Val T.
- Nov 10, 2020
- 2 min read

Winamac avenged earlier loss, beats North Judson for sectional crown

Next: vs. Lafayette Central Catholic, 7 p.m. Friday in the regional

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Football

Hayden Clark ran for 76 yards and a touchdown, and Russell Compton also had a touchdown run to lead the visiting Winamac football team to a 14-8 win over No. 10 North Judson in the Class 1A, Sectional 41 final Friday.

Winamac improved to 7-2 and won their seventh sectional title in school history. It’s also their first sectional title since 2016.

Winamac will host Lafayette Central Catholic at 7 p.m. this Friday in a regional at Roudebush Field.

Central Catholic, the defending state champion, did not play Friday. They were declared the Sectional 42 champion after their Oct. 31 win over Clinton Central. Clinton Prairie and Traders Point Christian, the other two teams in the opposite half of the bracket, both had to withdraw from the tournament due to coronavirus exposure.

It also marked a unique feat for Winamac coach John Hendryx: two sectional titles in two years at two different schools. Hendryx guided Knox to a Class 3A sectional title in 2019 before leaving for the Winamac job in May.

North Judson finished 9-3.

The win avenged a 29-0 loss to the Blue Jays in their regular season meeting on Sept. 18. In fact, North Judson had won the previous four meetings against Winamac by a combined score of 129-14.

But this time, Winamac never trailed.

Clark’s 8-yard touchdown run and Max Murray’s extra point in the second quarter marked the only scoring in the first half as Winamac led 7-0.

They assumed a 14-0 lead on Compton’s 1-yard run in the third quarter.

Trey Hampton had a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for North Judson. Tabor Brown added a two-point conversion, but Winamac held on.

The Winamac defense held North Judson to 114 yards of total offense. North Judson had 258 yards of offense in the Sept. 18 game against Winamac. North Judson came into the game averaging 30.3 points per game.

Trent Fox led Winamac with five receptions for 54 yards. He also had an interception on defense. Brayden Lynch had a 73-yard reception. Jaden Terry had two catches for 23 yards.

Fire trucks headed a caravan that included the Warrior team bus on the way back to town.

Winamac 14, North Judson 8

Winamac 0 7 7 0 – 14