Winona High School opened defense of its district title with a 47-8 win over Yazoo County High School last Friday night in Yazoo City.
The Tigers (5-1 overall, 1-0 Region 3-3A) led 26-0 after the first quarter, 40-0 at the half and 40-8 after the third frame.
“I thought it was the best performance of the season for our defense,” said WHS head coach Joey Tompkins. “Our first-team defense held them out of the end zone, and we only allowed one first down in the first half. We also had an interception return for a touchdown, and we got a special teams touchdown.
“Even though we had five touchdowns on offense, it wasn’t our best performance. I thought we were sloppy. We did some things on offense we don’t normally do, and our pass protection wasn’t very good. We played well enough to win, but we need to get better.”
The Tigers ran 54 plays in gaining 317 total yards (186 rushing, 131 passing). Yazoo County (3-4, 0-2) only had 141 total yards (70 rushing, 71 passing).
Winona junior quarterback Chase Richardson opened the scoring with a four-yard run in the first period. Aubrey Bailey booted the PAT. After a quick stop of Yazoo County’s offense, Richardson hit wide receiver Kam’ron Robinson for a 45-yard TD reception. The extra point failed for a 13-0 lead.
Winona’s special teams stepped up as A’jerrian Garrett returned a blocked punt 35 yards for a score after the defense held Yazoo County once again. Eric Boone had the block.
Sophomore running back Zaishun Nash then ripped off a 39-yard run to end the first quarter. Bailey made the PAT to make it 26-0.
Richardson found the end zone for a second time from a yard out in the second period. The Winona defense got in on the act as Tyler Lockhart returned an interception 25 yards. Bailey made both extra points to give Winona a 40-0 cushion at the half.
After the defensive starters played the opening series of the third quarter, Tompkins pulled his starters. Yazoo County got a touchdown on a long pass and a 2-point conversion to make it 40-8 at the end of the third.
Tomarrion Brown got a bulk of the work in the backfield in the fourth quarter for the Tigers. He raced in from 23 yards out for the final score of the night. Hammond Austin was true on the PAT.
Richardson was 8-of-13 for 127 yards with no interceptions. He ran for 18 yards on six carries. Nash finished with 112 yards on 11 carries, and Brown had 48 yards on seven tries.
Robinson had four receptions for 101 yards, and JJ Burt had two catches for 15 yards. Purnell had two grabs for 11 yards.
Jemarius Sanders had one solo and six assists on defense, and Boone had two solos and four assists. Fred Clark had a solo and four assists, and Lockhart had three solos and one assist to go with his interception.
Chance Richardson and Garrett had a solo and two assists each, and Jordan Leech had two solos. Nathan Henson assisted on two stops.
Winona heads to Belzoni Friday to take on the Cowboys of Humphreys County High School in a Region 3-3A contest.
“They will be tough to defend,” said Tompkins. “They run from multiple sets and formations, so preparing for them defensively will be a challenge. They want to shorten the game and run the clock. It will be important for us to score on our possessions.”
The Cowboys are 5-2 overall and 2-0 in the district. They beat Ruleville 26-6 last week and Yazoo County 60-20 two weeks ago.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday.
