In a game that saw a drenched and wind blown second quarter, the Patriots did not let the elements affect their quest for a state playoff berth as they turned their 13-7 halftime lead into a 27-14 victory.
The Patriots wasted no time in adding points as they marched down field on their opening possession to see Omar Scott cross the goalline from 5 yards out with Brylee Wall adding the PAT to go up 7-0.
Indianola would answer back to tie the game with 6:02 left in the first quarter. The Patriots then took the lead for good and never gave it up when J.R. Coleman took it over from 4 yards out for the touchdown, with the try for 2 failing to go ahead 13-7. It was then that the rain and wind arrived with approximately 9 minutes before halftime.
Both teams would only punt for the remainder of the quarter to retire at halftime with EVERY member of both teams 100 percent wet! As the rain lessened some to start the second half, only punts from both teams were exchanged during the third quarter with the Patriots hanging on to their 13-7 lead. It was then on an Indianola possession that J.R. Coleman recovered a fumble and the Patriots went to work.
With 8:31 left to play, Omar Scott raced 49 yards for the score with Brylee Wall's PAT increasing the Winston lead to 20-7. The following
Indianola possession came to an end when J.T. McGinnis picked off an Indianola pass and raced 32 yards to the Indianola 24 yard line. Immediately after, J.R. Coleman added his second score of the night on a 16 yard run with Wall's PAT building the Patriot lead to 27-7 with 4:04 left to play. Indianola would answer right back on a 4 yard run to end all scoring and Winston capturing the win 27-14.
The Patriots had a very balanced rushing attack as Omar Scott finished with 105 yards on 14 carries and 2 touchdowns. He was followed by J.R. Coleman with 73 yards and 2 scores, and Jett Joiner with 56 yards. Brylee Wall finished with 39 yards in passing while suffering 1 interception. The leading receivers were J.T. McGinnis with 30 yard and Secrata Miller with 9 yards.
The defense saw Donnie Chunn and Jack Wooten each finish with 6 tackles. They were followed by Jackson Hudson with 5 and Rivers Stevenson, Bryce Clark, and Taylor Hudson, each with 4.
So as the Patriots play their final regular scheduled game at Patriot Field this Friday night, they will play host to former Patriot head coach, Bo Milton and his Carroll Academy squad.
As this is the last district game on the schedule for the Patriots, they will try to finish their season at 7-3 and make a move on the state playoff rankings list. Please come out and support Coach Pat Byrd and his team. Game time is set for 7 P.M..
Seniors to be
honored
By ROBBIE FAULK
With two games to play, nothing is promised for Winston Academy and the Patriots were trying to lock in a playoff spot as well as move up the rankings in the MAIS to get itself the best position possible.
WA had already secured no better than second place in District 2-4A with a loss in the first district game to St. Joseph, but there’s still plenty to play for and they had to do it on the road at Indianola. Against a team that has played for state titles in recent years, the Pats had to get through the home field advantage and even the torrential rain to win 27-14.
“It’s always good to go to the Delta and try and win. It was 13-7 in the first half and then in the second quarter it was a monsoon, so I thought we handled the elements really well,” coach Pat Byrd said. “We had a couple of turnovers but other than that we played really well and got to sub and play a lot of players. Overall, I’m pretty pleased.”
The victory got the Pats to 6-3 in the regular season and equaled their regular season production from a win standpoint from last year. They have a chance this week to produce the most regular season wins since 2008 when they were 10-0.
More importantly, a victory would secure a home game in the first round of the playoffs with a chance to get to No. 6 in the state. The top four teams are reserved for district champions and WA will be just on the outskirts of that.
To get there, the team will have to knock off Carroll Academy and former coach Bo Milton who coached the Patriots in two seasons back in 2011 and 2012. Carroll had a tremendous season last year going 11-1 and winning the district before running into the juggernaut that is Greenville Christian. A year later, they’ve lost a lot of talent from that team and moved up to Class 4A and they’re 4-4 looking for their first district win to close the regular season.
“They lost a lot of good linemen off of last year’s team, but they’re really physical and they’ll strike you. They understand football is a contact sport,” Byrd said of the Rebels. “They do a lot of misdirection on offense. On defense they’re going to run a 3-4 with two safeties and bring some pressure very similar to Wayne. They could easily have six wins.”
On Friday, WA will honor a senior class of six players. It’s not as big a class as the two behind it, but Byrd has seen these players take control of the program and take the Patriots from a losing program and put pride back into it.
Jack Ruth, Trey Dana, Brylee Wall, Brantlee Wright, Caleb Ellingburg and Jack Wooten will play in one of their final games at Patriot Field. Most of those players bought in to what Byrd was selling right away and have helped lay the foundation for the players below.
“Four of them were in eighth grade when I came in the spring and two more have been added this year. Those four that have been here have seen us make great strides,” Byrd said. “They’ve seen the good, the bad and everything in between so you admire the kids that are going to stick through something when it’s tough. They have really stuck with it.”
