away on Orie’s third TD, this time from three yards out.

Defense set up New Kent’s final two scores. Linebacker Tyler Jenkins pounced on an errant Eagle lateral at the visitors’ 27 yard line. Four plays later, the hosts were back in the end zone on Barnes’ three-yard run.

Eagle quarterback J.J. Boyd fumbled on the next series, and Jenkins responded again, covering the ball at the visitors’ 32. Barnes capped a three play march with a 16-yard burst off the left side.

For the night, the Trojans amassed 383 yards from scrimmage with all but two on the ground. The defense, meanwhile, surrendered 197 rushing yards and held the Eagle passing attack to four completions in 18 tries for a mere 45 yards.

Friday night’s win gives Rounds confidence that the season could be turning around for his Trojans.

“We’ve got a lot of injuries, so we’ve got to stay healthy and continue to get better,” he said. “Our young kids have got to work on technique and staying focused.”