The only thing exciting about the first half when Winston played Sylva Bay last Friday night was Tanner Boatner’s 55 yard interception return to tie the game at 7- 7.
With the Patriots only earning 39 first half yardage compared to the Saints 198, things were not looking good. But the Patriots exploded the second half for 252 yards to the Saints 31 yards, and 28 unanswered points to capture their first win of the year, 35-7. With Sylva Bay opening with possession, the first quarter went back and forth on punt exchanges for no points from either team.
The Saints then struck in the second quarter on a 1-yard run and PAT to go up 7-0 with 6:14 before intermission. The Patriots were then stopped on a 4th down attempt at the Saints 45-yard line. The following Sylva Bay possession is when Boatner hauled in the interception and made a beautiful run by following his blockers and took it 55 yards for the first score. Brylee Wall's PAT kick tied the game at 7-7.
The following Saints possession saw Boatner again, haul in his second pick of the night to stop the Saints at the Winston 22-yard line. With no other first half scoring, both teams took the tie game into halftime. Winston opened the second half receiving the ball and were forced to punt. After the Saints moved the ball out to midfield, the Tanner Boatner Show continued as the recovered a fumble with 6:27 left in the 3rd quarter. It is at this point that the Patriots started marching on the Saints.
After moving the ball to the Saints 14-yard line, Jackson Joiner put Winston on top with a 14-yard run with the PAT failing, to send the score to 13-7. With the momentum shifted, Winston's Curry Black recovered the onside kick at the Saints 40-yard line to start another Winston scoring drive. With 4:59 left in the 3rd, Joiner added his second score of the night on a 4-yard run.
Winston then got their missed PAT points back when Cage Palmer found Joiner open in the end zone for the 2-point conversion pass to increase Winston's lead to 21-7. The Saints following possession ran into an aggressive Winston defense and were forced to punt.
Winston started at the Saints 38-yard line and 2 plays later, J.J. Beamon raced around the left side and went 35 yards to the house for the score with Wall's PAT increasing the Winston lead to 28-7 with 2:08 left before the start of the final period. After the start of the 4th quarter, Winston's Jody McCorkle pulled in the 3rd interception of the night with 7:51 left in the game at the Saints 30-yard line.
With Winston moving the ball down to the 8-yard line, it was at this point that the nail was put in the coffin when McCorkle took it 8 yards into the end zone with Wall adding the final PAT point to end the scoring at 35-7 in favor of Winston. Winston rolled up 291 yards in offense and was lead in rushing by Jackson Joiner with 71 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was followed by 1.J. Beamon with 37 yards and a score, Tanner Boater with 18 yard, and Jody McCorkle with 17 yards and a score.
Brylee Wall passed for 157 yards and suffered one interception. His leading receivers were Johnson Wells with 74 yards, and Cage Palmer with 66 yards.
The aggressive defense saw Jody McCorkle lead the charge with 11 tackles and an interception. Johnson Wells finished strong with 9 tackles.
Curry Black had 9 stops and a fumble recovery while Tanner Boatner had 6 tackles, 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery. J.J. Beamon finished with 6 stops.
So as the Patriots hit the winners circle for the first time, it will come at a good time as they take their momentum this week against Oak Hill for the Winston Homecoming game. Game time is set for 7:00 PM with pregame Homecoming activities starting prior to the game.
Patriots ready for Homecoming
By Robbie Faulk
Winston County Journal
Pat Byrd and his staff has been waiting for things to click for his team and it’s something that would just have to happen naturally.
The Winston Academy Patriots have been accustomed to bad things happening. Most notably, the team hasn’t known how to win games. On Friday night, everything came together for one sweet victory on the road at Sylva Bay.
It all started with Tanner Boatner on defense. In the matter of one quarter, he had two interceptions and a fumble recovery that kick-started a team struggling with energy. When he got going, the floodgates opened from a 7-7 tie at halftime to a 35-7 win on the road for the first victory of the year.
“It kind of got contagious. We got a big interception and things starting rolling,” Byrd said. “The kids have been waiting for somebody to make a play and then they realize that they can all do it. We finished great we just have to learn to start now. They played hard it’s now realizing what your potential is and going out and executing it.”
Byrd has felt for the last couple of weeks that things were taking a turn. The Patriots were blown out on opening night against Leake 43-0 but things continually got better. They lost to Winona Christian 32-13 and then they took East Rankin down to the wire on the road and had a heartbreaking 21-20 loss to them.
With a win now in tow, it’s all about bottling up that confidence and everything that went right against Sylva Bay and rolling down hill with it moving forward. The young team is now learning what winning feels like and it could be as contagious as the turnovers they accumulate last Friday.
“You’ve got to think that a little bit of confidence isn’t a bad thing as long as you temper it,” Byrd said. “The homecoming stuff this week gives me a pause for concern, but it’s part of it. We have to stay locked in on the most important part of homecoming which is the game. I think they’ll be fine we just have to focus on Oak Hill.”
The Raiders come to Louisville with an identical 1-3 record and they’ve also been playing much better in recent weeks. After losing to Mantachie and Tupelo Christian out of the Mississippi High School Activities Association, the Raiders knocked off Newton County Academy at the beginning of the month 33-14 and lost a narrow game to Tunica Academy 46-42 last week.
Byrd respects the Raiders as much as anyone on his schedule because he knows how hard and how physical Daniel Merchant’s teams play. The Raiders will bring the fight to Patriot Field, now WA has to bring theirs and try to repeat last week’s showing.
“They’re just real sound and they’re always going to be strong. They’re like us in that they don’t have the biggest kids, but they’re where they’re supposed to be,” Byrd said. “Offensively they’re not complicated. They’ll run power and throw the football quick. We’ve just got to get lined up and tackle. We’re ready to get back out there.”
