Kinston-C.B. Aycock

By Michael Moon
Published in Sports on October 19, 2008 2:00 AM

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Kinston Free Press Correspondent

KINSTON -- A cool, rainy night couldn't put a damper on Kinston High's homecoming festivities Friday night as the Vikings defeated Charles B. Aycock 27-7 in Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference play.

It didn't take long for Kinston to seize control against the Falcons. Junior Josh Benoit (13 carries, 94 yards) took the opening kickoff 79 yards to the Falcons' 11-yard line. Junior Chris Brown promptly scampered into the end zone on the Vikings' first play from scrimmage.

"Our kickoff return really set the tone," said first-year Kinston coach Battle Holley. "Our goal each week is to run a kickoff back or run it past the 40. We got good field position on both our returns tonight."

After forcing Aycock to punt on its first possession, the Vikings (5-2, 2-0 ECC) marched 75 yards in seven plays and scored again on a 49-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Dori Hines to receiver Kewitt Koonce. The junior wide-out also had an interception on defense.

The long scoring play gave the Vikings a 14-0 lead with 5:09 to play in the first half.

"If we don't stop the big play, we don't win," said Aycock coach Randy Pinkowski. "We had their quarterback dead in the rights. We called the perfect blitz, and our outside linebacker came around untouched. Their guy just steps around and scores a touchdown."

The Falcons, aided in large part by 40 yards in Kinston penalties, answered on their next drive -- a 61-yard, 10-play series. Quarterback Craig Murdock walked into the end zone from 7 yards out to bring his team within 14-7.

The Vikings, however, came right back with another big play of their own. Brown, who finished with 160 yards on 11 carries, added his second touchdown of the night on a 64-yard run.

"The big plays make us work harder to score more," said Brown. "Our O-line blocked good for us, and that's why I was able to make some big plays. They always come through for me."

Sergio Duarte's kick made the score 21-7.

The Falcons looked like they were on their way to getting back into the game on their first possession of the second half. After moving into Viking territory, Aycock handed off to junior Marcus Cobb (23 carries, 114 yards). Cobb sprinted 40 yards on the play, but Kinston's Demarcus Quinerly forced a fumble and linebacker Tykeem Williams fell on the ball at the 4.

"Our defense played very well tonight," said Holley. "Our corner did a good job coming from the back side to strip the ball on that play."

Following the fumble, Kinston moved the ball 96 yards on a 10-play drive that erased more than five minutes of clock. The drive culminated with a 37 yard pass from Hines (117 yards and two touchdowns on 5 of 14 passing) to Brown to make the score 27-7.