fyi, here is how the Kinston Vikings made it to the third round to play our Chargers....from the Kinston Varisty Sports Homepage (Hey maybe that is something Mr. Morgan can add to his Journalism class for NHS!)
http://varsity.kinston.com/articles/third-655-beulaville-boots.html==============================================================================
Duarte boots Kinston into third round
25-yard FG gives Vikings second-round win over East Duplin
November 21, 2009 1:00 AM
Ryan Herman
Sports Editor
BEULAVILLE — Kinston is going to the third round, and it slew a giant to get there.
A blocked field goal by all-state defensive back Kewitt Koonce started a Vikings’ 2-minute drill for the ages Friday, which was culminated by a 25-yard game-winning field goal off the left shoe of senior Sergio Duarte with 3.2 seconds to play to give them a 17-14 come-from-behind win over previously unbeaten and top-seeded East Duplin in the second round of the NCHSAA state 2AA playoffs.
“I knew if we didn’t score (a touchdown) I had to do my job and do what I do best,” Duarte said, whose kick would have been good from at least 40 yards out. “It feels good. (A second-round win) hasn’t ever been done before.”
The boot was an exclamation point on a final 8 1/2 minutes of some of the best football the Vikings have played to date.
Having had trouble stopping teams with strong rushing attacks this season, Kinston clamped down on defense Friday and held the power-running Panthers to just 169 yards rushing and 171 yards of total offense.
On their first play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter with 8:26 showing on the clock, Justin Pickett busted up the middle for a 43-yard gain and was only kept out of the end zone by the speed of Koonce, who chased him down with a nice open-field tackle.
Eleven rushing plays later, East Duplin (12-1) found itself at third-and-goal inside the Kinston 5. Instead of calling the drive’s 12th consecutive play on the ground, Panthers head coach Brian Aldridge elected to pass for just the third time.
The Vikings forced quarterback Cody Quinn to make a bad throw, and following a flag for a delay of game on East Duplin because it thought it had been granted a timeout, Koonce leaped up and blocked Javier Miller’s 25-yard attempt.
“I think the situations (in late games) we’ve been in this year paid off,” Kinston head coach Battle Holley said. “It could have went either way.”
With the play-calling of Aldridge and the leaping abilities of Koonce turning the game in Kinston’s favor, the block might have been the easy part of what the Vikings (11-2) still had ahead of them — 94 yards and 1:58 to move them in.
They made it look so easy, though, you’d think Peyton Manning was under center.
Dory Hines completed his first three passes on the drive of 21, 11 and 34 yards, Josh Benoit made an acrobatic one-hand catch and Kinston went 86 of the 94 yards needed before calling on Duarte with just over 3 ticks left.
The senior pigskin launcher made sure he answered with a no-doubter that left the Panthers faithful stunned, the kicker grateful and the coach one proud mentor.
“I can’t take all the credit for myself. If it weren’t for the offensive line blocking for me and everybody doing their part I couldn’t have done what I did,” Duarte said.
“That young man worked so hard over the summer. I have to get on him because he kicks too much,” Holley said of his team’s hero.
“It’s very rewarding for him.”
Statistically, Kinston, which reached the 11-win mark for the first time as well Friday, ran circles around the Panthers in the teams’ first meeting but on the scoreboard was a different story for much of the game.
Koonce returned the game’s opening kickoff 97 yards for a TD, and East Duplin answered on the following kickoff with a little bit of trickery in which Tyrian Mathers sprinted 95 yards for a TD after breaking a huddle full of Panthers returners.
Once the excitement of back-to-back kickoff returns was gone, they forced Kinston to a three-and-out on its next possession and East Duplin took the lead on a 20-yard run from Pickett. The scoreboard read 14-7 East Duplin and there was still more than half of the first quarter left to be played.
In a game billed with scores ranging in the mid to upper 30s, that was all the scoring either team could muster until Kinston knotted the ledger with 1:24 left in the third.
The Vikings, who had 295 yards of total offense, opened the scoring drive with a 29-yard pass play from C.J. Bradshaw to Josh Lovick, who had three catches for 69 yards. The next eight plays were on the ground, with the last being a 6-yard TD scamper by Chris Brown (18 carries, 59 yards). Following Duarte’s extra point, the score was tied at 14, and the defenses took over.
“It was a good game, but I had some really poor play-calling at the end,” Aldridge said. “Give Kinston credit — they played a heck of a game. They took it down there at the end and won it. I wish them well next week.”
The win, the first in school history in the second round of the postseason, sends the Vikings to Pittsboro Northwood, which defeated South Granville 21-20 Friday, next week for a shot at the 2AA East regional finals against either No. 3 Reidsville or No. 2 Southwest Edgecombe.
Hines was 10 of 13 passing for 159 yards and Benoit had three catches for 81 yards. Pickett was the game’s leading rusher with 117 yards on 17 carries.
“I’m happy for those kids because they’ve put in the time; this isn’t about me,” Holley said of his players. “This has never happened at Kinston High School and they talk about how they want to be remembered.
“They can be remembered for this.”
