By By Austin Bishop/EMG regional sports director
November 23, 2002
NANIH WAIYA The Puckett Wolves scored the first six times they had the ball on Friday night, easily rolling to a 42-21 win over homestanding Nanih Waiya in the second round of the MHSAA 1A State Football Playoffs.
Puckett, which moved to 11-1 on the season with the win, hung up 28 points in the second quarter on the way to a 42-0 halftime lead.
Falling behind early was a death blow to Nanih Waiya's chances.
The Wolves caught NW off guard on the opening kickoff, as they recovered an onside kick.
Three plays later it looked like the homestanding Warriors were going to force a punt, but Puckett turned a third-and-11 into a 43-yard touchdown when quarterback Mario Robinson hit Terrell Jackson over the middle on a slant. The slippery receiver then split the defenders and raced into the end zone with just over a minute gone in the game. The kick by Bill Stevens made it 7-0.
Nanih Waiya, now 9-4 on the season, responded with a solid drive moving the ball down to the PHS 15-yard line on eight plays. There the Warriors decided to go for it on fourth-and-one and came up just an inch short.
The Wolves put together perhaps their most impressive drive on the night, taking eight plays to move 86 yards and score on a 14-yard run by Zack Parker. Stevens' kick made it 14-0 with 3:40 left in the quarter.
Parker finished the night with 158 yards rushing on 15 carries. He earned 108 of those yards in the first half alone.
The Warriors then put together a 10-play drive, that ended when a fourth down pass fell incomplete.
Puckett then used a 62-yard run by Jackson to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Matthew Stewart. The kick made it 21-0 with 11:05 left in the half.
Nanih Waiya fumbled the ball away two plays later and on the next snap Parker scored on a 33-yard run to put the winners up 28-0.
Puckett drove 55 yards on five plays on its next possession to score on a 25-yard pass play from Robinson to Jackson. The kick by Stevens made it 35-0 with 6:23 left in the game, making the outcome of the game almost seem certain with more than two quarters left to play.
The Wolves added their last touchdown of the half and the game with 3:42 left in the second quarter when Robinson hit Brett Frazier with a 31-yard scoring strike. The kick by Stevens made it 42-0.
Puckett's last possession of the quarter ended in an interception.
The Wolves had 343 yards of total offense in the first half alone, with 159 of those coming from the passing arm of Robinson.
Nanih Waiya held Puckett to just 64 yards of offense in the second half, but by then it was too late.
The Warriors. scored their first touchdown of the game with 2:02 left in the third quarter when Trevor Stokes hit Brent Blackwell with a 16-yard scoring toss. Blake Jernigan kicked the extra point to make it 42-7.
Nanih Waiya picked up two fourth quarter scores on passes of 5 and 18 yards from Stokes to Blackwell. The last came with two seconds to play in the game.
LaCoary Ward led all Nanih Waiya rushers with 85 yards on 14 carries, while NW picked up 327 yards in total offense.
Next up for Puckett is a state semifinal game against Union High School next week.