The 4-1 Charleston High School Tigers will face the 5-0 Winona High School Tigers Friday night in Winona, and with typical coachspeak decorum, both head coaches have nothing but praise for their opponent.
Coming off a 38-34 win over previously undefeated Cleveland Central a week ago, the Charleston team is hoping to advance on their streak of four consecutive wins since a season-opening loss.
Winona remained undefeated last week by whipping previously unbeaten Senatobia 44-14.
It will be a duel between two highly-ranked teams, based on Capital Sports’ Mississippi Gridiron rankings, which has Winona at No. 2 and Charleston at No. 8 in their “Little 10” poll.
Both Charleston and Winona are ranked No. 1 in their classifications of Class 2A and Class 3A, respectively.
Judging by both head coaches, the game shapes up to be an old-fashioned slobberknocker.
“Just watching film on (Winona) Sunday, they are a well-coached team with lots of talent,” said CHS head coach LaDon Taylor. “They play fast, and they’re physical. They’ve got a lot of the things that every coach would like to have on their team year in and year out, and they have it this year. It is definitely another huge challenge for us.”
Taylor said Winona’s quarterback is “very athletic,” noting, “He can run and throw, so that’s a dual-threat guy that we’ve got to try to worry about containing.”
Last week against Senatobia, Winona senior QB Chase Richardson finished 13-of-23 for 201 yards passing and added 174 yards rushing for a 375-yard performance.
"They have a linebacker, Fred Clark, who is a Mississippi State commit and a really good player," Taylor added. "So it's going to be a challenge for us on both sides of the ball."
Winona's coaching staff knows its Tigers also will be facing a very gifted group of Charleston athletes.
"They (Charleston) will be the most talented skill-player team we have faced this season," Winona head coach Joey Tompkins told The Winona Times. "They are fast and play hard. They were up by three touchdowns on Cleveland last week when Cleveland rallied to make it close. They have a lot of contact courage. We will have our hands full with them.
"We have played our fair share of good competition this season, and Charleston will be the fastest," Tompkins continued. "They have skill guys everywhere on the field. We have to weather the storm early, settle down and play our game."
No matter the outcome of this game, Taylor said he hopes his team will emerge from the slugfest "healthy for our division play that starts next week."
