By Brad Greer

It may have not been crisp or clean as North Delta head coach Dan Werner would have liked it to be, but a win is nevertheless a win in the record books.

Led by Taylor Morris’ 175 yards and two touchdowns, the Green Wave opened up defense of their District 1-AA title with a 34-7 romp over Kirk Friday night in Grenada.

Quarterback Tyler Pirtle ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as North Delta (4-1;1-0) won its seventh straight district contest dating back to 2009 when it lost to Marshall 6-0 on a rainy night in Holly Springs.

“One of our main goals coming into this season was to get better every week. We had a couple of turnovers and some missed assignments tonight, but I am proud of the way the kids bowed up and allowed only one touchdown. I have always told them do not ever apologize for winning a football game,” said Werner.

Kirk (1-4;0-2) was led by quarterback Cade Moody who  was 14-of-27 passing for 183 yards and a touchdown. Moody’s 28-yard scoring strike to Dalton Turner in the second quarter accounted for the Raiders’ only score of the night.

After each team exchanged punts on their initial possessions, North Delta marched 49 yards on five plays capped off by a Morris 12-yard scoring run with 5:56 remaining in the first quarter. Sam Copeland tacked on the first of four successful point after attempts for a 7-0 Green Wave lead.

After the Raiders tied the game at seven early in the second quarter, the Green Wave retook the lead at 14-7 when Tyler Pirtle found his brother, senior wide receiver Colby Pirtle, one-on-one with a defender that resulted in a 10-yard scoring pass with 7:04 remaining in the first half.

Perhaps the turning point of the game occurred late in the first half when North Delta blocked a 29-yard field goal by the Raiders’ Travis Taylor. Morris scooped up the pigskin and raced to the Kirk 47 with 1:51 left on the clock.

Pirtle’s six yard-run run on 4th& 2 from the Raider 22 kept the drive alive. Two plays later, Pirtle called his own number and plowed into the endzone from three yards out on the final play of the half to give North Delta a 21-7 halftime lead.

The second half was all Green Wave as the visitors tacked on two additional touchdowns to make the score 34-7.

Pirtle added his second scoring run of the night with an 11-yard run with 3:39 left in the third quarter. Copeland’s PAT was blocked by Mason Shelton.Morris added the final touchdown with a one-yard run with 58 seconds remaining in contest with Copeland adding the PAT.

“We made some nice plays on defense. Parker Jones came up with a nice interception there in the third quarter and we broke up some passes. Are we where we need to be? No, but we are getting there. We feel good about being 4-1,” said Werner.

North Delta finished the night with 312 yards rushing on 48 carries and 60 yards through the air for 372 total yards of offense. Kirk meanwhile rushed 34 times for 91 yards and 183 yards passing for 274 yards.

Tyler Pirtle followed Morris with 11 carries for 62 yards while Jones added six carries for 48 yards to go along with a interception form his linebacker position. Hunter Durham accounted for three carries for 27 yards.

William Dean hauled in one pass for 37 yards while Bailey Gurkert and Colby Purtle each caught one pass for 13 and 10 yards.

Sy Pritchard led the Green Wave defensivly with eight tackles and two quarterback sacks. Brett Herrington and Gurkert added six stops while Luke Latham registered five tackles. Hunter Pitcher chipped in with four tackles and a sack while Will Magee also recorded four tackles.

North Delta will ends its three-game road swing Friday at Tunica beginning at 7:30 p.m.