WEST POINT — Offense was the name of the game Friday night, as the Winona Christian football team defeated Oak Hill Academy 49-42 in a Mississippi Association of Independent (MAIS) Class AA, District 2 game.
Winona Christian (5-1, 3-0 district) rushed for 328 yards to control the clock and keep its lead, while Oak Hill Academy (2-4, 0-1) found success through the air to score quickly.
Oak Hill Academy coach Chris Craven said it was hard to stop the Stars’ triple-option attack, but he was proud of his team’s ability to score quickly.
“Our defense struggled a lot,” Craven said. “We knew they were going to chew up clock, so we wanted to score quickly to keep up with them.”
The Stars found the end zone on their first drive with a 53-yard touchdown pass from Shaw Ferguson to Blake Greene. Oak Hill Academy answered with a 70-yard drive. Quarterback Ken Dill capped the drive with a 19-yard scoring pass to Powell Tabor to tie the game.
Winona Christian re-took the lead again with 1 minute, 42 seconds left in the first on a pass from Ferguson to Landon Harbin, who, along with going 7-for-7 in PATs, led the Stars with two catches for 56 yards. The Raiders responded with a John Carver Middleton 2-yard rush, but Dill’s two-point conversion pass was incomplete.
Stars running back Walker Pearson had an 80-yard rushing score on the first play following the kickoff, which led to his game-high 158 yards rushing. Pearson gave credit to his blockers for the team’s success.
“Our offensive line was awesome,” Pearson said. “Our backs did a great job blocking on the outside, and it seems like there was a hole every time we touched the ball.”
Pearson wasn’t the only back to get his hands on the ball, as big fullback Zach Castille was tough for Oak Hill Academy to bring down. Castille scored on a 12-yard pass from Ferguson to make it 28-13. Castille played with one arm due to an injury to his right hand.
Winona Christian coach Junior Graham said it was the first time in nearly a month Castille was able to carry the ball.
“We were worried about ball security (with Castille’s broken hand), but he came in and did a good job of moving the chains,” Graham said. “We were pleased with how effectively he ran the ball.”
Castille was glad playing with one hand didn’t hamper his ability to hold on to the ball.
“I was just glad I didn’t fumble because I was holding the ball in my left hand,” Castille said.
A 40-yard touchdown pass from Dill to James Peavy (five catches, 102 yards), who was one of two 100-yard receivers for the Raiders, made it 28-21 at halftime.
It appeared as if Winona Christian was gearing up to take control with a 24-yard run by Castille and an 8-yard scamper by Ferguson in the third quarter that made it 42-21 going into the final quarter.
Dill rallied the Raiders with a 25-yard scoring pass to Tabor from 25-yards out. Castille answered with a 7-yard touchdown run, but Dill threw two more touchdowns, including one to Tabor, who had a game high seven catches for 116 yards. A 3-yard pass to Dylan Scott capped the scoring.
Craven was proud of his quarterback’s play and ability to find the open man.
“(Dill) is really smart and usually makes good decisions,” Craven said. “He even calls some plays if he sees something that is open.”
Oak Hill Academy will play Friday at Columbus Christian (1-5, 0-1), which lost to Newton County Academy 46-13.
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