Winona Christian head football coach Junior Graham was worried about the size of Newton County Academy heading into last week’s game. Not to worry, Graham’s eighth grade quarterback and some speedy receivers made that size disadvantage null and void.
The Stars used some big plays and raced out to a 31-0 first half lead as they cruised to a 38-13 win over the Generals on Friday night to stay unbeaten. The Stars improve to 6-0 overall and will host Carroll Academy this week with the district championship on the line.
“We didn’t play well by any stretch of the imagination but I thought we had more speed than them in some areas and were able to hurt them,” WCS coach Junior Graham said. “They came out and tried to shorten the game and they were working the clock. They came out in two tights and a full-house backfield and sort of caught us with our britches down. We were finally able to stop them and played much better on defense after that. We did a better job on first down.”
The Stars dominated the first half and opened the game with a quick scoring strike as John White hit Choyce Diffey on a 54-yard touchdown pass. Diffey booted the PAT and Winona led 7-0.
The Generals responded with a long scoring drive, going 13 plays but a 39-yard field goal failed, ending NCA’s threat.
The Stars went to the air again as White hit Dalton Wiggins on a 33-yard touchdown pass to cap off a four-play, 68-yard drive. The PAT failed and Winona led 13-0.
After an NCA punt, the Stars struck quickly again as Wiggins took a pitch and raced 89 yards for a touchdown with 9:51 left in the first half. The PAT failed and Winona led 19-0.
After another NCA punt, the Stars went 57 yards in six plays. After a big 32-yard pass from White to Diffey, Hayden Self finished off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run for a 25-0 lead.
The Generals then fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff to give Winona a short field at the NCA 38. Two plays later, White hit Latham Hill on a 35-yard pass play. The PAT failed and Winona led 31-0 at the half.
“I thought Hayden Self did a good job of running the football, filling in for Thomas (Costilow),” Graham said. “I thought Reed Roberts had a heck of a game. He returned a kick for a touchdown and also returned a blocked kick for touchdown that got called back. Reed is getting better every week on both sides of the ball. We have high expectations for him on the back end of this schedule.”
The Stars’ only second half points came to open the half as Reed Roberts returned the kick 81 yards for a touchdown with 11:42 left in the half. Roberts booted the PAT and Winona led 38-0 to start a running clock in the second half.
The Generals responded with a seven-play, 75-yard drive as Zander Meeks hit Colby Hollingsworth on a 17-yard touchdown pass. Hayden West booted the PAT and Winona led 38-7.
The Generals added a late score as Kemp Alderman scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper. The PAT try failed for the final margin of 38-13.
The Stars again had a balanced offensive attack with 159 yards rushing and 170 passing. White was 7-of-9 passing with three touchdowns. Wiggins led the rushing attack with 96 yards on two carries and two catches for 44 yards. Self had 60 yards on seven carries while Diffey had two catches for 91 yards.
Newton had 212 yards of total offense with 115 rushing and 97 passing. Self, Ben Pinkard and Bradley Pinkard each had seven tackles apiece for the Stars.
