Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds light and variable..

Some clouds. Low 68F. Winds light and variable.

LITTLEFIELD – James Kenan rolled up the second-most points in its 66-year football history and cruised to a 69-21 rout of Ayden-Grifton in both’s season opener Friday night.

Second-year coach Tim Grady engineered this one – and he was a junior lineman on the top one, 75-0 at North Johnston in 1998.

“Ha! – I was on that ’98 team!” Grady blurted Saturday while working out at JK’s Bill Taylor Field with his family in tow.

The former lineman hopes this campaign turns out as well as ’98, when coach Kim Brown’s third club went 11-2 and won through to the third round of the 1A playoffs.

Regardless, this was a strong start for the Tigers, who scored touchdowns on all 10 possessions.

Last year they posted their first winning record (6-4) in five seasons.

Most key players returned this fall. Several made early marks Friday as Kenan rolled to 431 yards total offense, 263 rushing and 168 passing.

Wide receiver Hayden McGee scored two long touchdowns on first-half passes from fellow senior Slayden Smith and sophomore Hassan Kornegay, and led the game with 142 receiving yards on three catches.

Smith hit three of four passes for 116 yards as Grady and offensive coordinator Randy Pugh showed a diversified attack expanded from last year’s offense.

Grady said a close second for AOW was senior running back/wide receiver/cornerback Xavier Boone, who rushed for 75 yards on seven carries with a long run of 46.

Senior Mason Brown led JK rushing with 85 yards on four trips, including a 57-yard scoring romp.

Others who got special mention from Grady included primary defenders Tristan Diaz, Aiden Venecia, Marcus Baysden and Desmond Player.

“Ayden-Grifton was kind of an unknown,” Grady said. “They lost a lot of seniors (from last year) and only had one scrimmage this year.

“I thought they improved from their scrimmage, just as we did.

“I’ll tell you this – they hung around longer than I expected.

“All in all, I’m happy with where we are, but looking to improve, especially on special teams.

“Like us, they returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and had a few other good returns.”

James Kenan did score on all 10 possessions, but led just 21-14 early in the second quarter.

Boone scored on the game’s sixth play, skirting left end from 47 yards.

The Chargers went three-and-out, and on Kenan’s next play, Kornegay hit wide-open McGee for a 52-yard score down the right hash mark.

Ayden-Grifton jetted back on a 93-yard kickoff return to make it 14-7.

But not for long. Smith completed consecutive passes, to McGee for 31 yards and Eli Bostic for 24, then Bostic ran for 9 and Smith scored from the 4 on a power sneak.

Back came the early-resilient Chargers, with QB Conor Lofton cutting the deficit to 21-14 on a 21-yard run.

Then JK set the tone for the rest of the game, with McGee’s 60-yard catch-and-run TD from Smith, and Brown’s 57-yard dash.

A-G sparked back with Lofton’s long scoring pass, but that was its last hurrah.

JK junior Shykwon Williams returned the kickoff for a 61-yard score, and next possession, he sped 26 and 22 yards to score in two plays.

• Friday’s scoring topped a pair of other Tiger games by a point: 68-41 over Red Springs in 2012 in a third-round playoff game; and 68-0 over Dixon in 2005. JK has five other games with at least 61.

• Next week, the Tigers open their home schedule by hosting Dixon, followed by a visit from Eastern Wayne. … Following is an open date on Sept. 9, then their first East Central 2A Conference matchup – at defending champion East Duplin.

Bill Rollins can be reached at yorollo@yahoo.com.

Michael Jaenicke can be reached at mjaenicke@ncweeklies.com

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