Nanih Waiya had its best offensive game of the season on Friday night.
But Bruce was just a little bit better as they held off a furious fourth-quarter rally to take a 37-34 win over the Warriors.
Nanih Waiya falls to 1-4 on the season and will travel to McAdams on Friday night.
Nanih Waiya coach James Courtney said his team played well and fought to the end but just came up short.
“I thought we played some good football at times,” Courtney said. “I think the game is different if we don’t turn the ball over and they were all on special teams. But I thought our kids continued to play hard through hard times. Offensively, I thought we played well for the most part but defensively, we didn’t tackle their quarterback. He can flat out go and already has some offers. I thought we played one of our best games offensively and if we put up 30 points, we have to win that game. We just couldn’t get it done.”
Nanih Waiya forced Bruce to punt on their first two possessions before the Warriors went 64 yards in 11 plays and scored on a Briceton Boler 3-yard run with 1:10 left in the first period. Jake Vick’s PAT was good and the Warriors led 7-0.
Bruce answered with a 60-yard quarterback keeper but missed the PAT as the Warriors held a slim 7-6 lead with 11:48 left in the first half.
The Warriors then gave the ball right back after mishandling and fumbling the ensuing kick. Bruce need just two plays to go 10 yards as they scored on a 10-yard run with 11:17 left in the half. The try for two failed and Bruce led 12-7.
After swapping punts, Nanih Waiya went 39 yards in six plays as Vick scored on a 4-yard run with 3:03 left in the half. Vick’s PAT was good and Warriors led 14-12.
The Trojans answered as they went 60 yards in 10 plays and scored on a 13-yard quarterback keeper with 34 seconds left in the half. The PAT failed again and the Trojans led 18-14 at the half.
The Warriors got the ball to start the second half but went three and out. Bruce then went 81 yards in six plays, thanks to a big 45-yard pass play. The Trojans finished it off with an 8-yard run with 7:52 left in the third and hit the PAT to go up 25-14.
After another Nanih Waiya punt, Bruce broke a 48-yard run to take a 31-14 lead with 4:21 left in the third.
“The third quarter was just awful,” Courtney said. “But as bad as it was, our kids didn’t quit and we are proud of that. They keep fighting and playing hard. They are good, tough kids who have been through a lot of stuff. I was proud of their effort. But we have to win some games and get rolling this week.”
The two teams then swapped turnovers when Nanih Waiya fumbled the ensuing kick. But the Trojans then snapped the ball over the punter’s head and gave the Warriors the ball at their own 10. Two plays later, Isaiah Russey scored on a 1-yard run Vick hit the PAT as the Warriors trailed 31-21.
But the Trojans hit the big play again as they scored on a 45-yard quarterback keeper on the first play of the fourth quarter. The try for two failed and Warriors trailed 37-21 with 11:51 left in the game.
The Warriors then put together a fourth-quarter comeback effort with a pair of scores. The first was a 37-yard pass from Vick to Walt McClendon with 10:38 left to play to cut the score to 37-27.
The second was a 75-yard run by Russey with 4:09 left in the fourth. Vick hit the PAT for the final of 37-34.
The Trojans were then able to run out the clock to take the win.
The Warriors had 213 yards rushing and 72 passing for 285 yards of total offense.
Isaiah Russey led the Warriors with 124 yards on eight carries while Vick hd 47 yards on 12 carries. Boler had 42 yards on 14 carries.
This week’s game
The Warriors will hit the road this week as they travel to McAdams in Attala County.
The Bulldogs are also 1-4 on the season with their lone win coming over Leake County (26-20) inn week two. They have losses to Sebastopol (40-20), Clinton Christian (46-0), St. Andrew’s (31-6) and Riverside (50-6).
“They are extremely athletic,” Courtney said. “They are few in numbers and they have had some kid get hurt. I have seen them on film and they are most certainly athletic and can pose problems tackling, which we have trouble doing. We have to wrap up and get them down to the ground. I think we should be able to have a decent nigh offensively. We are going to try to run it right at them and see what happens.”
