Football coaches tell you the key to winning games is controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. That philosophy was no different when Winona Christian School faced off with Kirk Academy at Raider Field in Grenada last Friday night.
Ashley Kuhn’s Stars won that battle, running for 258 yards and limiting Kirk to 104 yards, winning a 26-14 decision.
“I thought we pretty well controlled the line of scrimmage defensively and were able to run the football effectively,” Kuhn said. “Their only points came on a turnover and a penalty-filled drive.”
The linebacker trio of seniors Holland Self and Miles Bailey, along with sophomore Luke Beckwith combined for 33 total tackles. Self finished the night with 13 tackles, including two for losses, and a sack, while Bailey and Beckwith each had 10 tackles apiece.
“We feel like we have three of the better linebackers around,” Kuhn added. “They have played a lot of football – size-wise they aren’t very big, but they read well and tackle well. They make up for a lot on our defense.”
Kirk drops to 3-4 with the loss, while Winona Christian improves to 6-2 on the season.
Senior Will Irwin led the way with 208 yards on 29 carries and one touchdown putting him over the 1,000-yard mark this season.
“Will loves to play the game,” Kuhn said. “He is not the biggest or fastest running back – he’s just hard to tackle and has outstanding vision. He does a good job of being patient and following his blocks.”
The Raiders looked like they might have something going on their first possession of the contest. Kirk moved from its 42-yard line to Winona 34-yard line. On fourth-and-10, senior quarterback Linton Carson was intercepted by sophomore Logan Lepard at the Stars’ 40-yard line to end the threat.
Following the turnover, the Stars used a seven-play, 60-yard drive to get the first points of the contest. Senior Will Irwin was involved in six of the seven plays, scoring on a 1-yard run. The extra point failed leaving the score at 6-0 with 5:08 left in the first quarter.
Kirk Academy was unable to move the football on its next possession and was forced to punt back to Winona Christian. The Stars used a 12-play, 61-yard drive for their second touchdown of the night. Sophomore quarterback Zack Bledsoe connected with senior John Conner Greene on a 9-yard scoring pass. Junior Alston Crouch kicked the extra point to give the visitors a 13-0 lead with 10:58 left in the half.
The Raiders moved the football as deep as the Stars’ 29-yard line before Carson’s second interception, this time by Irwin ended the threat.
Later in the second quarter, Kirk narrowed the deficit as senior Gage Vance picked off a Zack Bledsoe pass, returning it 38 yards for the touchdown with 4:42 left in the half. The two-point conversion failed leaving the score at 13-6.
Winona answered the touchdown on the kickoff as Greene returned it 85 yards for the score with 4:30 left in the half. Crouch’s extra point gave the Stars a 20-6 lead.
Neither team did much to open the second half – trading possessions. The Raiders, however, put together their best drive of the night with a 22-play, 78-yard drive aided by three WCS penalties. Carson capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. The two-point pass to senior Hayes Horan made it 20-14 with 9:44 left.
The Stars put the game away with 6:54 left as senior Austin Horne scored on a 20-yard reverse to make it 26-14.
Statistically speaking, the Stars finished with 299 total yards compared to 118 for Kirk.
Winona Christian School will have an open date this week before hosting Oak Hill Academy for Senior Night on Oct. 24. The regular season closes Oct. 31, with a trip to Winston Academy. Both games are Class AA, District 2 games.
“I’m pleased with where we are at as a team, but we still have some areas we need to polish up,” Kuhn concluded. “We gave them Monday off and will work a lot on ourselves before we start preparing for a much improved Oak Hill team.”
Kickoff for Oak Hill will be at 7 p.m. with Senior Night activities set for pregame.
