Football Recap: Tyler Jones' Big Game Can't Quite Lead Kinston over Tarboro

Vikings

Previous 5 Games

10/31/25 vs Tarboro	35-42
10/24/25 vs Beddingfield	61-8
10/17/25 @ Farmville Central	55-32
10/10/25 @ Greene Central	32-31
10/03/25 @ Ayden - Grifton	21-33

Kinston dropped down to 6-4 on Friday, ending the team's three-game streak of wins. They fell 42-35 to Tarboro. While losing is never fun, Kinston can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 158th, while Tarboro is ranked 35th).

Kinston lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Tyler Jones, who threw for 441 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 11.3 yards per attempt. He has been hot recently, having posted five or more passing touchdowns the last three times he's played. Tyreek Copper was Jones' top target, picking up 207 receiving yards and a pair of scores.

As for Tarboro, the victory keeps them at an undefeated 10-0. The wins came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 9.2 points on average over those games.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Tarboro to victory, but perhaps none more so than Kamerin McDowell-Moore, who rushed for 285 yards and three TDs while picking up 13.0 yards per carry. Those 285 rushing yards gave McDowell-Moore a new career-high. Another rusher making a difference was Caiden Everette, who rushed for 153 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 8.5 yards per carry.

Coming up, Kinston will face off against North Moore at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Vikings will be up against the Mustangs' rather soft defense (which has allowed 28.9 points per game), so fans could be in store for a big offensive performance. Tarboro does not have any more games scheduled as of now.