With the temperature at 97 degrees just before kickoff, Winnfield’s depth on the extremely hot, humid evening proved too much for Jonesboro-Hodge to overcome in the 48-28 loss, which saddled JHHS with their first loss of the season after three games. Winnfield improved to 3-0.

The 101st edition of the Winnfield vs. Jonesboro-Hodge football series was everything you would expect from a fierce rivalry between two schools separated by only 24 miles along Hwy 167 in the piney woods of northern Louisiana. Both teams battled tooth and nail and swapped leads, with the contest not being decided until late in the fourth quarter, when Winnfield scored two quick touchdowns after JHHS had narrowed the deficit to 35-28.

“We knew going in that Winnfield’s depth, especially on the front lines, was going to be a difficult matchup for us, especially if it turned out to be a hot day, which it proved to be,” said JHHS head coach Terrance Blankenship. “Overall, I was pleased with the way we continued to fight when we got down, but we need to work on limiting our mistakes, both on offense and defense.”

The inability to stop Winnfield on offense proved to be the ultimate difference in the contest. Running the veer offense, Winnfield scored touchdowns on 7 of their 8 possessions; the only time JHHS held them out of the end zone was when Reginald Hemphill recovered a fumble at the J-H three-yard line. For the contest, Winnfield rushed for 357 yards and had 476 total yards, while accumulating a whopping 24 first downs. Winnfield converted 8 of 11 third downs and went 2 of 3 on fourth-down conversions.

On the positive side, JHHS demonstrated flashes of excellence on offense throughout the contest and ended up with almost 300 yards in total offense, fueled by a 118-yard rushing effort by Lon’treveious “Tre” Burn on just 5 carries, which included two bursts of over 50 yards, and a 9/13 for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns performance by quarterback King Campbell. Another Tiger who deserves recognition is JuQuan Qualls, who gathered in 3 passes for 84 yards and a score. Channing Gray Jr. also deserves mention for remarkably coming down with a “highlight reel” 4th-down touchdown catch.

Slow Start: Jonesboro-Hodge got off to a slow start on offense as, on the third play from scrimmage, the Tigers threw an interception that was returned to the J-H 44-yard line, allowing Winnfield to draw “first blood” as they capped off a 7-play drive when WHS quarterback Nickalas Mockosher connected with 276-pound tight end Chris McNeal for a 20-yard score.

Tigers Respond! JHHS answered by driving 64 yards in just 4 plays, capping the scoring drive with a 6-yard sprint left by quarterback King Campbell to narrow the deficit to 7-6 with 5:40 remaining in the first quarter. Winnfield then mounted a nine-play drive from their own 21-yard line to the JHHS three-yard line, but on a 4th-and-goal run, Reginald Hemphill pounced on a fumble to thwart the drive. From there, JHHS embarked on a tremendously impressive 97-yard scoring drive, the fourth- longest in JHHS history, scoring in only 5 plays, the final two being a 50-yard dash by Tre Burns and a 30-yard reception by JuQuan Qualls, who took a King Campbell pass in the flats and dashed 25 yards down the sideline to give JHHS their first and only lead of the contest as a 2-point conversion run by Burns put JHHS up 14-7.

Halftime Dagger! Winnfield came back to tie the game at 14 following a 7-play, 70-yard drive, climaxed by Mockosher’s 2nd TD pass, this time a 19-yard grab by Preston Wilson, setting up what turned out to be a critical turning point in the contest. With just 2:41 remaining in the half, Winnfield recovered a fumble at the JHHS 41-yard line when, on the Tigers’ first play, Campbell had the ball stripped on an attempted pass play. Methodically driving down the field, Winnfield scored with just 4 seconds remaining in the half to take a lead they would never relinquish.

“That was a big momentum swing,” reflected Blankenship. “It hurt to go into the half down a score instead of being tied, especially with Winnfield getting the ball first in the second half.”

Second Half Swoon! The analysis proved correct as Winnfield quickly put JHHS behind by two scores by taking their opening possession of the second half 80 yards in 9 plays, with Kenneth Richard scoring from 21 yards out to give WHS a 28-14 lead. JHHS rallied to score on Gray’s “circus catch” to cut the gap to 28-22, only to see Winnfield go back on top by two scores. Once again, JHHS rallied, this time on a 5-yard blast by Tre Burns to narrow the margin to 35-28, but that was as close as the Tigers would come, as the now “gassed” Tiger defense could not stop the Winnfield offense, which scored twice late to take the “closer than it looked” final 20-point win.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	FINAL
Jonesboro-Hodge (2-1)	6	8	8	6	28
Winnfield (3-0)	7	13	15	13	48

TEAM TOTALS	JHHS	WHS
Total Plays	33	68
Total Yards	292	476
Passing Yards	184	119
Rushing Yards	108	357
First Downs	9	24
Third Down Efficiency	2-5 (40%)	8-11 (73%)
Fourth Down Efficiency	1-1 (100%)	2-3 (67%)
Turnovers	3	0
Penalties	3-39	8-70

JHHS Individual Offensive Statistics

Passing:
King Campbell – 9/13, 184 yards, 2 TD’s, 2 Int’s
Rushing:
Tre Burns – 5/118, 1 TD
Correlle Campbell – 3/0
Channing Gray Jr. – 1/(-1)
Spencer Womack – 1/(-3)
King Campbell – 6/(-7)
Receiving:
JuQuan Qualls – 3/84, 1 TD
Tre Burns – 2/50
Tyson Burks – 3/37
Channing Gray Jr. – 1/13 1 TD

Winnfield Individual Offensive Statistics

Passing:
Nickolas Mockosher – 5/7, 119 yards, 2 TD’s
Rushing:
Kenneth Richard – 18/127, 2 TD’s
Gabe Wren – 13/114, 1 TD
Braylen Butler – 16/92
Colby Pray – 1/12
Nickolas Mockosher – 4/8, 1 TD
Leo Bryant – 1/4, 1 TD
Receiving:
Preston Wilson – 2/60, 1 TD
Braylen Butler – 1/27
Chris McNeal – 1/22, 1 TD
Kenneth Richard – 1/10

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