The field at Wayne Academy last Friday night had water on both sides of the field, all the way to the hash marks, just 30 minutes before kickoff. But although the water settled back to the sidelines, it still did not stop the Wayne Academy Jaguars from drowning the Patriots 46-14 in the last regular scheduled game of the year.
In a game that determined the playoff rankings for the state playoff picture, the loss left the Patriots in 11th place in the 12 team selection process.
With the playoffs determined by the points system instead of the district standing, Winston's schedule of opponents and margin of points scored and allowed, earned the Patriots their first playoff game since 2011.
As Wayne scored on the first play of the game on an 80 yard run and 2 point conversion, the Patriots instantly answered back to tie the game when Brylee Wall connected with Cage Palmer for a 75 yard TD strike. Palmer then passed to Jackson Joinerfor the tying 2 point play to notch the score a 8-8 with only a minute and 45 seconds gone in the game. After a scoreless remaining first quarter, Winston took the lead with 9:17 left before half when Wall found Johnson Wells open for a 34 yard scoring pass. The PAT kick failed but the Patriots had regained the lead 14-8.
Little did they know that their scoring had come to an end. The Jaguars would add 2 more touchdowns before intermission to take a 24-14 lead into halftime.
The Patriots came out the second half and continued to face problems as a blocked punt set up another Wayne score with 4:57 left in the third quarter to build their lead to 32-14. After a Winston punt on the following possession, Wayne continued to use their strong running game on the water soaked field to add another score with 36 seconds remaining before the final quarter to go up 40-14.
With the ball completely water logged, Winston turned the ball over again on a fumble at the Wayne 47 yard line that set up the final score of the night for the Jaguars. Their 21 yard touchdown run with 3:02 left of the clock brought all scoring to an end to give Wayne the victory and improve their record to 4-5 and see the Patriots finish at 3-7. The Patriots finished the night with 250 total yards on offense. The rushing game saw J.J. Beamon finish with 31 yards and Jackson Joiner with 26 yards. Jody McCorkle added 19 yards in rushing. The passing game surprisingly finished on the wet night with 184 yards in passing. Brylee Wall completed 6 passes for this yardage with touchdown passes of 75 and 34 yards.
His leading receivers were Cage Palmer with 3 catches for 130 yards and a 75 yard TD reception. He was followed by Johnson Wells with 54 yards in receptions, including a 34 yard scoring pass. The leading tacklers were Curry Black with 11,
Josh McGinnis with 10, and Jody McCorkle with 8. So as the regular season comes to an end, the reason season now starts. The Patriots will travel this Friday to Natchez to play Natchez Cathedral in the first round of the state 4A playoffs.
Game time is set for 7:00 PM.
Patriots focusing on playoffs
By Robbie Faulk
Winston County Journal
Friday night was one to forget for Winston Academy.
The Patriots were in the game at the half against Wayne Academy on the road, but with the pouring rain came deteriorating conditions on the field of play. With the Patriots’ offensive and defensive strengths being in the passing game, it spelled bad news for the visitors.
“The field conditions were as bad as I’ve been around, and it played into their favor with how big they are up front,” head coach Pat Byrd said of the Jaguars. “They scored a couple (touchdowns) late. Statistically, it was pretty even, they just wore us down. We’ve got to throw it some to have success, but the field got worse and we started to have trouble.”
The loss dropped WA to 3-7 overall after the regular season concluded, but Byrd’s team earned itself a playoff spot for the first time since 2011 almost entirely because of the competitive schedule that they played throughout the year. The MAIS takes 12 of the 16 schools in Class AAAA in the playoffs and the Patriots finished No. 11.
A three-win regular season might not look like much of an improvement from the two wins his Byrd’s first year, but his team has made a major step in the right direction in his eyes.
“We’ve gotten better for the most part, it’s just been offset with some injuries. It’s down to 12 teams in 4A and we’re one of the 12,” Byrd said. “Everybody starts out with a clean slate and you try to go 1-0 each week and see if you can survive. We’ve still got some injuries, but we’re working through it.”
The first round sets the Patriots up with the No. 6 seed Cathedral Green Wave. The Natchez-based team is just five years removed from playing in the Mississippi High School Activities Association and winning the Class 1A state championship before moving to the MAIS.
This year they’re 7-3 and looking to fight for a private school state championship. Byrd believes for his team to travel south and get a win, the Patriots will have to play its best football of the year.
“They have some good athletes. The head coach knows some football and coached with Lance Pogue at South Panola and at Madison Central. They’ve got size up front and a pretty athletic quarterback. It will be a challenge from riding three and a half hours on a bus, but it’s an opportunity,” Byrd said. “It’s a chance to measure ourselves against a good opponent. We’ve got to take care of the football. We’ve got to get points when we can get points and we’ve got to withstand them up front. Sometimes it’s hard for us to matchup with people up front. We’ve got to try to make it a football game.”
