Most every football coach wants their team to be playing their best football in the playoffs. That certainly appears to be the case for the Nanih Waiya Warriors this season. The Warriors used a stingy defense and rugged rushing attack to take a dominating 28-6 win over Leake County in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs. Nanih Waiya improves to 6-5 on the season and will play at Lumberton in secondround action this week. Coach James Courtney said he thought his team did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage against a big Leake County squad. ìI thought we played well against a very big and athletic Leake County team,î Courtney said. ìWe knew going in that we wanted to make it our kind of game. We didnít want a 7-on-7 tourney to break out or we knew we would be in trouble. Our offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and our backs ran hard and we finished most of our drives.î After forcing Leake to punt on its first possession, Nanih Waiya went 50 yards in six plays as Briceton Boler scored on a 9-yard run with 7:00 left in the first quarter. The PAT failed and the Warriors led 6-0. The lead stayed at 6- 0 until the final play of the first half when the Warriors scored on a 5- yard run by Kade Massey on a reverse to cap off a nine-play, 55- yard drive. Isaiah Russey ran in the twopoint conversion and the Warriors led 14-0 at half. ìThe one right before half was huge,î Courtney said. ìDefensively our kids have been playing lights out. They will really hit you and I felt like they did just that. They are not the biggest kids but we run well to the ball and they like to hit. I thought the punting and kicking game were good, so overall I thought we played well and thatís good to see this time of year.î The score stayed at 14-0 until late in the third quarter when Kamryn McGee scooped up a Leake County fumble and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown with 2:28 left in the third. Riley Watkins PAT was good and the Warriors led 21-0. Leake finally found the end zone late in the third on a 40-yard pass that cut the score to 21- 6. The Warriors then drove to the Leake 9 before fumbling. Leake then went eight plays before turned the ball over on downs at their own 34. Five plays later, Boler scored on a 5-yard run with 4:15 left in the game. Watkinsí PAT was good and the Warriors led 28-6 for the final margin. Boler led the Warriors with 170 yard rushing on 27 carries while Russey had 25 yards on three carries. Massey had 30 yards on seven carries. On defense, Sameer Hughes led the Warriors with 13 tackles and an interceptions while Russey had 13 tackles as well. Caden McDaniel had 11 tackles and a fumble recovery while McGee had seven tackles. T.J Henley had five tackles while Caleb Tucker had four tackles. This weeksí game The Warriors will hit the road again as they take on traditional power Lumberton. The Panthers are 9-2 on the season. They have losses to North Forrest (20-7) and Wesson (21-14). They have wins over Purvis (27-14), West Marion (12-7), Mount Olive (43-0), EnterpriseLincoln (36-25), East Marion (32-28), Salem (50-8), Resurrection (25-0) and Shaw (42- 12). ìLumberton is very talented led by I think they have seven or eight seniors on defense,î Courtney said. ìThey have a really talented dual threat quarterback. It starts with him. We have to do a good job of limiting his big-play ability and make them earn it. I think our kids are really exited and ready to go prove again that they belong in the con
