Panthers’ missed opportunities cost them against James Kenan
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KENLY — North Johnston’s varsity football team failed to cash in on multiple opportunities Monday night and fell to James Kenan, 17-0 at home.
“We just couldn’t put the two or three plays together when we needed it,” North Johnston head coach Michael Barnett said. “Had a couple of mistakes, couple fumbles, couple penalties, but overall we have improved so much in the last two weeks.”
The Panthers, now 0-3, fumbled the ball five times and got to the red zone twice and failed to score. The defense proved to be stout in the first half, though, as they kept the Tigers scoreless, and Nate Clifton picked off a pass in the end zone.
“Anytime you go into halftime against a James Kenan with a shutout, you know your defense has played well,” Barnett said. “We told them that it’s a new defense, new offense so it’ll take some time. We finally saw some sparks tonight so hopefully it’ll carry over.”
North Johnston’s defense allowed the first touchdown late in the third quarter. The Panther defense allowed another touchdown late in the fourth after the offense failed to score after a missed 30-yard field goal.
The Panthers did get banged up in the game as multiple players went down with an injury, but the team will have to move forward and prepared to play Smithfield-Selma on Friday night. It will be the Spartans’ (1-2) homecoming game, and under head coach Mike Parrish — a North Johnston alumnus — SSS is 2-0 on homecoming. Barnett said the key to winning will be to replicate the defensive prowess showed on Monday.
“Triple S has got some unbelievable athletes, got some great coaches and that flex bone is nasty,” Barnett said. “If we can do them like we did James Kenan and hold them under two or three touchdowns, we’ll have a good shot.”
