Winona High School head coach Joey Tompkins believes something good can come out of last Friday night’s 49-14 loss to Zachary High School from Louisiana.
“You have to take the bad and turn it into something good,” said Tompkins, whose Tigers fell to 4-2 overall with the loss. “We played a really good football team, and we got better by playing them. That is the only way you get better, and that’s by playing the best competition. I felt like we answered the bell and competed the best we could.
“We played a pretty good first half, and we had an opportunity to only trail by a touchdown at the half, but an interception kept us out of the end zone. We didn’t play too well on either side of the ball in the second half. When you are playing a team of that caliber, you just about have to play a flawless game. We made far too many mistakes to win the game, but I’m proud of the way our guys fought.”
Zachary, the defending Class 5A state champions, raced out to a 21-6 lead after the first period. The Broncos led 14-0 before Winona knew what hit them. The Tigers got their lone score in the first half on a 15-yard run by quarterback Chase Richardson.
After neither team scored in the second period, Zachary put the game out of reach with a 21-8 advantage in the third quarter. Richardson found Tristin Purnell from 25 yards out for a touchdown. He then connected with Fred Clark for the 2-point conversion. The Broncos led 42-14 after the third period.
Zachary tacked on one more score in the fourth period.
The Broncos outgained Winona 398-256 in total yardage, rushing for 243 yards and passing for 155. The Tigers had 135 rushing and 121 passing.
Richardson finished 8-of-15 for 121 yards with two interceptions. Sophomore running back Zaishun Nash had 12 carries for 148 yards, and Purnell finished with three receptions for 48 yards. J.J. Burt had three grabs for 46 yards, and Kam’ron Robinson had two catches for 27 yards.
Clark led the Winona defense with four solos and five assists. Nathan Henson had one solo and four assists, and Robinson had two solos and two assists.
Friday night, the Tigers hit the road to take on Region 3-3A foe Yazoo County in their district opener. The Panthers opened league play last week with a 60-20 loss to Humphreys County.
“Our focus is now on Yazoo County,” said Tompkins. “They are not a bad team on offense, and they have some playmakers. They beat us a few years ago, so I know they are capable of winning. We have worked hard this week correcting our mistakes for Friday night.”
Amanda Elzy and Humphreys are both 1-0 in the district. Elzy edged Ruleville 13-6 last week.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
