After two straight losing seasons, the Winona Christian Stars assured themselves of a winning season with a big playoff win on Friday night.
The Stars used a strong rushing attack that went for 384 yards as they ran over Marshall Academy
29-20.
Winona Christian improves to 7-5 on the season and will travel to Kirk Academy on Friday night in second-round action.
“The offensive line is playing really good,” WCS coach Ken Chandler said. “Jase Osborne and Brody Cook stood out on the line. Will Irwin, Brannon Hill and Reese Johnson all ran the ball really good. Defensively, Holland Self, Nathan Henson, Braxton Leach and Johnny Greens all stood out.”
The first half was tight, and Marshall drew first blood. The Patriots scored with 6:34 left in the first quarter and converted the try for two to take an 8-0 lead.
Winona Christian answered back as they used a rugged rushing attack to move down the field. Reese Johnson capped off the drive with a 14-yard run with 2:25 left in the first quarter. Jack Sorgen hit the PAT and Winona Christian trailed 8-7.
The Stars put together another solid drive midway through the second quarter but had to settle for a 20-yard field goal from Sorgen with 6:13 left in the first half to take a
10-8 lead.
Marshall retook the lead late in the first half with a touchdown but failed on the two-point conversion as they went to the locker room with a 14-10 halftime lead.
The Stars’ rushing attack started to pay dividends in the second half as Winona pulled away. Johnson gave the Stars the lead in the third with an 8-yard run. Sorgen hit the PAT and the Stars took the lead at 17-14.
The game stayed at 17-14 until midway through the fourth quarter when Winona added two late scores. The first came with 5:37 left in the game as Johnson scored on a 5-yard run. Sorgen’s kick failed and Stars led 23-14.
WCS put the game away as Brannon Hill scored on a 2-yard run with 3:30 left in the game. The try for two failed and Winona Christian led 29-14.
Marshall got a late score with 1:28 left in the game but failed on the two-point conversion for the final margin of 29-20.
The Stars relied solely on the running game as they had 384 yards rushing on 48 carries, an average of eight yards a carry. Will Irwin led the Stars with 139 yards on 18 carries while Hill had 126 yards on 14 carries with a long run of 61 yards. Johnson had 95 yards on 11 carries with three TDs while Braxton Leach had 24 yards on five carries.
Holland Self led the Stars with 11 tackles while Nathan Henson had eight stops. Leach had seven tackles while Jase Osborne had five tackles. Johnny Greene, Hill and Johnson each had four tackles apiece while Aiden Tompkins, Preston Fletcher, Brody Cook and Austin Horne each had two tackles apiece. Johnson also caused a fumble and got the recovery as well.
