Winton Woods Powers Way to Victory

On a perfect Friday night for football in Morrow, Ohio, the Winton Woods Warriors once again showed why they are one of the top teams in the state. The Warriors stayed hot, knocking off Eastern Cincinnati Conference foe Little Miami, 41-7 in front of a packed house. Little Miami received the ball to start the game and returned the opening kickoff to the 26 yard line. From there, the Panthers were unable to muster anything, going three and out.

Panthers punter Gunner Hoffman flipped the field with a great punt that put Winton Woods at the their own 33. Coach Chad Murphy and the Warriors were going to establish the run early with Senior running back, Trey Cornist. After a holding call on the first play, quarterback Vance George aired one out to stud Junior receiver Tra’Mar Harris. The pass was called incomplete despite it appearing Harris made the catch.

On 3rd and 18, George found his man for a 19-yard completion. Cornist made the Panthers pay with a 65-yard run on first down before being brought down at the 1 yard line. Cornist was rewarded as he punched it in for the score to give Winton Woods the 7-0 lead.

Two plays into the ensuing drive, Panthers senior quarterback Grant Maupin found fellow senior, Brayden Bischoff for a 33-yard gain. After a couple of Maupin incompletions, he targeted sophomore receiver Case Miller on 4th and 8. The pass fell incomplete but Winton Woods was flagged for pass interference. The second chance for Little Miami was all for not as they were unable to capitalize on the penalty. Another fourth down incompletion gave Winton Woods the ball. The Warriors doubled their lead 8 plays later when George found Tra’Mar Harris for a 42-yard touchdown reception. On the kickoff, Jack Cooper was blown up by Cameron Calhoun of Winton Woods. Cooper got the last laugh when he hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Maupin to put Little Miami on the board.

Winton Woods answered back with a six play drive that culminated in a Trey Cornist 9-yard touchdown run. During that drive, Cornist added his second big run of the game, this time a 59-yard dash to the set up his touchdown a few plays later. The touchdown gave Winton Woods a 21-7 lead in the second quarter. The Panthers were able to drive to midfield before stalling out. Freshman Gunner Hoffman pinned the Warriors inside the 20 with a great punt. Winton Woods kept the ball on the ground, running the ball five out of the seven total plays on that drive. Vance George completions to Khalil Olinger and Ly’vi’el Waters helped the Warriors move the ball down the field. James Minor III was the main man on the ground during this drive, running the ball for 52 yards on four carries, including a 2-yard touchdown run to cap it off. The Minor score gave the Warriors a 28-7 lead just before the half.

Things went from bad to worse for Little Miami as on 3rd and 5 from their own 30, a bad snap over the head of Maupin lost 25 yards forcing another Hoffman punt on 4th and 30. Winton Woods took over at the Panthers 43 and went for paydirt on the first play. George went deep for Olinger but the sure touchdown pass was dropped. The next play, George was intercepted junior defensive back Matthew Lyons. The Panthers took the knee to head into the locker room down 28-7.

Coming out of the locker room, Winton Woods took the game over. After a pooch kick by Little Miami, the Warriors started the 3rd quarter at their own 42. Seven plays later, George found Carlos Cox Jr. for the 10 yard touchdown reception. The snap on the PAT was bad, forcing kicker Dan Umba Domobele to pick up the ball and attempt a pass. The pass was subsequently intercepted, making it 34-7. Little Miami was unable to capitalize on the momentum, going three and out. To make matters worse, on the punt Hoffman dropped the ball, allowing Lorenzo Hudson to block the punt.

Winton Woods recovered the ball at the 4-yard line. The next play, Minor capitalized from four yards out, to make it 41-7.

That would be all of the scoring this game would see. Both teams traded turnovers as Maupin was intercepted on the first play of their drive. With the game already out of reach and a running clock in place, Winton Woods gave the Panthers some life with a fumble that Little Miami recovered. Winton Woods once again forced another three and out. Neither offense could muster anything for the remaining few minutes. The victory keeps Winton Woods on pace with Kings, who they’re tied with for first in the ECC. Both Winton Woods and Kings are 5-0 (4-0 ECC). The loss drops Little Miami to 2-3 (1-3 ECC) overall. Next up for the Warriors is a home game against the Anderson Raptors, while Little Miami hosts the Milford Eagles on Homecoming night.

Chris Asbrock is a staff writer and analyst for Impact Sports Cincinnati and can be followed on Twitter Follow @iamchrisasbrock and Follow @ISCincy