Winona Christian football coach Ken Chandler said there was nothing pretty about Friday night’s win over Delta Streets.
The Stars had 375 yards of total offense and took a 36-8 win over the Lions on Friday night.
Winona Christian improves to 4-3 on the season and will host Marshall Academy on Friday night.
Chandler said the Stars went back to basics and played power football against Delta Streets.
“All week long, we went back to what we were doing early and that’s running power and counters,” Chandler said. “It wasn’t pretty but we were getting good yardage. We never had any long runs but had a ton of runs of 10 yards or better. We didn’t block well on the second level but blocked well up front. I thought Jake (Ware) ran the ball well and Brannon (Hill) ran the power read well. He also had a good game throwing the ball. It was a good effort from out team and I’m proud of the way they played.”
The game was scoreless in the first quarter despite Delta Streets putting together a six-minute drive to open the game.
The Stars got going in the second quarter with four scores.
The first was a 34-yard pass from Brannon Hill to Colin Parkinson. The PAT failed and Winona Christian led 6-0.
The second score came from the run game as Hill scored on a 15-yard run. Ware ran in the two-point conversion and the Stars led 14-0.
Hill continued his assault on the Delta Streets defense with a 2-yard touchdown run. Hill also ran in the two-point conversion and the Stars led 22-0.
The final score came right before the half as Hill threw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Ware. The try for two failed and the Stars led 28-0 at the half.
“Every time we got the ball, we were getting 10 yards or more a pop,” Chandler said. “We were able to do what we wanted and were getting big chunks of yardage. The only way they stopped us is we stopped ourselves. I thought Jake and Brannon did a good job of running the football.”
The Stars got the ball to start the second half and went down the field and scored on a 13-yard pass from Hill to Parkinson. Ware ran in the two-point conversion and the Stars led 36-0 to start the clock running.
Delta Streets scored on the last play of the game for the final margin.
“We got better as the night went on,” Chandler said. “They didn’t throw it very much and we feel pretty good with the guys we go up there defending the run. We are getting better and better over there each night. They came out and got three first downs and we went to an odd-man front and
The Stars had 375 yards of total offense with 246 yards rushing and 129 passing. Ware had 18 carries for 140 yards and one catch for 54 yards. Hill had 11 Carris for 78 yards and was 5-of-6 passing for 129 yards with three TDs. Reese Johnson had two catches for 28 yards.
Collin Moore had eight tackles while Wyatt Merriwether had seven tackles. Will Irwin, Reese Johnson and Logan Shearer each had four tackles.
This week’s game
The Stars will host Marshall Academy this week in a battle of 4-3 teams.
Marshall has wins over Rossville (48-6), South Pontotoc (26-14), North Delta (32-10) and Walnut (38-16). Their losses are to Fayette Academy (35-20), Bayou (37-6), and Lee (40-0).
“They are the typical Marshall team, but not as athletic as they normally are,” Chandler said. “They are big up front in spots and their backs are big. But they aren’t as explosive as they have been but when they are clicking, they are good on offense. They have solid player but I think we match up well with them. I would have compared them to Central Holmes but I don’t they are as good as they are. I think we will match up OK if we can hold onto the ball and continue to get better at tackling.”
