Kosciusko dropped a 49-10 road contest at Grenada last week to fall to 1-3 on the season.
The margin of defeat is the Whippets’ highest this season, as their first two losses were determined by a mere 11 points.
“We were in the ball game midway through the second quarter, and then things kind of snowballed on us,” Kosciusko coach Kelly Causey said. “Defensively, we weren’t making plays when we needed to. Right now, we’re struggling on third down — we’re just not converting. And then on the offensive side of the ball, we’re doing the same thing.”
Kosciusko was just 15 percent on third-down conversions against Grenada, while the Chargers converted 55 percent of their third-down attempts.
The Whippets took an early 7-0 lead on a 7-yard touchdown run by Kentaveus Washington and the extra-point kick by Will Carter with 9:56 remaining in the opening quarter. The scoring play capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive.
A pair of touchdown runs (27 and 1 yard) by Grenada’s Demarquese Gibson pushed the Chargers ahead 14-7, but Kosciusko kicker Cody Pope kicked a 32-yard field goal to cut the Whippets’ deficit to 14-10 at the 7:37 mark in the second quarter.
Grenada responded with two second-quarter touchdowns that gave it a 28-10 lead at halftime.
“They’re a bigger school, but I think we could have done a lot better,” Causey said. “We have to be able to play a lot better on the defensive side of the ball and control the clock, so it’s the little things that we have to be able to do.”
Grenada quarterback Joshua Phillips completed just two passes, but both went for touchdowns to Emmanuel Forbes and Abbott Hankins. He attempted nine passes in the contest.
The Chargers inflicted their damage on the ground, as they posted 275 yards rushing on 46 attempts for a 5.3 yards-per-carry average.
Gibson accounted for 147 yards rushing and four touchdowns on 26 carries, and Gibson added another 71 yards on the ground.
Kosciusko finished with 164 yards of offense.
Quarterback Ethan Wood was 12 of 26 for 80 yards with one interception. Washington finished with 31 yards rushing and one touchdown on 13 carries with a long of 21. Receiver Azikwe Mays posted a team-high 33 yards receiving on two catches, and Antonio Harmon hauled in a team-best five catches for 28 yards.
Defensively for the Whippets, linebacker Kobe Carter led the way with nine total tackles. Linebacker Thomas Olive tallied eight, and Devonte’ Ellis, a linebacker, added a sack that resulted in a loss of 10 yards for the Chargers.
