Winona Christian football coach Junior Graham has said his schedule is one of the toughest in Class 3A.
The Stars finished the toughest part of that schedule with a 34-7 loss to Winston Academy on Friday night.
The Stars are now 1-4 on the season and will travel to Central Holmes this week to open district play.
“They were definitely a class above us,” Graham said of Winston. “They don’t play a lot of guys both ways on Friday night. Their running back is really good and only getting better every week. He had three of their four rushing touchdowns and once he broke containment or got to the second level, we didn’t have anybody who could catch him. But I thought our kids played hard the whole night. We were just out-manned and Winston is a good football team.”
The Patriots used a run-heavy offense to take the win over the Stars. They opened with a 13-yard run and a 7-yard run in the first quarter to lead 14-0.
Those runs got longer in the second quarter as they scored on runs of 39 and 69 yards to lead 28-0 at the half. Winston’s last score came in the third on a 76-yard run to lead 34-0.
Trace Carpenter with a reception for first down yardage.
Kevin Brunt / The Star-Herald
Winona’s only score came in the fourth quarter when Jake Ware scored on an 8-yard run. Reese Johnson kicked the PAT for the final of 34-7.
“They were just head-and-shoulders better than we were right now,” Graham said. “They have picked up 15 kids since school started and picked up for more this week. Coach Byrd played his little ones in the fourth quarter and didn’t try to rub our noses in it. It could have been a lot worse.”
The Stars had a balanced offense with 102 yards rushing on 22 carries and were 8-of-12 passing for 104 yards for 206 yards of total offense.
Jake Ware had 51 yards rushing on 11 carries while Sam Thompson had 49 yards on eight carries. Collin Parkinson had 31 yards receiving on three catches.
“I thought our quarterback play is getting better,” Graham said. “He was 8-of-12 throwing and threw it well. I was pleased with our running back. Sam (Thompson) is starting to figure it out and grasp what it takes to be a running back. We were pleased with the way he ran the ball.”
Winston had 308 yards rushing and 67 passing for 375 yards of total offense. Bryce Harville led the defense with eight tackles.
“Defensively, we still haven’t found those guys on the inside that make the defense really good,” Graham said. “They ran the ball really well and averaged over 10 yards a carry. It’s just frustrating but the kids aren’t here right now. But our kids never quit and never folded the tent. They kept playing and overcoming a couple of injuries.”
This week’s game
The Stars will hit the road this week as they open district play at Central Holmes.
The Trojans are 1-3 on the season and are coming off a 24-6 win over Delta Stress. They have losses to Winston (43-8), Tri-County (41-0) and Brookhaven (40-14).
“They are a team that is going to get better every week,” Graham said. “They have some good young skill guys that are really talented. They are not huge up front like so many teams we have seen. They won the conference in junior high last year and those kids are starting and are their main cogs. They are young but they should be pretty good for years to come. They know what their pieces are and they are getting better every game. They haven’t always played hard but they are playing hard right now.”
Winona beat Central Holmes 38-8 last year.
