WINONA – It was another tough loss on the road for Water Valley, falling 35-19 to Winona in their final non-region game of the season.

The Blue Devil (3-3) offense needed a few possessions to get going while Winona started off quick by scoring on just their second play of the game. Quarterback Jatyler Moore slipped by the Water Valley defense from 11 yards out to start the scoring.

Water Valley Head Coach Brad Embry addressed his team’s energy in the first half and thought they caught a few breaks that kept them in the game.

“We didn’t match their intensity. We made a play here and there but that doesn’t win ball games. We have to be more consistent and we knew this was a good football team coming into this game.”

Luckily on the Blue Devils’ second possession they capitalized after recovering a fumble deep in Winona (3-3) territory.

Trenderrious Brock pounded his way into the endzone from three yards out to close the gap late in the first quarter. A bad snap on the extra point attempt would keep Water Valley down by one.

From there Winona would begin to pull away. After a long drive, Moore found Chris Olton to give Winona an eight-point lead midway through the second quarter.

Not to be outdone, Water Valley struck back with a big run from Brock that set up a 44-yard pass from Ty Varner to Bud Tolbert to bring the Blue Devil within one of the Tigers.

Unfortunately for Water Valley,  Winona responded with another touchdown of their own. This time DJ Ringo found the end zone from three yard out to give Winona another eight-point cushion over the Blue Devils.

After consecutive unsuccessful drives and turnovers from both teams, the end of the half seemed over. A Blue Devil interception gave the Tigers another chance to score, which they did. Ringo scored his second touchdown of the game to give Winona a 15-point lead heading into halftime.

The second half consisted of much less scoring and more defense. On the second Winona possession of the half, Tolbert jumped a pass and returned it for a touchdown, momentarily shifting momentum and giving the Water Valley team a much-needed boost.

The consistency did not last and both offenses struggled throughout the quarter. It was not until the fourth quarter when Winona’s Jay Lofton busted through the Water Valley defense to put the Tigers up 35-19.

The lead would not change and the Water Valley would go down fighting.

“You see players out there and you know they can get it done, Embry said. “We just have to keep working, coaching and getting better.”

The Blue Devils will take on Holly Springs next week to start region play.