It took Winona Christian and Marshall Academy more than two hours to get started on Friday night.
And after going down 7-0 at the half, the Stars rallied to score 22 third-quarter points and took a big 32-14 win over Marshall Academy on Friday night in a key 1-AA contest.
The game was delayed for more than two hours because of lightning in the area and kicked off at 9:15 p.m. and didn’t finish until close to midnight.
“The lightning wouldn’t leave,” Graham said. “When we got started, both teams kind of lost their edge so it was a punt fest early. Our defense kept us in the game in the first half. Marshall moved the ball up and down the field on us but we didn’t bend.”
With the win, the Stars are now 5-1 on the season and have won five straight since a season-opening loss to French Camp.
“That was a really big win for us,” Winona Christian coach Junior Graham said. “With the way things are lining up, we have put ourselves in a position to win the district championship. Marshall is really good and can beat anybody. It’s all about matchups and we won a few of those matchups which we could have easily lost.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Marshall took a 7-0 lead into the half as Marshall hit a 38-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the half to go up 7-0.
The Stars got the ball to start the second half but were stopped on downs. The Stars then blocked the Patriots’ punt and scored on a 24-yard touchdown run by Corley Goss, who also ran in the two-point conversion to give the Stars an 8-7 lead.
“That really gave us some momentum,” Graham said. “We tweaked some things at halftime and things just started to click for us. They sold their soul to take away the run to the strong side. So we ran power and the counter back to the weak side. It’s the first time we have run counter this year and it was really good for us.”
The Stars added two more third-quarter touchdowns on 1-yard runs by Latham Hill as Goss ran in the two-point conversion on the first score to give Winona a 22-7 lead at the end of the third.
After recording a safety to go up 24-7, the Stars got a 40-yard run by Holland Ingram for their final score. Ingram’s two-point conversion gave the Stars a 32-7 lead.
The Patriots added a 4-yard run for the final margin.
Winona Christian had 364 yards rushing on 45 carries as Goss led the way with 213 yards on 19 carries. Ingram had 108 yards on eight carries while Hill had 48 yards on 12 carries, all on quarterback sneaks.
On defense, Marshall had 171 yards rushing and 157 passing for 328 total yards. Colby Marlow led the WCS defense with 14 tackles while Ingram had 11 tackles. Ben Pinkard had 10 tackles and Blake Marlow had nine stops.
“Obviously, we were getting a lot of people to the football,” Graham said. “The kids are buying into what we are trying to do and playing with a lot of effort. Even if we make mistakes, we are making up for it with the effort we are playing with. The defense had a chance to tap out but they kept rising to the occasion.”
The Stars will hit the road again as they travel to Bayou on Friday in a non-division contest.
Bayou is 4-2 on the season with wins over Riverfield (48-25), Pillow (20-12), Lee (41-14) and Kirk (49-0). Their losses have come to Central Hinds (26-20) and Greenville St. Joseph (26-7).
“They are going to be the best team we have played to this point,” Graham said. “They spread you from sideline to sideline. They have some big backs and throw the ball well. They have a big 6-5 receiver and what they do, they do well. We are going to have to play really well.”
Last year, the Colts beat the Stars 42-14.
