James Kenan junior Cal Avent, left, gets assistance from teammates Alex Jesus Vasquez (55) and Dakota Henderson (61) as he stops Kinston’s Jeremiah Hart for a three-yard loss on a fourth-down stop Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
WARSAW — Cal Avent followed his instinct.
What happened next became a magical, extraordinary moment for the James Kenan lineman.
Avent burst through an open seam and double-leg tackled Kinston running back Jeremiah Hart from behind. Teammates Alex Jesus Vasquez and Dakota Henderson assisted on the pivotal fourth-d0wn, three-yard stop.
“Yeah, that was a big momentum changer,” Avent said. “I just saw him go up the side and booted out with him, made the tackle on the right side.”
Less than three minutes later, the Tigers found the end zone. Josh Mitchell’s eight-yard scramble started a wild scoring flurry by both teams that turned the East Central 2A affair into an instant classic.
Big offensive explosions and two additional defensive stops eventually propelled the Tigers past the Vikings, 28-25, before a standing-room-only crowd at Bill Taylor Field.
James Kenan improved to 7-0 for the first time since 2013 and climbed to 3-0 in league matters this season.
Kinston (5-3 overall) saw its five-game win streak snapped and endured its first ECC defeat in four outings.
“Surreal,” Tigers coach Tim Grady said. “Momentum, we knew that was going to be a major factor … big defensive stops [and] big turnovers. We were waiting for those opportunities to strike and praise the Lord they did.”
The Vikings logged the first big play.
Tiger running back Josh Mitchell rambled into the end zone and fumbled the ball. Alex Moore answered with a 100-yard “scoop and score” that could have easily broken the Tigers’ spirit.
Instead, junior quarterback Eli Avent directed a game-tying, 56-yard drive capped by his 1-yard dive.
Kinston answered on Moore’s 1-yard run with less than 30 seconds remaining before halftime.
A fiery Grady delivered a speech that may require a new paint job on the locker room walls. He assured no finger pointing or whining among players occurred.
“I got a little heated and said ‘let’s go back to the Lord here and get our roots back … we’re not going to let a little bit of adversity [against] a team that’s actually challenging [us],’” he said.“If you want to go the distance in the playoffs, you’ve got to go through athletes like this and I think they just took it to heart.”
Kinston effectively moved the football through the air with Tyler Jones and Tyreek Copper hooking up for big completions. Two short-yardage runs from Hart gave the Vikings a fourth-and-1 just inside the Tigers’ 40-yard line in the third quarter.
Enter Cal Avent.
His bone-jarring stop awoke the Tigers.
Mitchell scored 2 1/2 minutes later before the Vikings answered with a go-ahead touchdown pass. Mitchell broke off a 60-yard run to put Kenan back in front, 21-19.
“It changed momentum,” Avent said.
The defense did the rest.
Down by two, Kinston imploded on its next possession with four infractions – face-mask that negated a long run, holding on a pass completion, illegal procedure and delay of game.
Kenan forced a turnover on downs.
Nine seconds into the final period, Jeremiah Hall galloped 35 yards to the end zone. The Tigers led 28-19.
The Vikings returned the kickoff to midfield and benefited from a horse-collar tackle. Jones and Copper hooked up for their second TD of the night, which closed the gap to 28-25.
“They were so hard to stop, had to get the ball out of their hands, especially No. 2 [Copper] … that kid, oh my goodness he is such an athlete,” Grady said. “That is an explosive … very dangerous team right there.”
On the ensuing kickoff, Kinston recovered a fumble.
Jones directed the team inside the Tigers’ 15-yard line. Kenan responded with a stop at the line of scrimmage. A false-start penalty preceded two incomplete passes that forced another turnover on downs.
Kenan took over.
Eli Avent fed Kinston’s defense a steady diet of hand-offs to Cal Avent, David “Cito” Zeleya and Mitchell that exhausted the final 7:50 off the clock.
“Our defense … you’ve got guys like Hassan Kornegay, Josh Mitchell, Cal Avent and a host of others – especially the guys up front – who never come off the field,” Grady said. “If you have a bad a night and don’t get good matchups, a team like that right there is going to hurt your feelings.
“The leadership on this defense has been great, man. I love the energy. I love the physicality they play with. It’s just wonderful.”
Kenan improved to mind-boggling 11-0 against Lenoir County teams since the ECC’s newest realignment in 2021. Grady takes his team to Wheat Swamp for a matchup against North Lenoir next Friday.
You may reach sports writer Rudy Coggins at prepswriter2@gmail.com or call/text 919-709-9257.
James Kenan 28, Kinston 25
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
K — Moore 100 fumble return (Bradshaw kick), 9:13
JK — E. Avent 1 run (Gomez kick), 4:43
K — Moore 1 run (kick failed), 0:26.4
Third Quarter
JK — Mitchell 10 run (Gomez kick), 8:14
K — Copper 8 pass from Jones (run failed), 4:18
JK — Mitchell 6o run (Gomez kick), 2:56
Fourth Quarter
JK — Hall 35 run (Gomez kick), 11:51
K – Copper 8 pass from Jones (pass failed), 9:49
