Big plays and missed opportunities doomed Central Holmes as it fell to traditional MAIS power Indianola Academy on Friday night.
The Colonels, who dropped down in class after playing in the Class AAA championship game last year, used a stingy defense and scored 27 unanswered points to take a 27-11 win over the Trojans.
Central Holmes falls to 2-3 on the season and will host J.Z. George this week.
Despite the loss, Central Holmes coach Jim Crowder was pleased with the effort his players showed against the Colonels.
“We didn’t feel good about ourselves after the Winona game,” Crowder said. “We felt we had our character and toughness questioned. A lot of things were brought into question. I thought we went out there on Friday night and played hard and from that aspect, I was proud of the kids. I thought we played hard; we just made too many mistakes.”
The Trojans got the ball to start the game and behind some tough running from Wykese Johnson put together a 12-play drive as they moved the ball inside the Indianola 15. But the drive stalled and the Trojans had to settle for a 31-yard field goal from Owen O’Bryant with 5:17 left in the first quarter.
After turning Indianola over on downs at their own 25, the Trojans went driving again as they put together a seven-play drive and got to the Indianola 21 before the drive stalled out again. This time, O’Bryant missed a 39-yard field goal.
“I thought Wykese ran the ball as hard as I have seen him run,” Crowder said. “I thought Noah Steen continued to make plays for us on offense. I thought Barrett Fondren had to step up and start at linebacker and he responded well. I thought Brad Robertson played one of his better games at safety. We did some good things, but mistakes and turnovers are just killing us.”
After the missed field goal, Indianola started to get things going as they went 79 yards in six plays and scored on a 30-yard run with 7:46 left in the first half. The PAT was good and Indianola led 7-3.
The Trojans appeared to have an answer for the Colonels. After a big run by Johnson, the Trojans appeared to have a first down on a quarterback sneak at the Indianola 15 but fumbled to stop the drive.
After an Indianola punt, disaster struck for Central Holmes when a screen pass was intercepted and Indianola ran it back 20 yards for a touchdown with 2:27 left in the half to go up 14-3.
Disaster struck again when the Trojans fumbled the ensuing kick. One play later, Indianola scored on an 18-yard run with 2:02 left in the half to go up 21-3 at the half.
“Mistakes and turnovers just killed us,” Crowder said. “When you have injuries and you are outgunned, you have to play clean and execute and we didn’t do that. It’s my job to make those things happen. We just made too many mistakes to win a big game.”
It was not until the fourth quarter that Indianola scored again as they went up 27-3 on a quarterback sneak.
The Trojans got in the end zone late in the fourth as Johnson scored on a 1-yard run. Brad Robertson ran in the two-point conversion for the final margin of 27-11.
