A proud history at Winston Academy has slowly been brought back to life by Pat Byrd and his coaching staff in recent years.
The Patriots fell on hard times for nearly a decade, posting losing seasons from 2011-2019. Byrd had three wins in his first year, but the team was beginning to show signs of life. In 2020, the Pats made the playoffs for the first time since 2011, and they would get to within one game of the state championship with a seven-win season after winning the district championship.
WA had six wins a year ago, but it wasn’t what Byrd was hoping for out of his team following the best year in a decade. Granted, WA was playing in a tougher district, but Byrd expected more out of his team. Byrd is trying to recreate a culture of excellence in Louisville that has been there but hidden for many of the years that have fallen after four-straight state championships in the late 1990s.
“It’s hard to read what people think. I’m a lot more concerned with what our kids think, and now I think when they step on the field, they have a chance to win a football game against anybody we play against,” Byrd said. “I thought last year we flatlined a little bit, so I think we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
This year’s offense for the Patriots will look a lot different as Byrd and his staff are working with the personnel that they have and growing around those strengths. While in the past few years the Pats haven’t been as effective as they’ve wanted to be running the football, it’s about to be their calling card.
The team added a tremendous addition a year ago in Choctaw County transfer Omar Scott, and he rushed for over 1,100 yards as a sophomore last season and had 13 touchdowns. Scott is back this year as the team gets in the option offense, and Jett Joiner runs things at quarterback after rushing for 374 yards last year himself.
With a bigger and stronger offensive line that includes Louisville transfer Hayes Caperton who is just a sophomore, it could be a productive year for that crew.
“Jett is just a different style. He throws the ball fine, but we’re going to use that more in play action and roll outs. It suits our receivers better because we don’t have anybody that can take the top off the defense. We’ve got possession kind of guys. I think our offense as a whole suits our guys better,” Byrd said.
“Offensive line wise, we didn’t graduate anything. I think we’ve got a chance to be a productive offense, but we’ll see. The Caperton kid was a good addition. He’s 6’2, 295-305, and is a really good 10th grade lineman. He gets after you, plays hard, and has good feet for his size.”
The offense will possess the ball a good bit when they have it on their side, and that will help the defense, but that unit will need to be improved.
Byrd likes the scheme that they’ve put together for his personnel to thrive. While they might not muscle players around, it’s an athletic group that can also get leverage on opposing teams and make some game changing plays.
“I don’t know that we have a true linebacker. They’re kind of like tailbacks – they’re born. But what we’re doing in this odd front and stunting like we are, you can take players that can make a play,” Byrd said. “We’re slanting our front all the time because quickness is something we have.”
It’s an extremely challenging schedule for the Patriots who played Leake Academy in game one of the season, then have Jackson Academy and Starkville Academy on the docket, and district games against St. Joseph, Wayne, Indianola, and Carroll.
It’s a schedule though that Byrd believes his team should welcome. His team has gotten more talented; they’ve gotten older and more experienced. This should be a year of growth and competitiveness for a team that’s trying to find its way back to the top.
“You lost five seniors from last year’s team, and four of them started so you’ve got the bulk of your football team back,” Byrd said. “We have 19 seniors and 30 guys that lettered so experience is not going to be an issue. Sometimes the experience is good, and sometimes it’s not good, but we should be a solid football team.”
