It’s on to the second round of the North 3A playoffs for the Winona High School Tigers.
Winona opened its state title trek with a 43-7 win over Nettleton High School in a first-round game last Friday night at Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers will be at home again for the second round as they take on Water Valley at 7 p.m. Friday. The winner moves into the third round to face the Amory-North Panola victor on Nov. 18.
“It’s always tough to beat a team twice in a season,” said WHS head coach Joey Tompkins “They have 17 seniors who don’t want their season to end. They aren’t doing anything differently from when we played back in September. They have just gotten better at what they do.
“They have developed an identity like we have on offense. The team that executes the best will come out on top. We just have to play our game and execute our game plan.”
The Tigers did just that in last week’s win over Nettleton. They had 450 yards of total offense (336 rushing, 114 passing). They also had 25 first downs to Nettleton’s 10 and converted 5-of-11 third-down attempts.
“We did what we wanted to do,” said Tompkins. “I thought our defense played extremely well. They scored their only touchdown on a bubble screen. The clock ran in the fourth quarter.
“We were a lot more physical, and we did a good job countering everything they attempted to do. Our kids are focused on the task at hand. They’ve been here before. We played in the North State championship game two years ago and got to the third round last year. Our kids are not satisfied with just being in the playoffs. We have a goal in mind.”
The Tigers led 14-0 after one, 29-7 at the half and 43-7 after the third period. Junior quarterback Chase Richardson and sophomore running back Zaishun Nash ignited the Winona offense.
Richardson scored on runs of 1 and 11 yards in the first period, and Aubrey Bailey booted two extra points for the 14-0 advantage.
In the second period, Richardson broke loose and scored on a 31-yard keeper. Nash ran in for the 2-point conversion to make it 22-0. Richardson and Fred Clark hooked up for a 46-yard TD pass later in the quarter, and Bailey made the PAT.
Nettleton got its lone TD on a 63-yard screen pass.
In the third frame, Nash scored his lone touchdown from 10 yards out. Clark scooped up a fumble - which was forced by Eric Boone - and returned it 12 yards for the final touchdown. Bailey made both PATs.
Richardson was 5-of-12 for 94 yards with no interceptions. He also ran for 92 yards on 16 carries. Nash was the workhorse with 193 yards on 24 carries. Kam’ron Robinson had 22 yards on two carries.
Clark had one reception for 46 yards, and Troylando Eden had one catch for 33 yards. Robinson had three grabs for 15 yards, and Miles Bailey had one reception for 20 yards.
Tyler Lockhart led the defense with four solos and five assists. A’jerrian Garrett had two solos and five assists, and Boone and Bobo Bays had a solo and three assists each. Jemarius Sanders assisted on six tackles, and Javien Jackson had four solo stops.
