Big plays win games AND lose games!! This was the case last Friday night in Raymond as the home team Central Hinds Cougars scored on 4 big plays early in the game to take the lead 26-0 and send the Winston Patriots into shell shock, An 85 yard punt return in the first quarter, and a 65 yard touchdown pass, a 35 yard touchdown pass, and a Pick 6 interception return of 65 yards in the second quarter had the Patriots scratching their heads in disbelief. The Patriots finally showed a heartbeat with 2:29 left before halftime when Beau Boatner put Winston on the board with an 8 yard run followed by Reed Yates's Pat to cut the Cougar lead to 26-7 and end all first half scoring. The halftime coaching talk saw the Patriots wake up and start the second half by power driving the ball into the endzone for the score when Jonah Hood crashed over from 5 yards out with Yates adding the PAT to send the score to 26-14. The Cougars instantly answered right back on a 26 yard pass with the PAT failing to add to their lead with a 32-14 score to end the 3rd quarter scoring. Winston continued to answer back when Holder Tidwell found Luke Reynolds open down field for a 33 yard touchdown pass with the PAT failing to make the game more interesting with a 32- 20 score.This score was set up after Camp Turner rushed in on a Cougar punting situation to tackle the punter before he could get the kick off. Central Hinds then added their final score on a 3 yard run and PAT to send the score to 39-20 with 1:41 left on the clock. Winston showed no sign of giving up and marched down field to score when TIdwell found Ky Kirk in the end zone for a 4 yard touchdown pass with Reed Yates ending all scoring with his PAT to send the final score to 39-27 to give Central Hinds a homecoming victory. Offensively, Winston produced 313 yards with 128 coming on the ground. Leading the rushing attack was Holder Tidwell with 73 yards, followed by Jonah Hood with 66 yards and a score. They were followed by Beau Boatner with 24 yards and a score. In passing, Tidwell was 20 of 27 for 185 yards with 2 touchdowns passes and one interception. His primary receivers were Ky Kirk with 51 yards and a touchdown reception,and Reed Yates with 6 receptions for 34 yards, Luke Reynolds finished with 30 yards and 1 score, and Ethan Bourland had 29 yards, and Jayson McMillin finished with 18 yards in receptions. Defensively, Wyatt Moody led the charge with 7 stops and was followed by Judson Joiner with 6 tackles. Jackson Hudson and Beau Boater had 5 and 4 tackles respectively. So as the big plays did not fall in favor of the Patriots, they will see their record go to 5-3. This week, they will mend their wounds and travel to Waynesboro to play the highly improved Wayne Jaguars. Game time is set for 7 PM in Waynesboro. Patriots fall to Central Hinds, look to bounce back against Wayne Academy By Robbie Faulk Winston County Journal Winston Academy put together twostraight really good weeks of football and then had a setback. The Patriots didn’t play clean on Friday night in Raymond as Central Hinds jumped out to a 25-0 lead and they kept it. A late comeback from the Pats fell short as the lead had grown to large. Special teams miscues and turnovers were the culprit for the Pats (5-3, 1-2 District 2). The loss puts a damper on what was beginning to be a great postseason spot for WA. The Pats now drop to third in the division and are looking at two incredibly important games to close out the regular season. It starts on Friday as WA heads to Wayne Academy to take on a Jaguars team that is 6- 2 this season in 4A. The two teams are jockeying for playoff seeding and this game will go a long way in seeing who can get a home playoff game in a couple of weeks.
