New Kent explodes for 62 first half points in Senior Night win over Jamestown

New Kent’s Alexander Tas (11) delivers a stiff arm to Jamestown’s Jimmy Moore after intercepting a pass, returning it for a touchdown in the process.

Robb Johnson photo

After edging Tabb last week on the gridiron, New Kent High School’s football team knows that they don’t want to face a similar situation as last year by letting the computers decide if they qualify for a regional playoff berth. For that to not happen, the Trojans have to keep winning games on the field. They did just day Friday night.

New Kent exploded to 62 first half points as they easily disposed of the visiting Jamestown Eagles 62-7 to capture the Senior Night win and keep their postseason hopes alive.

Special teams set up the first score for the Trojans, as a blocked Eagles field goal set up the first offensive possession for the hosts. The Trojans marched down the field 74 yards in four minutes, with Joseph Batkins toting the ball in from eight yards out for an early 7-0 lead.

Jamestown’s next possession saw Trojan safety Alexander Tas intercept a pass and return it 35 yards for the second score for the host. Moments later, New Kent’s defense recovered a fumble, resulting in Khoen Christian connecting with Josiah Reedy on a 37-yard touchdown pass and an early 21-0.

But the scoring in the opening frame was not done. The Eagles fumbled the ball on their next two possessions, with the same result happening twice as Batkins would scoop the ball up and score touchdowns from 10 yards and 38 yards out, respectively. By the time the quarter ended, New Kent found themselves up comfortably at 35-0 over Smithfield.

The second quarter saw another barrage of points from the hosts. Touchdowns via a Batkins run, a touchdown reception by Ashton Whitlow, a run by Senior Logan Hodge, and another carry into the end zone by Whitlow, pushed the Trojans lead up to 62-0 with 3:03 remaining in the first half, a score they would take into the halftime intermission. From there, the mercy of a running clock and one touchdown by the visiting Jamestown would wrap up the contest.

New Kent (5-4) travels to two-win Smithfield next week in a situation that will need them to see them win the contest and possibly get additional help to qualify for the Group 3A Region A playoffs.