Matt Taylor scuffles for extra yards. (Photo/DeAnna Robinson)
RWA-60, SJC-34
WINNSBORO – The Eagles of Richard Winn Academy kicked their championship run off Friday with a dominating 60-34 win over St. Johns Christian Academy.
“I was very happy with our performance tonight after the loss last week,” RWA head coach Dan Dickerson said. “We had to make sure we had the boys’ attention for them to see we are the hunted now after a great regular season. I was very happy with their effort and their mental aspect to make sure we continued to keep our eyes on the prize.”
The Eagle offense controlled the game with their up-tempo style with their run game. Senior quarterback Matt Taylor started with a 6-yard touchdown run in the early part of the first quarter. The Eagles missed their conversion, but held an early 6-0 lead.
The Eagle defense stopped St. Johns on their first possession to get the ball back in St. Johns territory. Taylor abused the St. Johns defense with the ground game as he scored on a 14-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles an early 12-0 lead. St. Johns on their next possession cut the Eagle lead to 12-6 after completing 77 yard touchdown pass with 4:06 left in the first quarter. The Eagle offense responded on the following possession with Taylor connecting with junior Webb Yongue on a 34-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter giving the Eagles a 19-6 lead.
Richard Winn’s defense continued their dominating performance in the first quarter forcing St. Johns to stall on offense giving the Eagles great field position yet again. Junior running back John Coleman capitalized for the Eagles scoring on a 32-yard touchdown run giving the Eagles a 26-6 lead.
The defense of the Eagles struck right before the end of the quarter blocking the St. Johns punt. Richard Winn began the second quarter deep in St. Johns territory after the Eagle defense continued to stall the St. Johns offense. Taylor started the second quarter with a 27-yard touchdown run to push the Eagle lead 33-6.
St. Johns responded their next possession with a good drive to give them a chance at a rally. A couple of penalties extended the St. Johns drive as the Eagle defense began to have a few mental lapses on the drive. St. Johns made the Eagles pay, scoring on a 6-yard touchdown run cutting their deficit to 33-14 in the middle of the second quarter.
Richard Winn continued their dominance on offense by continuing to run the ball very well on St. Johns defense. Taylor completed the drive into the end zone with a 5-yard touchdown run extending their second quarter lead 40-14.
The Eagle defense forced another quick three-and-out on St. Johns’ next drive giving the Eagle offense another scoring opportunity deep into the second quarter. Coleman led the Eagles to another score with an 8-yard touchdown run extending the lead 47-14 late in the second quarter.
The Eagle defense continued to keep the St. Johns offense stuck in neutral as another three-and-out drive gave the Eagle offense the ball back with under a minute left before the half. Yongue grabbed a 33-yard touchdown pass from Taylor with 10 seconds left before the half giving the Eagles a 54-14 lead.
Richard Winn began the third quarter with a dominating run game as they continued to drive the ball well against St. Johns defense. Coleman ended the drive with a 22-yard touchdown run extending their lead 60-14 early into the third quarter. St. Johns scored some late touchdowns as the Eagles of Richard Winn rested their starters the remainder of the game to let some younger players gain some game experience with the game pretty much in hand.
The Eagles host Andrew Jackson in round two Friday, the team that ended RWA’s 13-game win streak on Halloween night.
“It’s a team we know a lot about after recently playing them,” Dickerson said. “The game will show two different styles of football, which will dictate the outcome of the game. We have to make sure we cut the mental mistakes out this time around to make sure we do the right things to win the game.”
SJC: 6-8-6-14 – 34
RWA: 26-28-6-0 – 60
Scoring
First Quarter
RW – Matt Taylor 6 run (run failed). 8:04
RW – M. Taylor 14 run (run failed). 5:32.
SJ – Williams 77 pass from Franks (run failed). 4:03.
RW – Webb Yongue 34 pass from M. Taylor (Mitchell Gibbons kick). 2:46.
RW – John Coleman 32 run (M. Gibbons kick). 1:05.
Second Quarter
RW – M. Taylor 27 run (M. Gibbons kick). 10:59.
SJ – Franks 8 run (Franks run). 7:01.
RW – M. Taylor 5 run (M. Gibbons kick).
RW – J. Coleman 8 run (M. Gibbons kick). 2:04.
RW – W. Yongue 33 pass from Taylor (M. Gibbons kick). 0:10.
Third Quarter
RW – J. Coleman 22 run (M. Gibbons kick). 10:10.
SJ – Harrison 12 pass from Franks (run failed). 4:41.
Fourth Quarter
SJ – Harrison 5 run (run failed). 8:39.
SJ – Wilson 6 run (Harrison 3 pass from Franks). 3:54.
Team Stats
SJC RWA
First Downs 15 15
Rushes/Yards 34-101 29-213
Passing Yards 203 79
C-A-I 8-22-0 4-7-0
Fumbles/Lost 3-0 1-1
Individual Stats
RUSHING: RW – John Coleman 4-108, Matt Taylor 13-169, Webb Yongue 3-20, Gunnar Hensley 3-5, Will Carvalho 3-1.
RECEIVING: RW – Webb Yongue 4-72, John Coleman 1-7.
PASSING: RW – Matt Taylor 4-7, 79 yards, 2 TDs.
