Winona Christian football coach Junior Graham has been trying to find the identity of his football team.
He found it on Friday night but came up short on the scoreboard.
The Stars got 322 yards of total offense from Jake Ware but fell 26-23 to Oak Hill Academy.
The Stars fall to 0-2 on the season and will host Benton Academy this week in a district contest.
“We definitely had a chance to win that and that’s a game we probably should have won,” Graham said. “But I’m proud of our kids. They grew up a lot. We threw an interception in the end zone late in the game. We got a little bit of an identity and I thought our defensive played significantly better. We gave up one big play but avoided the big play for the most part and were able to shorten the game. I thought our offensive line did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage. Jake did a good job of reading the defense and taking what they were giving him. They gave us the quarterback more than the running back on the power read and we took it.”
The Raiders got on the board first in the first quarter with a 1-yard run and made the PAT for an early 7-0 lead.
But the Stars answered back as Ware scored on an 11-yard run. Reese Johnson hit the PAT and Winona Christian tied the score at 7-7.
Oak Hill then took the lead for good as they scored back-to-back touchdowns in the second quarter on a 40-yard pass and a 15-yard run to go up 20-7.
But the Stars scored on a 5-yard run by Ware, who also got the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 20-15 at the half.
“It’s important to get an identity on both sides of the football and we hope we are leaving Friday night’s game with that identity,” Graham said. “We know more of who we are and what we can do. We have most of our pieces to the puzzle in place on offense. We lost the game but we grew a lot as a team and have an identity going forward.”
Oak Hill scored first in the third quarter on a 1-yard run. The PAT failed and Oak Hill led 26-15.
The Stars answered as Ware found the end zone for the third time on a 1-yard run. Collin Parkinson scored on the two-point conversion to cut the score to 26-23.
The Stars had their chances in the fourth quarter but threw an interception at the four-minute mark and also had the ball in the last minute but didn’t score.
“I thought we were able to spread the ball around and that’s something you can do when you get in a rhythm on offense,” Graham said. “We threw the ball to four different receivers and that’s a big deal for us. Hunter Smith and a big catch at tight end and it makes it much easier on the offense when you have to defend all of your skill guys versus one of them.”
The Stars had their best offensive game of the season with 369 yards of total offense. The Stars rushed for 267 yards and threw for 108.
Ware was 8-of-15 passing and the junior quarterback also rushed for 214 yards on 24 carries and three TDs. Parker Bledsoe had five catches for 34 yards while Bryce Harville had eight tackles and Collin Parkinson had an interception.
Oak Hill had 379 yards of total offense with 271 rushing and 108 passing
“They threw the ball like 50 times against Benton and the game was over 200 plays,” Graham said. “We sat back and begged them to run and that’s what they did. They helped shorten the game for us. It was a little over 100 snaps and that’s what we were wanting them to do. It’s a game that we should have won and had a chance to win in the last minute.”
This week’s game
The Stars will open district play this week as they take on Benton.
The Raiders are 3-0 on the season. After a forfeit win against Sylva Bay to open the season, the Raiders beat Oak Hill 59-41 and Lee Academy 41-12.
“Benton has rushed for more than 600 yards in two games,” Graham said. “They have a D1 commit on the line and a quarterback that has committed to Southern Miss in baseball. And they have a really good running back. They don’t have a lot of numbers but they have some really good football players. On defense, they have a good scheme and don’t take a lot of chances. With their size, they can blow up the line. It will be a different game on Friday night. I hate we have to play a division game so early but it is what it is.”
Last year, Winona took a 32-26 win over the Raiders.
