Winona gave up some big passing plays, but used a balanced offense to hold on for a 35-28 victory over Kosciusko.
“We played pretty well in the second and third quarter,” said Coach Joey Tomkins said. But he added “We gave up too many big plays on defense.”
Led by quarterback An'Darius Coffey, Winona totaled 442 yards, 228 on the ground and 214 through the air. Coffey was 16-19 passing for 214 yards and one touchdown and carried 30 times for 158 yards and three TDs.
The Tigers took a 7-0 lead on a 26-yard run by Coffey. Kosciusko tied it on an 80-yard pass from Ethan Wood to Antonio Harmon.
Winona scored three straight TDs for a 28-7 lead on runs of 10 and 12 yards by Coffey and two yards by Blake Cooper. Adavion Hargrove set up Cooper's TD with a 60-yard punt return.
Kosciusko cut the deficit to 28-14 on an eight-yard run by Kentaveus Washington. Winona made it 35-14 when Coffey connected with Robert McMath on a 40-yard TD strike.
Kosciusko scored two fourth-quarter TDs on passes by Wood of 73 yards to Jeremy Ball and 70 yards to Harmon. The Whippets had one final chance after recovering a Winona fumble, but the Tiger defense held Cooper had 15 carries for 72 yards, McMath caught six passes for 90 yards and Dadarion Small had five receptions for 56 yards. Cade Eldridge was five for five on PATs.
Dorian Curry led the Tiger defense with seven tackles and a fumble recovery.
Wood, a sophomore, completed 10 of 19 passes for 290 yards. Tra Tolliver carried 11 times for 83 yards for Kosciusko and Harmon had four receptions for 153 yards. The Whippets totaled 398 yards.
Winona improved to 3-0 while Kosciusko, a 4A school, dropped to 1-2.
