By Derek Trimm
WINFIELD CORRESPONDENT
WINFIELD - The Winfield Pirates played in their 999th game in their long history and came up with a blowout 48-7 Region win over the Susan Moore Bulldogs on Friday, Sep. 17 at Estes Hudson Stadium in Winfield.
The win improved the Pirates to 5-0 on the season and 3-0 in Class 3A, Region 6 play.
Winfield’s defense was stifling as it has been in past weeks and set up the offense with a short field position and allowed the Pirates to score quickly and often running out to a 35-0 halftime lead. Winfield cleared the benches and still was able to add two more scores in the second half to finish out the 48-7 victory.
“We got to play a lot of people,” said Winfield head coach David McKinney in an interview following the game. “We got to look at our younger guys, and give them a chance and we are trying to give them opportunities, and I am just tickled to death to get to get them experience that will pay off in the long run”
Susan Moore received the opening kickoff and could not gain enough yardage for a first down and were forced to punt. Winfield would take over at its own 33-yard line.
Winfield’s Joseph Cox took the first down handoff and rumbled for 17 yards, and then quarterback Aidan Quinn passed to Ja’borri McGhee for a 50-yard touchdown.
Brooks Smith added the extra point and Winfield took an early 7-0 lead with 9:59 left in the first quarter.
The Pirates defense held the Bulldogs and forced another punt, and the Pirates took over at their own 33. The Winfield drive would stall out and Quinn would be intercepted at the Susan Moore two-yard line giving the Bulldogs the ball with little room to work.
The Winfield defense held the Bulldogs and forced a punt, and Jordan Mastin fielded the punt and found a wall of blockers around the right side of the field and eased his way into the end zone for a 45-yard punt return touchdown.
Smith tacked on the extra point to push the Winfield lead to 14-0 with 11:39 left in the second quarter.
The ensuing drive for Susan Moore ended after only one play as McGhee snagged an interception and setup the Pirates at the Susan Moore 19.
Cox ran for three yards on first down, and then Quinn passed to Mastin for eight more to give the Pirates first-and-goal at the Bulldogs’ eight-yard line.
Cox picked up four on first-and-goal and then went the remaining four yards for a touchdown on the next play.
Smith added the extra point to extend the Pirates lead to 21-0 with 9:36 left in the second quarter.
Later in the second quarter Winfield put together another scoring drive starting at their own 20-yard line.
Cox would take the hand off on first down and ramble 47 yards to the Bulldogs 33. Drew Cook ran for 17 yards and after a penalty pushed the Pirates back to the Bulldogs 33. Cox ran off another 17 yard again to the Susan Moore 16, and then Cox found running room again for nine more yards to the seven.
Cook plowed his way into the end zone from seven yards out for another Pirates’ touchdown.
Smith’s extra point was good and Winfield extended its lead to 28-0 with 2:34 left in the first half.
Susan Moore could not get its offense going again and punted back to the Pirates.
After forcing Susan Moore into another three-and-out and using all their unused timeouts, Winfield got the ball back at their own 30-yard line with 1:50 to go in the half, with a chance to add more points before halftime.
Cox picked up nine yards on the ground, and then Quinn passed to Rain Nolan for 10 more yards to the Pirates’ 49.
Quinn found McGhee on a screen pass for 29 yards down to the Bulldogs 22. Quinn passed again and connected with Davis Bowen over the middle for 17 yards to the five-yard line.
Quinn, then, passed to Seth Kemble on a bubble screen for a five-yard touchdown.
Smith’s extra point was good and Winfield took a 35-0 lead into halftime.
Winfield added to its lead with 6:05 left in the third quarter as Cox broke free for a 15 yard touchdown run.
A bad snap forced Nolan to fall on the ball in he backfield on the point after attempt, but the lead grew to 41-0.
Will Beasley intercepted a pass on Susan Moore’s next possession giving the ball back to the Pirates at the Bulldogs’ 35-yard line.
Braxton Tilley picked up 13 yards on first down and then rumbled through defenders for a 22-yard touchdown.
Smith’s extra point was good and the Pirates lead grew to 48-0 with 5:07 left in the third quarter.
Susan Moore added a score on the ensuing drive with a 68-yard touchdown run by Zach Reeves to cut the lead to 48-7.
Both teams cleared the benches as time wound down and the game came to a close with Winfield securing the victory.
Winfield finished the game with 460 total yards, with 143 passing yards, and 317 rushing yards.
Quinn completed 10-of-14 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
McGhee led the receivers with two catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Bowen and Nolan each caught two passes for 27 yards. Kemble grabbed two passes for eight yards and a touchdown.
Cox led the rushing attack with 13 carries for 146 yards and two scores.
Keylan Hughes ran 16 times for 64 yards. Cook ran five times for 59 yards and a touchdown. Tilley ran three times for 59 yards and a score. Brady May ran twice for 11 yards.
Defensively, Will Beasley, Bowen, and McGhee each had an interception.
Winfield (5-0, 3-0 Class 3A, Region 6) will travel eight miles down the road to entertain the Brilliant Tigers (1-3, 1-2 Class 1A, Region 6) on Thursday, Sep. 23, in Brilliant. It will be their 1,000th school game.
See complete story in the Journal Record.
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