Central Holmes football coach Mitch Womack went into Friday night’s game with Winona Christian wanting to run the football.
He should have been well pleased after Friday night’s game.
Central Holmes ran for a season-high 419 yards and took a 49-21win over the Stars in a key district 2-3A matchup.
Central Holmes improves to 2-4 on the season and has won two straight while Winona Christian falls to 3-3 on the season.
Womack said it was the kind of football game he likes to see from his team.
“It’s our mindset to run the football,” Womack said. “We have to be a team that can run it. Our offensive and defensive lines have done a good job of establishing themselves and running downhill and taking what they give us. We used our speed to get to the second level. We have kids that can do that and I have been waiting for them to have a break out game. I was just pleased with the whole team effort.”
The Trojans got the ball to start the game and put together a 13-play drive but missed a field goal while Winona Christian went three and out on its first drive.
Central Holmes then hit the big play as Lamarian Buchanan ripped off a 70-yard run and Dan Lindsey hit the PAT to give the Trojans a 7-0 lead with 2:23 left in the first quarter.
The Stars lost a fumble on the next series and John Ward scored three plays later on a 10-yard run. Lindsey’s PAT was good and the Trojans led 14-0 with .4 seconds left in the first quarter.
After the Stars turned the ball over on downs near midfield, the Trojans ground out a nine-play, 51-yard drive as Buchanan scored on a 19-yard run. Lindsey hit the PAT and the Trojans led 21-0.
After another three and out by Winona, the Trojans continued to pour it on as Ward scored on a 41-yard run. Lindsey hit the PAT and Central Holmes led 28-0.
Winona then scored its only TD of the first half as Brannon Hill hit Colin Parkinson on a 38-yard touchdown pass with 1:14 left in the first. The PAT was good to cut the score to 28-7.
But Central Holmes answered back as Ward returned the ensuing kick 70 yards for a touchdown and Lindsey hit the PAT for a 35-7 halftime lead.
“We haven’t stopped the run all year long and they ran it all over us,” WCS coach Ken Chandler said. “It’s been a mystery to me as to why we can’t stop it and then you give them three or four extra possessions because of turnovers. They were good but not 28 points better than us. We would have had to play perfect to win but we made several mistakes and they didn’t make any. It was just one of those nights.”
Winona got the ball to open the second half and got a good return, starting at the Central Holmes 28. But the Stars fumbled three plays to end. The Trojans made the Stars pay as Ward ripped off a 90-yard run and Lindsey hit the PAT to give Central Holmes a 42-7 lead and get the clock running.
Winona then put together a nine-play drive as Hill hit Reese Johnson on a 10-yard pass to cap off a nine-play, 60-yard drive and cut the score to 42-14 with 1:01 left in the third.
Central Holmes last score came midway through the fourth when Sean Harrel scored on a 37-yard run to make the score 49-14.
Sam Thompson scored Winona Christian’s last TD on a 10-yard run.
The Trojans had 419 yards rushing and minus three passing for 416 yards of total offense. Ward led the rushing attack with 171 yards on 12 carries with three TDs. Buchanan had 167 yards on 15 carries.
On defense, John Chris Riley had seven tackles while Aiden Adcock had five tackles. Josh Robinson had four tackles with a sack while John Ward and Mike Jones had four tackles apiece. Logan Engle and Carson Burrell each had three tackles and a sack while Eli Carr and Bryan Gallagher each had three tackles apiece.
The Stars had 118 yards passing and 108 yards rushing for 226 yards of total offense. Brannon Hill was 6-of-15 passing while Collin Parkinson had four catches for 95 yards. Sam Thompson had 60 yards rushing on five carries while Jake Ware had 27 yards rushing on eight carries.
Central Holmes will host Canton on Friday night in a matchup of top 3A teams while Winona Christian will host Delta Streets.
