Fresh off of another playoff season for the Winston Academy Patriots, Pat Byrd’s team will have players getting some much-deserved distinction this week.
WA has four players that have been selected for the MAIS’ All-Star Game. WR Ky Kirk, QB Holder Tidwell, OL/DL Hayes Caperton and LB Jackson Hudson were all picked to play in the Class 3A/4A ball game on Friday.
“Anytime a kid gets a chance to play one more high school game, that’s always a good deal,” Byrd said about his players. “It’s four deserving kids and I’m proud that they get to play one more time kind of together. All four of them have had a lot of success over their career.”
The quartet of Patriots were the first in over a decade that have enjoyed playoff berths in all three seasons of high school ball. The Patriots were in the quarterfinals two seasons ago, made it to the semifinal round last year and were knocked out in the first round this season.
Tidwell quarterbacked the Pats for the last two seasons after starting his sophomore year at safety. The signal caller completed 59% of his passes this season for 1,650 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 508 yards and seven touchdowns.
Caperton was a key blocker for Tidwell over the last two seasons and a massive piece of both lines of scrimmage. Since transferring over from Louisville as a sophomore, Caperton has been a problem for opposing teams on offense and defense. At defensive tackle, he picked up double teams and still managed 36 tackles, 3.0 TFL and a forced fumble this year.
Hudson started off and on as a freshman with the Pats at linebacker and then was a major piece for WA the next three seasons. Over the course of his career, he totaled over 40.0 TFL. He had 89 tackles as a season with 12.0 TFL, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.
For Kirk, he hardly left the field the last two seasons. He began as a starting receiver as a sophomore but added starting DB to his duties the last two years and had a knack for making big plays.
Kirk led the team with 28 catches, 476 yards and six touchdowns while hauling in 17.0 yards per catch. On defense, he was the team leader with four interceptions and returned those for 149 yards with a pick six on his resume. Kirk also had 16 punts on the year for the Pats.
The four will be split on two teams for the All-Star game with Kirk and Hudson competing for the White team and Caperton and Tidwell for the Blue team. The game will be played on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Jackson Prep.
