The Winston Patriots did not finish the regular season schedule the exact way they had planned or wanted, but their 34-14 loss to the Wayne Jaguars did not eliminate them from the state playoff picture. A win would have possibly placed them in the number 2 seed in the brackets and on the opposite side from the stop seed. But the Patriots still earned a first round bye and homefield in their first playoff game to be held November 6 at Patriot Field. To start the game, Cam Sanders took the opening kickoff and received a game ending leg injury and did not return to action. After failing to gain first down yardage, the Patriots were forced to punt from mid field. Wayne started at their own 7 yard line and moved it to their own 49 yard line before they faced a strong Winston defense that denied the first down yardage and the Patriots took over from near midfield. On the first play from scrimmage, Brylee Wall connected with Johnson Wells on a quick pass, and Wells took it 49 yards down the sidelines for the score. Wall's following PAT put the Patriots up 7-0 with 4:41 left in the opener. Wayne then wasted no time in tying the game up on a 58 yard touchdown run and PAT with 3:53 on the first quarter clock. The Jaguars would then add another score after the start of the second quarter to take the lead 14-7. Then after a Patriot punt, they added another score and PAT to increase their lead to 21-7 with 4:46 left before halftime. Winston then put together a fast moving scoring drive that resulted in a Patriot score when Wall connected with Wells again for a 12 touchdown pass, followed by the PAT to cut the Jaguar lead to 21-14 as halftime approached. Wayne would come out the opening drive to start the second half and add another score to increase their lead to 27-7 after failing on the PAT. Winston was then stopped on a 4th down play at the Wayne 16 yard line to prevent a Patriot score. As the final period got under way, Wayne added their final points of the night on the opening drive to increase their lead to 34-14 and also end all scoring of the night and take the victory. The Patriots could not get their running game on track as they faced a powerful and huge Jaguar defensive front all night. As the Patriots were held to only 29 yards rushing, they were led by Curry Black with 11 yards and Jett Joiner with 10. The passing game was the only offense the Patriots could provide as Brylee Wall completed 15 of 32 attempts for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns. His main receiver for the night was Johnson Wells who caught 8 passes for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was followed by J.T. McGinnis with 2 catches for 20 yards and Carson Watkins with 18 yards on 2 catches. The Winston defense had a hard night trying to stop the 270 yard rushing attack of the Jaguars. The leading tacklers were Jack Wooten with 12 and Tanner Boater with 10. They were followed by Curry Black with 9 and Jett Joiner with 8. So as the Patriots take the next two weeks to heal and mend, Coach Pat Byrd and his staff will be preparing the Patriots mentally and physically to overcome the loss and get ready for the first round of the state playoffs. Practice has now ended---now it's time to start the real season. Patriots earn week off before hosting playoff contest By Robbie Faulk Winston County Journal It was the last regular season game of the season but in many way, last Friday night felt like a playoff matchup for the Winston Academy football team. While the Patriots had already wrapped up their first district championship in nearly a decade with a win a week prior, they still were contending for higher seeding. On top of that, one of the state’s best Class 4A teams was coming to town in the form of Wayne Academy in a game that used to be a battle of two of Mississippi private school’s best in the past. While the Patriots couldn’t come away with a win, falling 34-14, it was a great teaching point for Pat Byrd and experience for the players that they’ll need in the playoffs starting in two weeks. “I hope they gained some experience that you have to play every play. You’ve got to be able to overcome officiating, bad breaks and other things,” Byrd said. “We’re still trying to learn, grow and get used to being in those situations. “The second half kind of took hold a little bit. We had some opportunities in the first half with a touchdown called back on a holding call and a dropped touchdown. We just did stuff that we couldn’t do against good folks. You’ve got to be able to run the football better and we didn’t get it done. They’re a good team.” With the loss the Patriots dropped to 6-4 on the season but they’re still playing really good football heading into the playoffs. WA won six of the final eight games after dropping the first two games to Leake Academy and Winona Christian They’re now in a spot that they haven’t been in many years. With the district championship win, the Patriots are in the playoffs for the second-consecutive season, but they also got a first round bye. Their big year gave them the No. 4 seed in the state playoffs and within two wins of a state championship appearance. First up will be a game against the winner of No. 5 Cathedral and No. 12 Hillcrest. Cathedral has a case to be 4A’s second best team as they finished the regular season 9-1 with the only loss being to Riverfield who has the No. 1 ranking in 4A. They defeated Wayne 34-14 and Clinton Christian 48-21 as far as common opponents for the Patriots. They also have already played Hillcrest this season and beat them 51-7. Last year WA had its season end with a 44-18 defeat on the road at Cathedral. The two could meet again next Friday night but in Louisville.
