Winona High School’s football team returned to the practice field this week after an unexpected open date, preparing for a home contest against Philadelphia High School.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Winona Friday.
Winona’s game at J.Z. George last Friday night was called off because of a shooting that happened in Winona earlier in the day. Superintendents from both schools, along with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department, felt for safety reasons, the game did not need to be played.
“We always want to play, and we had a great week of preparation leading up to the game,” said Winona head coach Joey Tompkins. “Our kids were hurt because we didn’t get to play, but it was a safety call. We had to move on and get prepared for Philadelphia.”
The Tigers come into Friday’s contest at 2-0 with wins over Choctaw County (40-27) and Kosciusko (20-7). Philadelphia is 0-3 as it has lost to Noxubee County (51-15), Bay Springs (46-6) and Leake Central (43-34) last week.
“They are not down as far as athletes go,” added Tompkins. “Their top running back returns from last season, and they have good skill guys. They are Philadelphia. They are rich in tradition. They are struggling to win right now, and I hope they don’t all of a sudden figure it out this week.
“The season is still very young. They are a Class 2A team, so they have time to turn it around. Our job this week is to be prepared for a tough football game. We need to be focused from the very beginning. We don’t usually play well after an open date. I worry about every game. If the game were played on paper, we would already be up by two scores, but it’s not played that way.”
Tompkins said that junior running back Danarius Robinson had surgery on his right fibula last week. He broke it in the opener against Choctaw County. He is expected to be out 2-3 months.
