After cruising to a 27-point win in Week 1, the Winona Christian School Stars opened their home schedule last Friday night against Indianola Academy looking to fix several miscues committed in the opener.
Once the final whistle was blown, WCS head coach Ashley Kuhn expressed contentment with his team’s improvement displayed from the season opening win over Regents School.
“We had a turnover in the first quarter – other than that, it was a much cleaner game,” Kuhn said. “Special teams were much improved and tackling was better. I thought we made significant improvements from Week 1 to Week 2.”
Will Irwin had another stellar performance for the Stars. After running for 205 yards and four touchdowns in the season opener at Regents, the senior ran for 151 yards and three touchdowns as the Stars exploded for a 49-7 win.
With the win, the Stars are 2-0 on the young season.
The teams battled through a scoreless first quarter before Winona Christian scored on a 6-yard run by Irwin with 10:13 left in the half. Junior Alston Crouch kicked the extra point to make it 7-0.
Irwin picked up his second score of the night with a 1-yard run at the 6:57 mark of the second quarter. Crouch kicked the extra point for a 14-0 advantage.
A minute later, Irwin scored from 28 yards out with 5:50 left in the half. Crouch’s extra point gave the Stars a 21-0 lead.
The first half scoring ended 4 ½ minutes later as senior Johnny Green sprinted in from 10 yards out with 1:22 remaining until halftime. Crouch’s extra point made it 28-0 at halftime.
WCS continued its offensive onslaught on its first possession of the second half when Justin Austin Horne found the end zone on a 2-yard run with 11:05 left in the third period. Crouch was good with the kick to make it 35-0, which forced a running clock to be implemented.
Seven minutes later, the Stars increased their lead to 42-0 as junior Cale Sproles hauled a 10-yard pass from sophomore Zack Bledsoe. Crouch was good with the extra point.
After Indianola Academy scored on a run to make it 42-7, the Stars closed out the scoring as sophomore Bryson McKnight scored on a 3-yard run. Crouch made it 7-for-7 with the extra point for the 49-7 win.
The Stars finished the night with 372 total yards – 296 yards on the ground. Indianola Academy managed 115 total yards.
Individually, McKnight finished with 118 yards on 13 carries and one touchdown. Bledsoe finished 8-of-14 for 76 yards and one touchdown.
Senior Holland Self led the defensive effort with 8 tackles and 6 assists. Classmate Miles Bailey had four tackles and four assists.
The Stars will be at home for the second straight week, hosting Clinton Christian School this Friday night. The Warriors opened their season with a 53-7 home loss against Brookhaven Academy. The contest will be the first game between the two schools.
“Clinton Christian is an athletic football team that possession outstanding size,” Kuhn concluded. “We want to continue to improve as a football team.”
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Winona.
