By Brad Greer

With two starters out due to injuries, the North Delta Green Wave knew they were in for a uphill climb on the road last Friday night against Greenville Washington School.

But seemingly before fans could get settled into their seats the matchup between the two undefeated teams was clearly over as the No.4 ranked Generals took advantage of four first-half turnovers in route to a 40-0 win on a warm and breezy night in the Mississippi Delta.

North Delta’s fumble on the first play from scrimmage set the tone early as Washington tailback Andrew Steinle scored the first of his three touchdowns on the night with 45 seconds gone in the first period to put Washington on the board at 7-0. The Generals quickly capitalized on another North Delta turnover as Walker Coleman bulldozed his way into the end zone at the 8:05 mark for a 14-0 lead.

Washington would add yet another score to go up 20-0 after one quarter of play before tacking on three more touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 40-0 halftime lead. The second half was played with a 12-minute clock.

“When you’re out-manned like we were, one of the main goals is to protect the football and that is something we did not do tonight. We just did not play like we are capable of playing,” said North Delta head coach Brandon Ciaramitaro.

North Delta was held to 46 total yards of offense on the night as Hunter Baker led the team in rushing with 23 yards on four carries. Quarterback Skyler Lawson completed three passes for 22 yards but was picked off three times. Sam Copeland caught two passes for 12 yards while Taylor Morris added one reception for 10 yards.

After getting the sour taste out of their first loss, North Delta’s attention has quickly swung to tonight’s game as the Green Wave return home to face Magnolia Heights for a 7 p.m. kickoff.

Both teams enter tonight with a 2-1 record on the young season. The Chiefs are looking to get revenge for last year’s 55-32 loss in Senatobia. Magnolia Heights started off the season with a 28-10 loss to Marshall but has rebounded to defeat Kirk 49-20 before downing Starkville 25-14 on the road last Friday.

Ciaramitaro cited the key focus for the Green Wave defense is to contain Chief running back Fernando Van Hook who torched Starkville for 158 yards rushing and three touchdowns, one of which came on 68 yard scoring run on the first play of the game.

“If we plan on winning this football game tonight we have got to stop No. 20 (Van Hook). We have got to tackle him. I feel like that young man can play tailback for anybody in the state. He transferred from Memphis University School which is one of the top programs in Tennessee. He’s very explosive and if we don’t tackle him we could be in for a long night,” said Ciaramitaro.

Magnolia Heights has other weapons in their arsenal as senior quarterback Luke Young guides the Chief offense. Joining Van Hook in the backfield is senior Kevin Barber. Junior Hunter Lacefield and tight end Colin Liles are the main receiving targets for Young.

Ciaramitaro said North Delta will be back to full strength health wise as linebacker/ tight end Will Magee and quarterback Tyler Pirtle will return to the lineup after last week’s game due to injuries.