Winona Christian football Junior Graham knew what his team was facing Friday night.
The top-ranked Greenville Christian Saints raced out to a 44-0 halftime lead and crushed to a 50-0 win over the Stars on Friday night in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Winona Christian finishes the season with a 3-8 record.
Graham said his team escaped the game without an injury.
“I thought we executed our game plan,” Graham said. “We ran the clock and did a good job of managing the clock. We ran the ball inside the tackles the entire game and that’s what the numbers indicated. We just couldn’t match up with them on the defensive side of the football. They pretty much did what they wanted. As far as our game plan, it may have been the best we have had all year long and we executed it.”
Greenville opened the game by scoring on the first play, a 49-yard touchdown pass. They converted the two-point play and led 8-0. The Saints then recovered an onside kick and quickly scored on a 37-yard touchdown pass. The try for two was good and Greenville quickly led 16-0.
On their third drive, Greenville needed just two plays to go 32 yards and the Saints added the two-point conversion to go up 24-0.
The Stars again turned the ball over on downs and gave Greenville the ball at their own 28. The Saints scored on a 28-yard run but failed on the two-point conversion and led 30-0 late in the first quarter.
The Stars then threw an interception and Greenville returned it 38 yards for a touchdown with 10:15 left in the half. The try for two was good and Greenville Christina led 38-0.
The Stars fumbled on their next possession but a block in the back by the Saints called the TD back. The Saints needed three plays to find the end zone this time as they scored on a 44-yard touchdown pass with 4:29 left in the first half for a 44-0 halftime lead.
Greenville Christian added a second half score for the final of 50-0.
“Nobody punted the entire game,” Graham said. “We went for it on every fourth down and used our Lane Kiffin philosophy. Analytics doesn’t work too well against Greenville Christian. You have to tip your hat to their guys. He subbed on offense after the first series in the second half and that went pretty quick. We got out healthy and they got out healthy. It was very cordial after the game.”
Graham said he thought his team showed marked improvement from the beginning of the season to the end.
“The funny thing is we started the season with a 50-0 loss and ended with one,” Graham said. “But it’s amazing the amount of growth between those two losses. I think we laid the foundation for what we can do with this group of kids in the future. Jake (Ware) grew as a quarterback and threw it effectively for the better part of the season. We have our receivers coming back and will be better there. We have to find some linemen but we have the core of our group coming back. We need to have a good winter and summer in the weight room.”
