Kinston rallies past Wallace-Rose Hill behind Wiggins’ three touchdowns

Aug 30

Aug 30 Kinston rallies past Wallace-Rose Hill behind Wiggins’ three touchdowns

WRITTEN BY: Keith Spence

For three quarters, running back Genesis Wiggins was an effective cog in the Kinston High offense. In the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, Wiggins was the offense.

Wiggins scored from a yard out with 2:31 left as the Vikings rallied past former conference rival Wallace-Rose Hill 26-24 on Friday at Viking Field.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but my mother went to Wallace-Rose Hill,” Kinston coach Ryan Gieselman said. “It always means a lot to my family when we play each other. Tonight we got the better of it.”

The Final Drive
Kinston trailed 24-20 after Wallace’s Jamarae Lamb scored from 3 yards out with 6:26 remaining.

Taking over at its own 39 following the kickoff, Gieselman made the decision to put the game in Wiggins’ hands.

“When you have a player of Genesis’s caliber, you let him go to work,” Gieselman said.

The 6-1, 180-pound senior carried the ball nine times and accounted for 55 yards as Kinston marched 61 yards in 11 plays for the decisive points. Up to that point, Wiggins had just six carries the entire game.

“I told coach that I had his back if he had mine,” Wiggins said. “It feels good to know he has that kind of trust in me to make the big play.”

The Defense Steps Up Big
After Wiggins tallied his third touchdown of the night to give Kinston the two-point lead, Wallace still had a final chance with the ball at its own 40 with two timeouts left.

The Bulldogs picked up one first down and then caught a huge break when Kinston was called for a facemask penalty on a fourth-and-14 sack. The automatic first down gave Wallace new life at the KHS 37, but the Viking defense held firm.

Kinston sacked Bulldog quarterback Matthew Wells on consecutive plays and forced an incompletion on third down. Facing 4th-and-30 from his own 38, Wells launched a desperation throw that was picked off by Kinston’s Riyan Parks for the game’s only turnover. One kneel down later, the Vikings had avenged last year’s 14-13 loss at Wallace.

“Overall, we did a good job of playing assignment football,” Kinston defensive coordinator Tyler Buie said. “Wallace is going to run the football and they’re going to get some yards, but we were able to get big stops when we had to.”

Back-and-Forth Contest
Kinston scored first — a 26-yard Wiggins run — and scored last. That proved to be the difference in a game where neither team led by more than one score.

After Wallace answered to go on top 8-6, Kinston quarterback Tyler Jones found NC State commit Tyreek Copper for a 14-yard touchdown to regain the lead. A 2-yard scoring plunge by Lamb on the final play of the half sent Wallace into the locker room up 16-14.

The second half followed the same script. Wiggins’ 4-yard touchdown run at the 6:37 mark of the third quarter gave Kinston a 20-16 edge. The teams then traded touchdowns in the fourth, with Wiggins providing the winner.

By the Numbers
Kinston