By ROBBIE FAULK
Coach Ron Price warned his East Webster team not to look at the Philadelphia Tornadoes’ 0-5 record coming into the week.
Just a game prior, Philadelphia had taken Class 3A contender Noxubee County to overtime and fell short and had played a challenging schedule to that point. They hung in there with the Wolverines for the first half before EWHS finally was able to pull away last Thursday and win 29-6, but it wasn’t what Price wanted to see from his team – despite the win.
“I was real concerned all week because we had played so well against Kemper County. You’re always a little fearful of a letdown,” Price said. “You just don’t want to get in a situation against a good football team and you don’t capitalize on your opportunity. At the end of the day, our kids have made the plays to win. We just want to continue to stress that when plays are there you have to make them.”
The Wolverines had just a 7-0 lead at the half but were able to score a couple of touchdowns in the third quarter and then one more in the fourth to put it away. Defense and special teams had some really big plays along the way.
Lakendrick Potts provided the only score of the first half when he returned a punt back 50 yards for a touchdown and he finished with 103 yards on three returns. Defensively, Hayden Graham made 10 tackles, a whopping 6.0 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack. Sproles Stewart and Brody Gerrish had 10 tackles as well and Prentiss Cork had nine tackles with 4.0 TFL while Daygan Crowley had seven tackles and 3.0 TFL and Mahd Jones came up with an interception.
The offense had some big moments as well, although sporadic in spurts. Both Kross Avent and Cooper Stidham threw an interception but also a touchdown. Avent was 7-of-11 for 147 yards with a score and four carries for 30 yards while Stidham was 6-of-14, 132 yards and a touchdown passing and also had four carries for 30 yards.
RT Moye led the squad again on the ground with 14 carries for 61 yards and a touchdown. Potts two catches for 71 yards and a touchdown to go along with his punt returns and Lamarkiz Mccurry had three catches for 71 yards and a touchdown.
“I was disappointed in the way that we performed,” Price said. “We talked all week about Philadelphia and the schedule that they had played. Our guys came out real sluggish. We had opportunities early in the game to make big plays and we couldn’t make them in the first half when we needed to. We got back in the locker room to try to get everybody refocused and we played better second half.”
Despite the sluggish start, the Wolverines are in a great position at this stage of the season.
EWHS (6-1, 2-0 Region 4-2A) has won six-straight games and all by double digits ahead of the final three games of the season. Instead of taking advantage of a bye week, Price usually has a non-district team scheduled and this year it is 0-7 Holly Springs.
The Hawks and Wolverines played a special Thursday night ball game this week in Cumberland in a game that was completed after press time. A full report will be in next week’s Webster Progress.
“I’m a creature of habit – I like to stay in routines. I’ve never really liked bye weeks and want our kids to stay on schedule so when the schedule came out, we were searching for a game,” Price said. “At the end of the day, it worked out. It’s always scary to play a non-division game in the middle of division but you want to keep playing.”
The Wolverines will finish out the regular season with a home matchup against Velma Jackson next Friday and the Maroon Bowl in Eupora on October 31.
