OXFORD – All that stood between Winona and an MHSAA Class 2A State Football Championship on Friday afternoon was Taylorsville freshman quarterback Ty Keyes. And he stood tall, guiding the Tartars to a 41-26 win on the turf at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Winona head coach Joey Tompkins stopped short of declaring Keyes the best quarterback the Tigers faced this year, but did say, “If not, he's one of them.”
Keyes completed 18-of-25 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions. He was especially effective in clutch situations.
The loss ended a magical run through the playoffs by Winona. The Tigers had a one-point win over Newton, a seven-point victory over Scott Central and an eight-point win against defending 2A champion Calhoun City in the North State final.
“Our goal was to play 15 games and win the last one,” Tompkins said. “We played 15 games, but we just didn't win the last one.”
Winona was not among the 2A favorites entering the playoffs, but the team's success was not a surprise to Tompkins. “All I'm surprised about is that we didn't win.”
Winona finishes 11-4, with the loss to Taylorsville breaking a seven-game winning streak.
In winning a sixth state championship, Taylorsville finishes 15-1 with a 10-game winning streak.
On the game's opening possession, the Tartars faced third and 25 at their 35. He threw a perfect long range pass to Perry Keyes, good for 47 yards and a first down at the Winona 18. Three plays later, it was fourth and seven at the 15. This time he found Latreal Jones in the end zone.
The Tartars faced another fourth down in the second quarter, fourth and eight at the Winona 29. Keyes connected with Malik Strickland at the one-yard line, setting up a TD run by Tycarius Roberts.
The Tigers answered each of these TDs with a score of their own, resulting in a 14-13 Taylorsville halftime lead, the difference being a blocked extra point attempt. D. J. Ringo scored on a six-yard run to cap a 10 play 65 yards drive and quarterback JaTyler Moore on a 10-yard run at the end of an 11-play, 76-yard drive.
The first half was evenly played. The second half wasn't. The Tartars put the game away by scoring TDs on their first three possessions and out-gaining Winona 299-66 after intermission to finish with a 512-211 edge. Winona held Taylorsville to 14 rushing yards the first half. But after Keyes' passing opened up the defense, the Tartars had 166 in the final two periods.
“We didn't make plays when he had to make them,” Tompkins said. “We played a good team tonight. Whenever you have an opportunity to make a play against a good team, you have to make them. We didn't make enough of them tonight and Taylorsville did.”
Winona managed two fourth quarter touchdowns after receiving short fields. A shanked punt that netted minus one yard put the Tigers at the Taylorsville 17. Three runs by Moore resulted in a TD.
A fumble recovery by Davandre Bays at the Taylorsville nine led to a two-yard scoring pass from Moore to Jay Lofton.
Taylorsville's Keyes put up some gaudy numbers – 4,559 passing yards, 5,097 yards in total offense and 45 TD passes — on the season. If he stays healthy through four years, he could challenge state career records of 15,138 passing yards, 16,168 in total offense and 166 TD passes all held by former St. Stanislaus star Myles Brennan.
But when preseason practice began, he wasn't assured of the starting position.
“We had a quarterback competition and he won,” said Taylorsville head coach Chuck Robertson. “I think I made the right decision.”
