The Nanih Waiya Warriors did everything but beat Hamilton on Friday night.
The Warriors weren’t able to hold onto a 15-6 halftime lead as the Lions stormed back with 24 second-half points to take a 30-15 win.
Nanih Waiya falls to 1-3 on the season and will travel to Bruce this week.
It was another tough loss for James Courtney and the Warriors, who fall to 1-3 on the season.
“I thought for the most part we played hard and it was another game that we had a chance to win,” Courtney said. “We had the lead in the fourth quarter so we feel like anytime that’s the case, we should find a way to win it. We just make too many self-inflicted, unforced errors and we must find a way to fix those or these types of losses are going to continue to find us. Hamilton is a good football team that will win a lot of games. I still have hope for our football team that we will figure it out and we too will win a bunch of games.”
The Warriors didn’t help themselves in the first half but still managed to come out with a lead. After throwing an interception on their first drive, the Warriors snapped the ball over the punter’s head and gave the Trojans the ball at their own 36. The Trojans then scored on a 36-yard run with 1:09 left in the first quarter. The try for two failed and the Trojans led 6-0.
The Warriors responded with an eight-play, 56-yard drive as Briceton Boler scored on a 1-yard run with 7:43 left in the half. Boler then scored on the two-point conversion and the Warriors took an 8-6 lead.
After a Hamilton punt, the Warriors continued to move the football as they went 59 yards in 11 plays and scored on a 6-yard pass from Kade Massey to Sameer Hughes. The PAT was good and the Warriors led 15-6 at the half.
The second half was a different story for the Warriors. The Warriors received the opening kick but fumbled the kickoff and gave the Trojans the ball at their own 30. Four plays later, the Trojans scored on a 6-yard run with 10:39 left in the third. The tru for two was good and the Trojans cut the lead to 15-14.
Nanih Waiya turned the ball over on downs on its next two possessions, getting to the Hamilton 5 and 27 yard lines but not getting any points.
Hamilton finally broke through and put together a 10-play, 73-yard drive and scored on an 8-yard run with 9:56 left in the game. The try for two was good and the Trojans took a 22-15 lead.
After a Nanih Waiya punt, the Lions put the game away with a 37-yard touchdown run with 5:50 left in the game and converted the two-point attempt for the final of 30-15.
“We led off the second half with a turnover,” Courtney said. “If we protect the ball and are able to drive the field and score we take a big lead right there, but that didn’t happen. We just have to be aware that little mistakes and lapses in judgement can have a huge impact on the end result of the game. We still had a chance to extend the lead with two red zone trips that we get zero points out of. One was a clear pass interference call that wasn’t thrown that would have given us a first and goal from the 1. But it is what it is. Our kids are frustrated and it’s tough. Anybody that doesn’t understand that has never strapped it on. We work our kids hard and when it doesn’t go our way on Friday night, it’s tough. We gotta do a better job of controlling our emotions and work on being positive. I like this team and we are going to go back to work and I believe the kids will respond.”
The Warriors had 208 yards rushing and 44 passing for 252 yards while Hamilton had just 213 yards of total offense.
Boler 128 yards on 29 carries to lead the Warriors while Isaiah Russey had 56 yards on 11 carries.
This week’s game
The Trojans will hit the road this week as they head north to Bruce.
The Trojans are also 1-3 on the season and coming off a 39-12 win over Thrasher. They have losses to South Pontotoc (23-22), Vardaman (40-8) and East Union (50-27).
Courtney said Bruce will likely get back senior quarterback Jay Cole Williams, who has only played in one game this season.
“Well what we haven’t seen from Bruce on film has been their talented Division I quarterback,” Courtney said. “Unfortunately for us, we assume he will be back this week. Bruce is a really scary team with No. 1 running the show, so we will have to have a great week of prep and do a good job of tackling him. They have other good skill guys to go along with him, so it will be a challenge for sure.”
Courtney said the Warriors will need to be focused to get a win on the road.
“We gotta go up there which is always a tough place to play,” Courtney said. “The key will be to control our emotions, respond to adversity, and protect the football as if our lives depend on it. We are just ready to have another opportunity to play. Our kids just want to prove how good they really can be and I think as the year goes on we will do that. But it starts with our attitudes, love for each other, and attention to detail. If we fix those issues we will be a good football team.”
Last year, Bruce beat Nanih Waiya 37-34.
