The visiting James Kenan Tigers mauled the Hobbton Wildcats in prep football Friday night. The final score was 42-0, Kenan.
James Kenan coach Ken Avent, Jr. said, “I thought we played good all night on both sides of the ball. Offensively, we threw the ball well and ran the ball as well. Defensively, we were able to get the shut-out. I real proud of our guys. We had a good week of practice and played well tonight.”
Hobbton coach Robert Hill said, “I don’t mind getting beat by a better team. They’re one of the better teams in the state. They get to the ball good. They do a good job on offense. That’s just something we have to work on and hopefully, in the future we can mold our program after what they have done.”
Hobbton had first chance and ran three and punted. Hobbton’s Omar Farrior got a good punt with a good roll putting the Tigers on their own 9-yard line.
They turned the afterburners on scoring on a 12-yard pass from Ken Avent to John Brooks taking just 3 minutes off the clock covering 91 yards. Diego Benitez’s point after kick gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
The Wildcats returned the ball to their 39-yard line on the kick-off. On second down, Zach Melvin picked off a pass from Hobbton’s Gregory Herring at the 3:42 mark in the first quarter.
James Kenan turned that into a score on an 8-yard run by Darryl Shipman. Benitez’s kick gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.
On the next possession, Hobbton ran 3 and kicked, again. James Kenan took over at the 43-yard line with 6:33 left in the half. With 2:29 left, Melvin scored on a 1-yard run. With Benitez’s kick, the score was 21-0.
Kenan’s Chris Jones picked Herring again at the Wildcat 40-yard line returning it to the 20-yard line before being run out of bounds. With 1:03 left in the half, Kenan scored again on 6-yard pass play from Avent to Brooks to to go up 27-0. Benitez’s kick gave the Tigers a 28-0 lead at the break.
Kenan opened the second half blazing. They covered 60 yards in 2 pass plays for another score. The score came on a 40-yard pass play from Avent to Brooks. Benitez’s kick gave the Tigers a 35-0 lead taking 22 seconds off the clock.
Kenan got the final score of the game with 5:46 left in the third period on a 1-yard run by Shipman. Benitez’s kick made it 42-0; after which, the clock ran continuously for the rest of the game. Avent put his younger players in at that point and it was basically run out the clock.
Raekwon Bryant led the Wildcat rushing with 20 yards.