Poole’s Big Night Leads Kinston Past Beddingfield in 61-8 Rout
Written by: Keith Spence
On a night when the Kinston offense scored a season-high number of points, no Viking had a better game than a defensive player — cornerback Jemorris Poole.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior picked off one pass, blocked a punt, and, for the icing on the cake, was voted homecoming king during halftime as Kinston cruised to a 61-8 rout of Wilson Beddingfield on Friday at Viking Field.
“I had a big night because my coaches put me in the right spot,” Poole said. “That’s the key — trusting the coaches and doing what they say. They’re not going to steer us wrong.”
Poole, who entered the game second in the Eastern Plains 2A/3A Conference in tackles, picked off his second pass of the season on the next-to-last play of the first half.
Kinston took advantage of the turnover when quarterback Tyler Jones hooked up with Tyreek Copper on a 67-yard touchdown pass as the first-half clock expired.
Earlier in the period, Poole blocked a punt by Beddingfield’s DJ Sharpe that set the Vikings up at the Bruins’ six-yard line.
Eljai Sumpter scored on the very next play.
Surprising Start
It wasn’t surprising that Kinston took the opening kickoff and reached the end zone in two plays.
Genesis Wiggins’ 57-yard touchdown scamper followed an incomplete pass and staked the Vikings to a quick 7-0 lead.
The surprise came next.
A Beddingfield offense that had been shut out five times in eight games — including four in a row — took the ensuing kickoff and marched 80 yards in nine plays to grab an 8-7 advantage.
The Bruins ran for 77 yards on the drive before Brian Jones hit Darrian Jones on a 13-yard scoring strike. Beddingfield overcame a quarterback sack and a false start penalty on the possession, which chewed 7:08 off the first-quarter clock.
“They hit us in the mouth on that first possession,” Kinston coach Ryan “Diesel” Gieselman said. “We made some adjustments and played pretty well defensively after that.”
Order Restored
Kinston came right back and regained the lead on Wiggins’ second touchdown run — a 10-yarder with 2:49 remaining in the quarter.
That started a run of 54 unanswered points, including a 33-point outburst in the second quarter that generated a running clock for the second half.
Six different players found the end zone for Kinston, which rolled up 373 yards of total offense despite running just five plays in the second half because of the mercy rule.
Conference Title in Sight
This win, combined with Tarboro’s 41-0 victory over Ayden-Grifton, leaves the possibility of a shared conference title open for the Vikings.
They will have to knock off undefeated Tarboro in their regular-season finale next week for that to happen, however.
“We put ourselves in a position to claim a share of the championship, and that’s all you can ask for,” Gieselman said. “It will be a huge challenge against a fantastic football team. Beddingfield runs a similar offense to Tarboro, so it’s a big deal that we got a chance to see it before next week.”
By the Numbers
KINSTON
Tyler Jones: 12-16 passing, 261 yards, 5 TDs
Tyreek Copper: 3 catches, 115 yards, 3 TDs
Brennan Chambers: 5 catches, 108 yards, TD
Reggie McNeil: 1 catch, 12 yards, TD
Genesis Wiggins: 3 carries, 88 yards, 2 TDs
Eljai Sumpter: 4 carries, 23 yards, TD
Justin Gooding: 1 carry, 1 yard, TD; INT on defense
Jonathan Shultis: 7-of-9 extra-point kicks
Jemorris Poole: INT, blocked punt, homecoming king
BEDDINGFIELD
Kameron Pitt: 15 carries, 45 yards
Brian Jones: 1-5 passing, 13 yards, TD, 2 INTs; 8 rushes, 43 yards
Dorrian Jones: 6 carries, 42 yards
Darrian Jones: 1 catch, 13 yards, TD
Up Next
Kinston (6-3, 3-1) ends the regular season by hosting Tarboro (9-0, 4-0).
Beddingfield (1-8, 0-4) hosts Greene Central (4-5, 0-4).
