Trojans surrender first 26 points of game, falls to Tabb on gridiron

New Kent’s Owen Payne (4) looks to bring down Tabb running back Camden Torry (2) in the open field.

Robb Johnson photo

After two consecutive years in the playoffs, New Kent’s football team entered the Sept. 17 home contest against a Tabb Tigers team who were hungry for a win. But self-inflicted penalties by the Trojans early in the contest resulted in a deficit that the team could not make up.

Tabb scored 26 first half points and New Kent could not close the gap as the visiting Tigers defeated the Trojans 26-14 in the Bay Rivers District affair.

In the first half of the game, New Kent was marred as holding penalties negated several big plays and first downs. The Tigers exploited New Kent’s weaknesses and miscues, as an early fumble led to a Corbin Eckert touchdown toss to provide the visitors a 6-0 first quarter lead.

In the second quarter, more blunders by the Trojans took place as Dylan Bowman’s fumble resulted in a Tabb recovery. Eckert would throw his second touchdown pass of the game, upping the visitors lead to 13-0. Eckert added a third score through the air and toted one on the ground as the visiting Tigers found themselves up 26-0 on New Kent. The Trojans finally got on the board with less than 30 seconds remaining until the halftime break, as 89-yard run by Sherman Wynn set up Blake Gregory’s five-yard touchdown plunge, reducing Tabb’s lead to 19 (26-7) as both teams headed into the halftime break.

In the beginning of the third quarter, New Kent found the end zone less than four minutes in as Jakub Bowen’s scamper reduced the Tigers’ lead down to a dozen (26-14). But New Kent’s offense sputtered as Tabb applied several defensive schemes, confusing blocking assignments for the young offensive linemen and allowing Tabb to capture the victory.

After the game, New Kent Head Coach Scott Girolmo spoke about the attempted comeback by his team and hopes they learn from the situation of being down big early.

“The team showed guts and resolve in the second half,” he said. “When this team plays together while playing one play at a time, they show their toughness and talent.

“This is a valuable lesson that this team has the capability of fighting any challenge that comes their way,” Girolmo continued. “We can overcome the most difficult challenges together going forward.”

New Kent falls to 1-3 on the season.