Don’t misunderstand, Nanih Waiya head football coach James Courtney was very pleased that his Warriors picked up their first win of the season last Friday night with a 27-13 road win over Choctaw Central. But he also knows if his team is going to be competitive in MHSAA Class 1A there needs to be some growth.
“We have still got to get better,” Courtney said, “But it feels good to win.
“I thought we played pretty well at times, but there were some things we have to get better at that didn’t show up in the stat books. We let some receivers get behind us, but they didn’t catch the pass so it didn’t show up. Overall we did enough to win.”
Courtney knows his team will be severely tested this week when the Warriors open Region 2-1A play at home against undefeated Tupelo Christian Prep.
“Their quarterback is averaging 450 yards a game passing,” Courtney said. “They are going to spread us out and try to get favorable matchups.”
Courtney said that perhaps the best defense his team can play against TCP is to hold on to the football.
“We have to have a good day running the ball and keep it away form them,” he said.
Tupelo Christian has wins over Tishomingo County (45-17), Oak Hill Academy (53-21, and Biggersville (41-26).
Some big plays, like the Warriors got from their playmakers last week, would certainly help the Warriors’ cause on Friday night.
In Friday’s win over Class 4A Choctaw Central, Austin Sanders returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to give the winners a 7-0 lead with 11:53 left in the first.
“We expect big things out of Austin,” Courtney said. “He was an all-state kickoff return last year. We expect him to make big plays when he gets the ball in space.”
Choctaw Central then took advantage of a Nanih Waiya error when they blocked a punt after a bad snap to get the ball at the NW 19. Gerald Isom then called his own number and scored on a 19-yard keeper with 7:41 left in the first. Graviel Velasco booted the PAT to tie the game at 7-7.
Nanih Waiya responded with a bruising nine-play, 80-yard drive as Donovan Turner scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper with 2:42 left in the first. The PAT was blocked and Nanih Waiya led 13-7.
Nanih Waiya added one more first-half score as the Warriors went 54 yards in four plays. After a 46-yard run by Shia Moore, the senior running back finished off the drive with a 1-yard run. The try for two failed and Nanih Waiya led 19-7.
Choctaw Central put together a nine-play drive on its second possession of the second half but had a field goal blocked to stall the drive. Nanih Waiya responded with an 11-play, 76-yard drive as Moore scored on a 16-yard run with 11:53 left in the game. Moore ran in the two-point run and Nanih Waiya led 27-7.
After a series of punts, Choctaw got some good field position after recovering a Nanih Waiya punt. Choctaw got in the end zone again as Eli Joe hit Brydon Wesley on a 5-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth. The try for two failed for the final score of 27-13.
Nanih Waiya had 247 yards rushing and 63 passing as Moore rushed for 183 yards on 19 carries and turner had 14 attempts for 77 yards. He also hit on 6 of 12 passes for 63 yards. Tylan Glass had four catches for 42 yards for the Warriors.
