The chips were stacked against Central Holmes last week.
Visiting Indianola jumped out to a 14-0 lead and Central Holmes lost their starting quarterback.
But the Trojans pitched a second-half shutout and took a 20-14 win over the Colonels on Friday night to end the regular season.
Central Holmes improved to 4-5 on the season, winning four of its last six games. The Trojans are the No. 5 seed in the Class 3A playoffs and have a first-round bye this week.
Central Holmes coach Mitch Womack said the win was the fulfillment of what he thought the team could be two years ago when he became the head coach.
“We needed that win big time,” Womack said. “I thought our kids played their tails off and I finally saw us grow up to the team I thought we could be. We were down 14-0 and could have folded. But we fought back and made it 14-12. And then we fought through some adversity when we lost Noah. John Ward came in and really played well. He does some good things and some things wrong. But he’s a competitive kid and wants the ball in his hands and you can’t fault him for the mistakes he made.”
The game was a defensive struggle and all Indianola in the first quarter. After forcing two Central Holmes punts, the Colonels scored late in the first on a 4-yard run and kicked the PAT to go up 7-0.
The Trojans then went 10 plays but turned the ball over on downs. Indianola then ripped off a 56-yard run with 9:32 left in the second quarter to go up 14-0.
But the Trojans responded with a seven-play, 69-yard drive as Noah Steen hit John Ward on a 21-yard touchdown pass. The try for two failed and Indianola led 14-6.
The Trojans got the ball right back when Aiden Adcock recovered a Central Holmes fumble. The Trojans then went 63 yards in 10 plays and as Lamarion Buchanon scored on a 4-yard run. The try for two failed again and Indianola held a slim 14-12 lead, a score that held until halftime.
“We blew some assignments and didn’t read our keys and overplayed some runs in the first half. We weren’t trusting our blocks in the backfield. They started to trust their blocks and once we got that first touchdown, they kind of breathed a sigh of relief,” Womack said. “The kids started to play with some confidence and got some momentum. Honestly, we just started to play football. We were trying to feel our way through the first part of the game.”
Indianola got the ball to start the second half and drove deep in Central Holmes territory but missed a field goal.
The Trojans finally struck pay dirt on their second possession of the second half when Buchanon found a crease and scored on a 75-yard touchdown run. Ward ran in the two-point conversion and Central Holmes led 20-14.
Indianola put together one last drive as it went 11 plays and drove to the Central Holmes 5 but failed on fourth down.
The Trojans ran out the clock with a 10-play drive and converted a fourth-and-5 to secure the win.
“I sort of went Lane Kiffin on that fourth down,” Womack said. “But with Noah out, I would have had to had a new punter and a new long snapper. So I just went for it and got it when Jurden powered through and got the first down.”
On offense, Central Holmes had 292 yards rushing and 118 yards passing for 410 total yards. Engle led the rushing attack with 100 yards on 10 carries while Buchanon had 98 yards on 12 carries with two TDs. Ward had 57 yards on 11 carries while Noah Steen had 22 yards on nine carries. Steen was 3-for-5 passing for 48 yards while Ward was 1-of-3 for 70 yards. Ward had two catches for 33 yards and John Hudson Word had one catch for 70.
On defense, Ellis Harris led the Trojans with seven carries while Aiden Adcock had six tackles and a fumble recovery. Ward also had six tackles while Cayton Edwards had five tackles and John Christopher Riley had four tackles. Engle also had three tackles and Word had a fumble recovery.
This week’s game
The Trojans finished as the No. 5 seed in the Class 3A playoffs that begin this week and will receive a first-round bye.
The Trojans will play Benton win the second-round of the playoffs next week, giving Womack and his staff a week to make some adjustments.
“This week, we will work on us,” Womack said. “We will have to John ready and get somebody ready to back him up. We will have to move some kids around on defense because Noah started over there as well. When you lose one kid at a school our size, it affects three or four positions. We will see what our best fit is and go from there. I told them we would probably do a little conditioning on Friday and let them go. It’s a good chance for us to get some people well. We have played nine straight weeks, so this is coming at a good time.”
