James Courtney wasn’t expecting any surprises when his Nanih Waiya Warriors paid a visit to French Camp Academy on Friday night. “You knew they were going to be physical and you knew they were going to play you to the end,” Courtney said.
He was exactly right.
The Warriors jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead and overcame four turnovers to take the four-touchdown win in the key Region 2-1A contest.
“French Camp is a good football team and they are especially going to play you tough there,” he said. “They are always going to play extremely hard. It’s always good to get out of there with a win.”
The victory improved the Warriors to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in Region 2-1A play. NW and Noxapater are at the top of the league standings with 3-0 marks, while West Lowndes is 3-1.
The Warriors put together a 378-yard offensive performance on Friday night, with 325 of those coming on the ground.
Austin Sanders had an explosive night, opening the scoring for the Warriors with an 85-yard run. NW made that 8-0 when Donovan Turner hit Blake Young with the 2-point conversion attempt.
Sanders finished the night with a team-high 159 rushing yards on just six carries. Donovan Turner followed him with 105 yards on 12 carries.
Turner made it 14-0 late in the first quarter on a 9-yard run. The two-point conversion failed. The Warriors increased their lead to 20-0 at the half when Turner scored on an 8-yard run.
The winners added a touchdown on a 6-yard run by Devean Turner in the third quarter. He also ran in the two-point conversion for the final points of the night.
Devean Turner rushed for 52 yards on eight attempts, while Donovan Turner hit on 4-of-10 passes for 53 yards. Glass had two catches for 23 yards, while Devean Turner and J.T. Stokes had one catch each.
While Courtney wasn’t excited about the turnovers, he understood them. “Most of them were on effort plays where we were just trying to hard and fighting for extra yardage after we were already stopped,” he said.
The Warriors are set to make the short trip to Noxapater on Thursday night at 7 to take on the rival Tigers in a key region contest.
