While most Nanih Waiya fans may have been unfamiliar with the history of Baldwyn High School football, Nanih Waiya head football coach James Courtney certainly was.
“I’m quite familiar with with them from my time at Eupora and Bruce,” Courtney said. “They were tough on us. We knew they were going to be well coached.”
Courtney knew his Warriors would need to get off to a good start last Friday night and his team accomplished just that on the way to a 42-14 win over the Bearcats in the second round of the MHSAA Class 1A State Football Playoffs.
Up next for Nanih Waiya is a date with visiting Noxapater in the North State Championship Game on Friday night at 7.
“We knew the importance of getting off to a good start,” he said. “We got two pretty quick scores against them and that really helped.”
The Warriors also had one of their best passing nights of the season as senior quarterback Donovan Turner hit on 6-of-9 passes for 124 yards and three scores.
“It was part of the game plan,” Courtney said. “We thought they would give us some stuff in the passing game. We threw the ball well, even in the wet conditions.”
NW took a quick lead on an 18-yard scoring pass from Turner to J.T. Stokes. Jake Vick knocked through the first of his six extra point attempts to make it 7-0.
The Warriors led 14-0 after the first quarter of play thanks to a 4-yard scoring run by Austin Sanders. NW made it 21-0 at the half when Tylan Glass hauled in a 32-yard scoring pass from Turner.
Nanih Waiya, now 12-2 on the season and winners of 10 straight games, exploded for 21 third-quarter points.
Turner hit Glass with a 27-yard touchdown toss and Sanders broke free for a 65-yard scoring jaunt to make it 35-0 before Baldwyn scored on an 84-yard pass play. Dawson Eaves closed out NW’s scoring on the night with a 13-yard run.
Baldwyn added a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 2-yard run.
Sanders rushed for 124 yards on 11 carries, while Turner had 13 rushing attempts for 87 yards. Glass hauled in three passes for 83 yards and two scores.
Sanders recorded six tackles for the winners, while Ked Moore had five and Trevor Holdiness recovered a fumble.
