West Bladen vs Kinston football game Photos by: Jeff Owen
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KINSTON – The high-powered Kinston offense scored early and often Friday night in rolling to a 59-28 win over the West Bladen Knights in the opening round of the 2-A high school football playoffs.
Thomas Vermillion passed for four touchdowns and 274 yards as the unbeaten Vikings built a 40-7 lead late in the first half. Kinston, the top-seeded team in the East, will host Ayden-Grifton next Friday in the second round.
West Bladen finished 5-7, which includes having to forfeit its first win of the season against South Robeson because of an ineligible player. The Knights were seeded 16th in the playoff bracket.
“It’s probably one of the best offenses I’ve seen,” West Bladen coach Russell Dove said about Kinston, which piled up 519 yards on 50 plays from scrimmage. “They’re strong, they’re good, and they could really throw the ball well. It’s one of the best offenses I’ve seen in a while. They’re going to give a lot of people trouble.”
Ronnie Simmons caught a touchdown pass and ran for another for Kinston. Tavon Herns ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. Jeremiah Fields caught two touchdown passes and returned a punt for a score. Anthony Berry Jr. caught six passes for 157 yards and a score. Jamal Burns capped the Vikings scoring with a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
For West Bladen, Daquan Lennon ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns and caught an 18-yard TD pass from Stefan McDonald. Malique McDowell added a touchdown and gained 123 yards on 27 carries. Ray Jones was a perfect 4-for-4 on conversion kicks. The Knights ran 73 plays from scrimmage and gained 300 yards.
“The offense gave (Kinston) a lot of problems,” Dove said. “I wouldn’t say we’re a high-powered offense, but we have a pretty solid offense, and we gave them some problems.
“We couldn’t stop them. They attacked our Achilles heel, our pass defense. They had athletes everywhere.”
Entering the game as a prohibitive underdog, West Bladen opted for an element of surprise on the opening kickoff. Jones’ onside kick bounced perfectly and appeared to be recovered by a West Bladen player, but after a scramble, Kinston gained possession at its own 46.
“We came up with it and their player takes it out of our players’ hands,” Dove said. “I couldn’t believe it. We planned on doing that from the get-go. We didn’t have anything to lose.”
It took the Vikings only three plays to score. Herns ran 39 yards on the first play and gained another 3 on the second play before Vermillion connected with Simmons for a 12-yard touchdown. Bailey Blake’s kick made it 7-0 less than a minute into the game.
Kinston scored twice more in the first quarter in building a 19-0 advantage.
West Bladen put together a 9-play, 55-yard drive after the Vikings’ third score that ended with Lennon barreling over from the 4. Jones’ kick made it 19-7 with 11:35 left in the second quarter.
On the ensuing series, Kinston fumbled and it was recovered by West Bladen’s Idris Najeeullah at the 23. The Knights couldn’t move the ball and punted. Fields took the ball in stride and sprinted 50 yards for the score that made it 26-7 with 10:07 left in the half.
Kinston scored on its next two possession for a 40-7 lead with 3:09 remaining in the half.
West Bladen then marched 55 yards in 10 plays for its second score with 33 seconds remaining in the second quarter. On third-and-10 from the 18, McDonald found Lennon wide open over the middle for the touchdown that made it 40-14.
The Knights took the second half kickoff and went 73 yards on 17 plays, twice converting first downs on third down and once on fourth drive. The march was capped when McDowell bulled up the middle for the final two yards. Jones’ kick made it 40-21 with 4:14 left in the third quarter.
Kinston countered with another touchdown less than a minute later on a Herns’ 22-yard run that made it 47-21.
West Bladen answered with its final touchdown with Lennon scoring from the 10 that made it 47-28 with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
Kinston added a touchdown in the final seconds of the third quarter, then scored its final touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
“We battled back. That’s the bright spot,” Dove said. “I’m proud of the kids. They played hard. They played solid.”
Scoring summary
West Bladen 0 – 14 – 14 – 0 — 28
Kinston 19 – 21 – 13 – 6 — 59
K – Ronnie Simmons 12 pass from Thomas Vermillion (Bailey Blake kick)
K – Simmons 60 run (kick failed)
K – Tavon Herns 14 run (pass failed)
WB – Daquan Lennon 4 run (Ray Jones kick)
K – Jeremiah Fields 50 punt return (Blake kick)
K – Fields 28 pass from Vermillion (kick failed)
K – Anthony Berry Jr. 47 pass from Vermillion (Mermillion pass to Fields)
WB – Lennon 18 pass from Stefan McDonald (Jones kick)
WB – Malique McDowell 2 run (Jones kick)
K – Herns 22 run (Blake kick)
WB – Lennon 10 run (Jones kick)
K – Fields 23 pass from Vermillion (kick failed)
K – Jamal Burns 11 run (kick failed)
Rushing: West Bladen – Malique McDowell 27-123, Daquan Lennon 20-92, B.J. Drake 5-36, Stefan McDonald 5-14, James Moore 10-12, Jeremiah Purdie 1-5. Kinston – Tavon Herns 10-159, Ronnie Simmons 4-64, Jamal Burns 6-45, Tahj Ramsey 3-2, Jeremiah Fields 1-1, Thomas Vermillion 5-(-17).
Passing: West Bladen – McDonald 1-1-1-18. Kinston – Vermillion 15-21-0-274.
Receiving: West Bladen – Lennon 1-18. Kinston – Anthony Berry Jr. 6-157, Fields 5-79, Simmons 2-24, Kam’ryn Webster 2-14.
Records: West Bladen 5-7, Kinston 12-0.
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