The Winona Tigers are the 2A-2 District Champions following a 40-17 routing of East Webster Wolverines Friday night in Winona. The Tigers finished the regular season 7-3 and 3-1 in district play.
According to Head Coach Joey Tompkins, the Winona has only won the district title one other time in the last 15 years -- 2008.
The Tigers are off Friday, and on November 3, they will host the winner of Friday’s matchup between Newton and Lake.
“Both are good teams,” Tompkins said. “[Lake] beat the one of the best teams in the state [last week].”
Tompkins said his Tigers will need give 100 percent as they head into the playoffs.
“There is no getting better after this,” he said. “If you lose, you go home.”
In Friday’s win over the Wolverines, Tompkins said his Tigers started the game “sluggish” after bringing home two big wins against Eupora and Calhoun City in recent weeks. However, by the end of the game, the Tigers dominated the match by scoring five touchdowns and collecting five interceptions.
“Defensively, we played pretty well,” Tompkins said. “We forced five turnovers.”
In the first quarter, the Wolverines threw two interceptions and had a fake punt fail.
Winona scored first with a JaTyler Moore 19-yard quarterback keeper. The PAT failed and Winona led 6-0.
The Tigers scored twice more in first half, leading 20-0 with 3:44 left in the half.
The Wolverines got on the board right before the half as they drove to the Winona 5 on a 12-play drive that ended with a 22-yard field goal bringing the score 20-3 going into the half.
The Wolverines turned the ball over on downs in the first drive of the second half, scoring on a 3-yard run. The PAT was good, bringing the score to 20-10 Winona.
Tigers answered by marching 69 yards in five plays to score with Moore hitting Jay Lofton with a 47-yard touchdown pass with 4:20 left in the third. The PAT was good and Winona led 27-10.
Capitalizing on a Tiger fumbled punt, the Wolverines cut the lead to 27-17 with a 23-yard touchdown pass and PAT.
However, the Wolverines threw two interceptions on their next two possessions.
Winona scored twice more before the clock ran out.
On offense, JaTyler Moore was six of 14 for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Rushing, Moore ran for 24 yards and a touchdown.
Running back D.J. Ringo had a stellar game with 153 yards rushing on 23 carries and one touchdown. He was followed by Jalen Campbell with 53 yards rushing on eight carries and one touchdown. J.T. Townsend rushed for 13 yards on two carries, and Jay Lofton ran 30 yards on two carries.
Receiving, Lofton caught a 47 yard touchdown pass, and Ahmad Robinson caught two passes for 34 yards and a touchdown.
Senior linebacker Kaleb Hicks led the defense with 10 tackles, a quarterback sack, and an interception. Jalen Campbell had 11 tackles, and An’darius Coffey, Chris Olton, Jadarius Thomas, and Davandre Bays all had interceptions.
For the regular season, Tompkins said the highs have been three-straight district wins, and the low would be the Tigers’ loss to Leflore County.
“Game in and game out, we got better,” Tompkins said. “There is always room to improve. Our goal is to play 15 games and win the last one. Anything short of that, we won’t reach our goal.”
Robbie Robertson with The Webster Progress Times contributed to this story.
