Winona used a powerful ground game to wear down Tylertown for a 44-22 victory in an opening round game of the MHSAA 3A playoffs last Friday night.
Tylertown came into the game with a 5-6 record, but hung with the unbeaten Tigers for three quarters. It was 14-14 at the half and 22-22 after three quarters before Winona added three fourth quarter touchdowns.
“We wore them down running the ball,” said Coach Joey Tompkins. “We had 66 plays and we ran 60 times, controlling the line of scrimmage.”
The Tigers rolled up 436 yards on the ground with not one, not two, but three runners over the century mark. Jay Lofton carried 18 times for 163 yards, Blake Cooper 17 times for 140 and An'darius Coffey 12 times for 101 yards. Jalen Campbell chipped in with four carries for 32 yards. Lofton, Coffey and Campbell each ran for two touchdowns and Campbell also ran it in three times for two-point conversions.
When a team runs for more than 400 yards, the guys up front are doing their job. “Our entire offensive line plus our H-back Steven Mann – we call him our hippo back – really to me were players of the game,” Tompkins said. “Those six guys really, really, really had a good game.”
The offensive linemen are Anthony Richardson, Jakob Welch, Laderrious Davis, Jarius Weeks and Jalyn Phillips.
Coffey completed three passes for 60 yards, two to Adavion Hargrove for 41 yards and one to Lofton for 19 yards. In addition to the 18 points he scored, Campbell was the Tigers’ leading tackler with eight.
“Defensively, we didn’t play awful, but we didn’t play our best either,” Tompkins said. “We gave up too many big plays. That’s something we’re going to have to address this week.”
Only one opponent this year scored more than 22 points against Winona, that being Nanih Waiya in a 33-23 Tiger victory.
The defense, especially the secondary, will have its hands full Friday when Winona hosts Magee in a second round game. The Trojans offense is led by senior quarterback Javo Thurman, one of the state’s premier passer. He has completed 63 percent of his passes for 2,357 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Tompkins said the Tigers have not played anyone this year that throws the ball as well as Magee.
The Trojans also have a heavy duty runner, Ross McInnis, with 1,275 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Tompkins said the Tigers need to control the line of scrimmage and avoid turnovers, something they did for the third time this year against Tylertown. “That’s a goal of ours each Friday night.”
Magee is 9-3 and has averaged 45 points a game in winning five in a row. That includes a 50-24 victory over Hazlehurst in the opening round of the playoffs.
If the Tigers win, the next opponent will be Seminary or Raleigh.
Winona (12-0) is one of seven unbeaten teams in MHSAA playoffs and one of two in 3A, along with Booneville. Each of the other five classes has one unbeaten team, Horn Lake in 6A, Hattiesburg in 5A, East Central in 4A, Taylorsville in 2A and Simmons in 1A. Taylorsville and Simmons are defending state champions.
