BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
LOACHAPOKA — A late-afternoon thunderstorm and a chippy atmosphere weren’t enough to stop Loachapoka High School’s winning streak.
The Lady Indians (4-3, 3-3) rolled to a 25-6 victory over Valley High School, their third in a row, after intercepting five Lady Rams’ (3-4, 2-3) passes and scoring both offensive and special teams touchdowns.
Five days after one of the best games of her young career, Jalady Winchester again powered Loachapoka, this time with two TDs and three interceptions. Makayla Roberts added a short TD run and two interceptions, and Vennecia Cobb also had a TD run.
Valley struck first on an 11-yard TD pass with 8:36 left in the first quarter, but Loachapoka intercepted the extra point, and the Lady Indians’ defense didn’t allow another point the rest of the night.
Winchester intercepted a pass near the Valley 28-yard line with 10:41 left in the second quarter, and Roberts punched in a 2-yard TD run at 8:43. Amillia Moody’s extra point run gave Loachapoka a 7-6 lead.
After a 58-yard run by Valley’s Kailee Harris reached the Loachapoka 12, Lauren Smith intercepted a pass in the end zone with 6:04 left in the half and returned it to the Loachapoka 14. Winchester then broke the game open with a 33-yard punt return for a TD with 33 seconds left, and Roberts added an interception near the Valley 14 to send Loachapoka into halftime up 13-6.
Roberts struck again at 11:30 in the third quarter, picking off a pass on the play after a Valley interception and returning it to the Lady Rams’ 37. Winchester added her second interception at 7:01, and Cobb capped the quarter with a 38-yard TD run.
Winchester sealed the win with an 11-yard TD run with 8:37 left in the game, then grabbed her third interception near midfield with 5:54 left, returning it to the Valley 29.
The Lady Indians have allowed just 4.3 points per game over their past three games after giving up 25.3 per game to start the season. Head coach Ashley Anderson credited repetitive drills at practice.
“We go over it to the point where they’re like, ‘Coach, we don’t want to do this anymore, we’ve gone over it 20 times,’” Anderson said. “And I tell them, ‘Guess what, we’re going to go over it 20 more times.’ So it comes down to consistency, showing up at practice and wanting to learn.”
Though sharp words and on-field antics occasionally overshadowed a competitive game, the Lady Indians kept their focus.
“I feel like we didn’t play exactly at our best, but even with the attitude, rain and other stuff, we played through it, and we played good, minus the attitude,” Cobb said. “We try to give each other positive energy and help each other out.”
Anderson said that mindset is something she constantly preaches.
“I tell them all the time that it’s about the next play,” Anderson said. “You have to be able to overcome adversity and put the last play behind you.”
Loachapoka defeated Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School 33-0 at home on senior night on Sept. 24. The Lady Indians travel to face LaFayette High School at Bulldog Stadium on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 5 p.m.
