New Kent defense helps overcome turnovers, penalties in toppling Charles City 27-6 in benefit game

Charles City’s Kyle Jones (1) receives an extra push from teammate Royal Washington (62) to make the line of gain as New Kent’s C.J. Reeders (7) and Hunter Pitts crash into the pile for the tackle.

Andre Jones photos

Friday night’s benefit game pitting crosstown rivals Charles City and New Kent couldn’t have presented a better list of elements of a real contest; a sunny day that turned into a rainfall, a big play to shift momentum, and fans on both sides cheering on their squads. In the end, it was the homestanding Trojans who emerged on top.

Powered by two touchdowns in both the opening and closing quarters, New Kent toppled Charles City 27-6 during the Aug. 19 affair at the historic high school field.

The Trojans wasted little time putting points on the board. Three first down runs by fullback Ryan St. Clair moved the ball into Panther territory. After the visitors seemed to halt the Trojans, a Robert Flournoy connection to Kyle Coles on fourth down continued the drive. From there, Flournoy called his own number and punched the ball into the end zone from 17 yards out. Julian Thacker’s placement upped the score to 7-0 for the hosts.

Charles City’s first offensive drive resulted the Panthers reaching into New Kent territory. But an interception by Trojan defensive back Evan Branch and subsequent return to the Charles City 33-yard line eventually led to C.J. Reeders 3-yard scamper and a 14-0 lead for the hosts after the first quarter.

But the second quarter saw the rawness of New Kent, who was entering into the contest without any previous scrimmages compared to Charles City who faced Surry County the week before. New Kent accumulated four personal foul penalties that resulted in the Panthers keeping their offensive drive alive. The Trojans offense also sputtered, as Charles City’s defense stopped the hosts twice within the 10-yard line, including a goal line defense as time expired at the half.

After the intermission break, New Kent’s defense forced Charles City to punt. Another strong drive saw the hosts get the ball down to the Panthers one-yard line. Charles City called a timeout and the decision paid off.

Reeders fumbled the ball on the next play with Panther defense back Kyle Jones scooping it up for a 97-yard return for a touchdown, slicing the deficit to eight (14-6). Misfortune followed as New Kent fumbled on their next two offensive drives with the Panthers recovering.

But Charles City’s offense failed to threaten a New Kent defense that held the visitors to 105 total yards. After failing to move the ball in the fourth, the Panthers saw hopes of victory fade. One of the final blows saw Flournoy connect with Slater Gammon on fourth and goal from the 16-yard line for a score. The Trojans added one more score with Lamont Brandon’s two-yard plunge, pushing the final margin to 27-6.

After the game, both coaches talked about the positives and negatives of the contest with an emphasis in improving prior to regular season contests.

“I think the team is more familiar with the offense this year,” said New Kent head coach Clark Harrell. “Our defense played aggressively and we made some adjustments in the second half that helped us and hurt them.

“On offense, we decided to spread it out more and it changed things,” he continued. “We were able to get to the outside and be more effective.”

Harrell added comments on the team’s execution in the middle quarters, hoping to clean up penalties and the turnovers.

“Three things can beat us: the other team, yourself, and the referees,” the Trojan head coach continued. “We stopped ourselves tonight with penalties that continued their drives.

“Tonight was our first time we had real action and it could tell by our sloppy play,” Harrell said, pointing to the turnovers. “Those are things we can work on and will get fixed before we head into our season.”

For the Panthers, head coach Steward Greene focused on the positive strides his team made.

“This year we were way more impressive than last year,” he commented, pointing to a 62-27 drubbing by New Kent in last year’s exhibition contest. “They are a very good team over there.

“We had 22 strong tonight and we held our own despite making mistakes,” Greene added. “We didn’t capitalize off of their mistakes and we fought hard for three-and-a-half quarters. We just didn’t finish.”

New Kent will have a bye week before opening up the regular season on Sept. 1 at Colonial Heights. Charles City will travel next Friday (Aug. 26) to Cumberland to start their 2016 campaign.

1st Quarter
NK (9:23)- Flournoy 17 yard run (Thacker kick) 7-0
NK (1:23)- Reeders 3 yard run (Thacker kick) 14-0
3rd Quarter
CC (5:36)- K. Jones 97 yard fumble return (run fail) 14-6
4th Quarter
NK (7:39)- Gammon 14 yard pass from Flournoy (pass fail) 20-6
NK (3:31)- Brandon 2 yard run (Thacker kick) 27-6

Passing (completions/attempts/yards)
CC- Jefferson 7/15/29; 2 int.
NK- Flournoy 8/10/81, 1 TD; Torres 1/1/8.

Rushing (attempts/yards)
CC- Jefferson 14/54, Crawley 6/31, K. Jones 4/-4, Gardner 1/-5.
NK- Reeder 17/105, 1 TD; Curle 4/57, St. Clair 4/50, Flournoy 5/33, Brandon 11/22, Branch 1/2.

Receiving (receptions/yards)
CC- K. Jones 3/22, Vaden 1/12, Crawley 1/7, Thomas 2/-12.
NK- Branch 2/33, Coles 2/26, Gammon 3/25, 1 TD; Simmons 1/8, Curle 1/-3.

New Kent’s Lamont Brandon (9) receives a key block from John Holland (65) as he eludes Charles City’s Andre’ Mason (50).

Evan Branch upends Panthers receiver Justin Thomas after a short reception.

Charles City’s Cameron Vaden hangs on in an attempt to drag down Trojan running back Evan Branch.

Panther quarterback Mason Jefferson (4) attempts to accelerate from a jersey tackle orchestrated by Trojan lineman Trent Ragland.

Trojan wideout Slater Gammon (16) hauls in a pass in front of Charles City’s Kyle Jones to account for the final touchdown of the contest.