Most football coaches would be pleased with a 38-point road win in the opening game of the season. Not so Winona coach Joey Tompkins.
“We didn't play well at all offensively,” he said of a 41-3 victory over Strayhorn in the Tigers' first game as a 3A team. “Defensively, we did what we were supposed to do. We kept them out of the end zone. The best thing that came out of it was that we were able to play a lot of people. Everybody got reps.”
Six different players scored touchdowns for the Tigers, who led 26-0 at the half. Jay Lofton opened the scoring when he caught a 10-yard TD pass from An'darius Coffey. Zaevion Ward and Blake Cooper both scored on 7-yard runs and Derek Blaylock grabbed a blocked punt out of the air in the end zone following a bad snap.
Ahmad Robinson extended the lead to 33-0 with a 17-yard third quarter TD run. After Strayhorn scored on a 23-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, Dennis Turner had a 34-yard TD run for the Tigers and Montavius Harris closed out the scoring by running for a 2-point conversion.
Cooper was the Tigers' leading runner with eight carries for 55 yards. Coffey completed three passes for 61 yards and Lofton had two receptions for 41 yards.
The competition gets much tougher Friday when Winona hosts Choctaw County for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Chargers defeated the Tigers 29-21 last year on their way to the third round of the 3A playoffs and opened this season with a 42-13 win over East Webster.
“They're a good football team. They have an offense we don't see every week,” Tompkins said of Choctaw County's Wing T that rolled up 416 yards against the Tigers a year ago.
“It's hard to defense since we don't see it each and every week. Also they have some really, really good players. When you put the two together, good players and running an offense we don't see a lot, it's going to create problems.
“We will have our hands full. It's going to be a challenge, but I think we will be ready for the challenge.”
