No. 13 Poquoson shook off a mistake-riddled first half with a virtually perfect second half in turning back stubborn New Kent 14-0 on Thursday in their Bay Rivers District game at Poquoson Middle School.

Although the Islanders (2-0) dominated time of possession and yardage in first half, they found themselves in a scoreless tie at intermission with a New Kent team unintimidated by their favored, more experienced hosts. New Kent fumbled the ball away on their second play from scrimmage, but got the ball back three plays later when lineman Jaron Collins recovered a Poquoson fumble.

Collins and defensive back Sherman Wynn were the hard-hitting standouts on a New Kent defense that never backed down and, for a half, fared well against the Islanders huge and talented offensive line.

“I’m extremely proud of the way those kids and coaches competed for four quarters,” New Kent’s first-year coach Scott Girolmo said. “That’s what we want to be about.”

The Trojans intensity contributed to a catalogue of first-half mistakes by the Islanders that included two lost fumbles, a poor punt snap for a 14-yard loss and approximately 60 yards in penalties. The Poquoson passing game whiffed the first two quarters, failing to complete a pass in five tries, and quarterback Keegan Webb was sacked three times for 20 yards in losses.

“We moved the ball but in the first half, but we shot ourselves in the feet a little to much on offense,” Poquoson coach Elliott Duty said. “The defense was lights-out all night and Nate Quiroz and Austin Conley played well at linebacker.

“We put it together in the second half.”

Dominic Galacgac set the tone for Poquoson’s big second half by returning the kickoff 55 yards to the New Kent 34. Cody Little (28 carries, 162 yards) ran the ball seven of the next eight plays, before Owen Cupp (nine carries, 97 yards) ran to paydirt from 1 yard to give the Islanders a 7-0 lead with 7:48 left in the third quarter.

The ground attack continued to thrive in the second half, when the Islanders netted 252 of their 364 yards. Little followed Conley’s 29-yard run with big-gainers of 33 and 11 yards, before running in from 3 yards to give the Islanders a 14-0 lead with 8:04 left in the fourth quarter.

Ben Christian ran the ensuing kickoff back 89 yards, but Galacgac chased him down from behind and tackled him inches from the end zone. The the Islanders’ defense, which held the Trojans (1-1) to minus-25 yards on the night, came up big one last time.

Quiroz recovered a fumble two plays after Christian’s return to preserve the shutout. The Poquoson defense has not allowed a point in eight quarters this season.

https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/09/05/poquoson-turns-back-stubborn-new-kent-with-big-second-half/