By Jasmine Jones

Photos Courtesy Tiger Snaps

This past Friday, the Winnfield Tigers lost a hard-fought game at Stokes-Walker Stadium against the West Ouachita Chiefs. The Tigers were aware of the massive opponent they were facing and the score fails to reflect the passion they threw into the game with the final score of 20-0 as West Ouachita walked away with a win. 

With the late summer heat heavy in the air, the Tiger defense was undoubtedly the highlight of the night. On the Chiefs first possession of the game they fumbled and Zaelyn Thomas recovered the fumble turning possession over to the Tigers.  Later in the quarter, Breylan Starks took a runner down right before he reached the end zone. This would delay a touchdown for the Chiefs; proving that they would truly have to fight for every foot on the Tigers’ home soil. 

In the second half of the game, Jordan Washington broke up a pass at the Winnfield 30 yard line forcing the Chiefs to work primarily through their run game. Damascus “Tank” Lewis also broke up a 4th down pass inside the red zone to stall West Ouachita again. Additionally Javyian Woods and Jeremy Mamon provided the consistent tackles that greatly limited the variety of plays the Chiefs were able to complete. Defensively, the Tigers fought with immense spirit holding a team much bigger than them to only twenty points. 

The Tigers faced a threatening amount of physicality offensively, however their efforts during plays were no less aggressive or persistent. A catch by John Micheal Pickett got Winnfield their first first down of the game. 

Soon after, the Tigers’ Quarterback Nickalas Mockosher dropped back to throw and the Chiefs rush looked to overtake the quarterback. All of Winnfield held its breath as they thought the play was busted, then out of nowhere Detavious Williams came and blocked the lineman allowing Tank Lewis to successfully receive a catch moving the team down the field. Later in the second quarter Jordan Washington ran a 20 yard return and then on the very next play caught a throw by Nickalas Mockosher earning a first down. 

Starting strong in the second half of the game, a quarterback run by Nickalas Mockosher and then a reception by Gabe Wren earned the Tigers back to back downs which started earning Winnfield some momentum. However, the Tigers only faced challenge after challenge from the Chiefs defensive line throughout the game. 

“We knew it would be a very physical game,” stated head coach Jay Watson. “They had a very experienced Quarterback who has been starting for three years now. We knew we had a big task ahead of us.” Coach Watson also stated “Defense played well, we gave up one good touchdown but we made them fight for the rest. Jayvian Woods and Jeremy Mamon had a really good night.” Offensively Watson stated “We have to get better at quality opponents and we need to eliminate our blocking mistakes.”

The Winnfield Tigers will play against the Jena Giants next week at Jena. Jena currently stands 2-1 and, as of writing this, are ranked fourth in their division. The game will take place at seven o’clock and the weather will be a sunny 79 degrees. Consider coming out to support the Winnfield Tigers!