Most of the players that stepped foot on the field last week at Winston Academy probably weren’t old enough to remember the last time that the Patriots were able to take a victory from the Starkville Academy Volunteers.
For 13 years, SA has dominated the Patriots. 10-straight wins for the Vols in the series followed the last win for WA all the way back in 2009.
The frustration of 13 years bubbled over from the stands and on to the Field of Champions for the Patriots last Friday night. Thanks to an inspired defensive effort and some big plays on offense in the second half, WA (3-3) broke over a decade-long streak and had a 13-7 triumph at home that sent Patriot fans all over into celebration mode.
“They executed what we wanted them to do. They played hard,” coach Pat Byrd said. “Starkville is good. What they do on offense is difficult, and they have great players and are well-coached on defense. I’m just proud of our kids for getting our backs against the wall and making plays when we had to make plays. That’s a belief that we haven’t had.”
This defensive battle was all about who would make the offensive plays when they needed to be made, and it was WA that would do it.
Jett Joiner led the offense to 305 yards of offense as the team pulled out some big pass plays to keep the Vols honest, and the quarterback was 9-of-15 for 137 yards. Bryson Wright was a matchup nightmare for the SA defense hauling in five passes for 79 yards including a 30-yard catch that set up a touchdown and the game-clinching catch on the sidelines to keep the drive alive.
The offense ran for 168 yards on 35 carries with Omar Scott carrying it 13 times for 73 yards and a score.
Scott’s touchdown was the first score of the ball game, and it came all the way into the third quarter when the offensive line opened up a hole, and he took off for a 24-yard touchdown. On the next possession, the Pats struck again as Wright’s big catch helped set up a short score by Joiner that made it 13-0.
SA would get a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the potential game-winning drive was stopped on four-straight incompletions forced by the Winston defense. The Pats forced three turnovers in the game with two fumbles on the first two drives and an interception from Carter Mcclelland[ which might have been the play of the game as SA was driving inside the 5-yard line in the final seconds of the first half.
“We were giving up a little too much in coverage. We tried to adjust some things, but you’re worried about giving a little too much over the top,” Byrd said. “Thank goodness we made plays.”
The Patriot defense was stout against a dangerous SA offense and forced six fumbles to go along with those three turnovers, had 5.0 tackles for loss, and a sack. JR Coleman led the team with nine tackles and a tackle for loss, Donovan Eiland had 2.0 tackles for loss, and Parker Cravens came up with a sack.
It’s been a slow build for Byrd to try to bring belief to WA again. The Patriots have enjoyed just two winning seasons since 2010 and both have been in the last two years under Byrd. Now in year five, he feels like he has the roster to really put together a great season this year, and things are starting to build.
After an 0-3 start to the year with losses to Leake, Canton, and Jackson Academy, the Patriots have been better and better each week. Things took a turn for the better when WA took JA to overtime and were in position to win that game before falling short. The Pats are now 3-3 heading into a huge road game at Greenville St. Joseph this week to start District 2-4A play.
“Four of the first six we’ve played, I don’t think we’ll play anybody better,” Byrd said of his non-conference schedule. “We’ve come out 1-3 against them, but we’ve gotten better each week and if we keep doing that, we’ll be where we need to be. I expected us to play well (vs. SA), but you don’t know what’s going to happen against a good team.
“I told them before we came out that I wouldn’t swap them for anybody. They’re locked into what they’re doing and as long as they’ll play hard, we’ll do whatever we need to do.”
