For years, the breaks have gone Nanih Waiya’s way.
But this year, the breaks finally caught up with the Warriors.
Visiting Kemper County jumped out to a 20-0 lead but had to hold on in the second half and took a 32-28 win over the Warriors on Thursday night.
The Warriors end the season with a 2-6 record.
After four straight weeks of double-digit losses, the Warriors rallied on Thursday night against the division-leading Wildcats.
“We played our best game of the year, that’s for sure,” Nanih Waiya coach James Courtney said. “You can take that kind of effort. We made some adjustments at halftime but it was just them deciding that they wanted to be remembered as a team that played hard. They took the few adjustments that we made and were able to come out and run the ball as well as we have all year long.”
Kemper dominated the first quarter. The Wildcats got the ball and went 52 yards in five plays, scoring on a 6-yard run to go up 7-0.
After swapping turnovers, the Wildcats went 85 yards in 11 plays and scored on a 5-yard run to take a 14-0 lead.
After a short punt, Kemper scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass to take a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The Warriors finally responded as Kendon Sanders scored on a 20-yard run. The PAT failed and the Warriors trailed 20-6 at the half.
“They were lined up trying to take away our outside power,” Courtney said. “So we made an adjustment and started running A-gap power. Once they moved inside, we were able to run to the C gap. I thought the kids played as hard as they could. Kemper is loaded with athletes and once we settled down, I thought we played our best game of the season. I was proud of the effort.”
The Warriors got the ball to open the second half and put together a 13-play, 72-yard drive as Rico Moore scored on a 2-yard run. The try for two failed and Nanih Waiya trailed 20-12.
The Warriors recovered the ensuing kick and went 50 yards in 11 plays as Tanner Courtney hit Hagan Halfacre on a 13-yard touchdown pass. Moore ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game at 20-20.
Kemper responded with a six-play, 51-yard drive and scored on a 3-yard run. The PAT failed and Kemper led 26-20.
The Warriors responded with another long drive, this time going 60 yards in 16 plays as Moore scored on a 5-yard run. Moore ran in the two-point conversion and Nanih Waiya led 28-26 late in the fourth.
But Kemper scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass and converted the two-point conversion to retake the lead at 34-28.
The Warriors had one last shot but threw an interception to end the contest.
The Warriors had 305 yards of total offense with 282 yards rushing and 23 passing. Moore had another big night with 204 yards rushing on 37 carries while Sanders had 72 yards on 12 carries.
On defense, Mason Jones had three solo tackles and three assists while Sanders had two solo tackles and eight assists. Moore had two solo tackles and four assists while Eli Stanton had two solo tackles and three assists. Ashton Warren had one solo tackle and seven assists while Cade Higginbotham had four assists. Hagan Halfacte had three assists and an interception while Walt McClendon had three assists.
The Warriors lose eight seniors and Courtney said there is a good group of junior high players moving up.
“We will go into the offseason and try to get stronger and faster,” Courtney said. “We have a good group moving up. There have some good size and some fast kids. We are excited about that bunch moving up. They didn’t lose a game in junior high and are pretty athletic. And there are some good linemen in there so we are excited about that.”
