The Winnfield football team knows what it’s like to feel defeat after a strong start to a season, losing its first game to Jena this past week after a 3-0 start.
The Tigers (3-1) want to make sure St. Mary’s (4-0) is familiar with that feeling when the undefeated Tigers from Natchitoches Parish head east for Friday’s game.
Two of St. Mary’s four wins have come by one score and in the final minutes, including a 29-28 win over Class 4A Grant this past week.
The other close win came against fellow District 4-2A foe Red River (26-20) in Week 2.
St. Mary’s made it look easier in its other two victories, a 22-6 defeat of Vidalia and a 46-14 thrashing of Holy Savior Menard.
The visiting Tigers lean of their defense creating turnovers to set up advantageous position for its offense, including three interceptions against Grant and four turnovers forced overall.
One of those interceptions was returned for a touchdown by Jacob Thibodaux.
Winnfield’s 3-0 start is its best since 2021 when the Tigers won their first three contests before losing their next three.
Winnfield certainly doesn’t want to repeat that fate, but the Tigers didn’t have the horses to hang with Jena, the 2025 state runner-up in Division III Non-Select, in a 52-6 loss this past week.
But Winnfield tends to protect the ball relatively well, helped by a veteran under center like Nickalas Mockosher.
As long as the young stable of running backs can hold onto the ball, Winnfield’s defense under new coordinator Scott Green might suffocate a St. Mary’s bunch that isn’t known for a lot of explosion plays.
If Winnfield can win the line of scrimmage against the Class 1A Tigers and win the battle of third downs on both sides of the ball, that would bode well for Winnfield to head into District 4-2A play with a winning feeling.