At East Webster and for most small schools in the state of Mississippi, players have to be ready to play on both sides of the ball.
The Wolverine players have taken pride in that fact and they’ve been conditioned to get the job done on both ends. On Thursday night, that was all the more evident against Vardaman.
Britain Burleson, Briceton Johnson, Zy Ford, Luke McKee and others made plays all night on both sides of the ball for EWHS and it led the team to victory. The game was never really in doubt as the Wolverines suffocated the Rams on defense and broke off some big plays on offense on the way to a 33-0 win and a 3-0 start.
Johnson was the primary playmaker on the offensive side of the ball with his 9 touches for 119 yards and a touchdown and he added an interception with another one called back on a penalty. The freshman showed why he’s become a weapon for the Wolverines early.
“I felt like our defense looked pretty good. We definitely improved from week one against Houston. Our offense looks a whole lot better than it did last week and the week before,” Johnson said. “I felt like I’ve handled my opportunities well.”
It was quite the dominant night on the defensive side of the ball for a Wolverine defense that has been stout in all three of its games so far. The unit was in the backfield constantly led by Burleson who was in on seven sacks, had 11 total tackles and a forced fumble.
On top of that, Burleson snapped the ball on every offensive play.
“(Burleson) has played his butt off every single week and a lot of times that goes unnoticed,” head coach Ron Price said. “He’s having to play on the d-line and offensive line. He’s touching the ball every single play at center and he’s done an outstanding job there, but he didn’t play d-line for us last year and he’s probably been our best defensive lineman this year.”
Additionally on defense, Kobe Smith had 13 tackles and 4.0 sacks and Ford had 10 tackles and 3.0 sacks with a forced fumble. McKee picked off two passes.
EWHS had a 12-0 lead through the first quarter after a 4-yard run from Ford and a 52-yard bomb to Carter Flora from quarterback Kaleb Warnock. The defense forced two-straight turnovers in the second quarter and McKee would score on a 63-yard run taking the 19-0 lead into halftime.
Johnson got a 23-yard touchdown catch and run early in the third to push that lead out to 26-0. The final score came on another big play as Jontavis Cunningham rushed for a 42-yard score.
It was the first big start for Warnock at quarterback and the sophomore performed well in Price’s eyes. He was 9-of-19 passing for 155 yards and two scores and added 24 yards on the ground.
“Offensively, I think we’re stepping in the right direction and it’s a combination of guys. Kaleb Warnock is doing a good job of getting the ball to the open guy,” Price said. “I’m proud of our offense. When we played Houston a few weeks ago, it wasn’t pretty. We’ve challenged those guys each week to get better.”
It’s a young Wolverine team that continues to get better week by week and that’s all Price can ask for. His team has the biggest game of the young season next Friday when it takes on the tough Baldwyn Bearcats.
Price will continue to lean on a group of veterans to help bring along the key young players.
“We’re very lucky to have some great senior leadership. The guys that are seniors, a lot of them have been playing since they were sophomores, so I think they’re taking those younger players under their wings,” Price said. “A lot of the credit goes to the seniors who are doing their job leading our football team.”
Up next for the Wolverines is Baldwyn Bearcats, a Class 2A North team that always seems to pack a punch. The Bearcats are off to a 2-1 start with the lone loss coming against Booneville in week two. Baldwyn has wins over Kossuth and Tishomingo, the latest of which was a 60-14 beatdown.
“East Webster and Baldwyn have had a tradition of playing deep in the playoffs so that says a lot about Baldwyn,” Price said. “They had transitioned down to 1A the last two years and now they’re back up to 2A. It’s just an opportunity to go on the road in a tough environment against a good football team and see how far we’ve really come as a football team.”
