Another Friday night, another Winona victory. The Tigers dominated from start to finish in improving to 8-0 with a 51-0 victory over Kemper County.
“We did what we were supposed to do,” said Coach Joey Tompkins. “We started fast and got up on them pretty big early. We did pretty well on offense and defense. It was a good victory.”
The Tigers led 16-0 at the end of one period and 37-0 at the half as Winona improved to 4-0 in Region 5-3A competition.
It was the defense that started the scoring when Jalen Campbell tackled a Kemper County ball carrier in the end zone for a safety and 2-0 lead. Campbell had a big night on defense with a team leading nine tackles, including two for losses, a sack and the safety.
All seven Winona touchdowns came from outside the red zone. An'darius Coffey had a 59-yard run and threw TD passes of 58 and 23 yards to Ahmad Robinson and 56 yards to Jay Lofton. Lofton had a 35-yard TD run, and Blake Cooper a 48-yard scoring run. The final touchdown in the fourth quarter was a 38-yard pass from freshman Jekeyvion Burnley to freshman Dennis Turner.
“Our freshman quarterback hooked up with our freshman running back. We were proud of them,” Tompkins said.
The Tigers totaled 409 yards on only 30 offensive plays. Coffey completed only four passes but they went for 154 yards, and Burnley had the one TD completion on his only attempt for 38 yards.
Winona had 21 carries for 217 yards, led by Cooper with four for 68 yards. Coffey carried five times for 52 yards, and Lofton three times for 49 yards.
Robinson was the leading receiver with his two TD catches for 81 yards.
Cade Eldridge converted all seven extra points.
Quinten McCorkely and Daterrious Wiliams had big games on defense, each with six tackles. Williams had four tackles for losses and a sack and McCorkley had three for losses and a sack.
For the season, the Tigers are averaging 341 yards per game -- 224 on the ground and 117 through the air. Coffey has completed 53 of 111 passes for 890 yards and 10 touchdowns, with only one interception, and has 106 carries for 592 yards and nine TDs. Cooper has 64 carries for 556 yards and seven TDs and Lofton 56 for 436 and six TDs. Lofton is also the leading receiver with 17 for 345 yards and five TDs, the leader in all-purpose yards with 946 and the leading scorer with 66 points.
Campbell is the leading tackler with 67, 13 for losses.
Winona is the only undefeated team in 5-3A play. Defending champion Forest, a 41-21 loser to Winona, is second at 2-1.
The Tigers will face a tough opponent Friday in a home game against Calhoun City. The Wildcats are 5-3 with victories in the last three games over Bruce 60-7, Philadelphia 15-7 and East Webster 35-6.
“They're really good,” Tompkins said.
Calhoun City is a 2A school.
