The Winston Patriots opened the game last Friday night in Pelahatchie against the East Rankin Patriots in an impressive wide open air attack to take an early 7-0 lead. But the home standing ER Patriots got over their shell shock and settled down to take a nail biting 21-20 overtime win.
Winston went right to the air after the opening kickoff and moved the ball down field before being stopped on 4th down. They then kept in alive on a fake punt to earn the first down and go ahead scoring drive. With 7:36 left on the opening clock, Brylee Wall connected with Cage Palmer for a 48 yard TO strike, with Wall's PAT sending Winston on top 7-0.
ER was then stopped on their opening drive when Curry Black pulled in an interception at the Winston 37 yard line. Disaster then hit Winston when they turned it over on a fumble at the end of a 39 yard gain at the ER 36 yard line.
This then started and ER scoring drive that ended on a 25 yard scoring pass. Their PAT tied the game at 7-7 with 1:25 left in the opening quarter.
The second quarter saw a punting exhibition between both teams until Winston missed on a 27 yard field goal attempt with 3:18 left before halftime. Both teams then continued the punt exchanges until the 7-7 halftime.
The second half opened with a continuation of the punts until 7:13 left in the 3rd quarter. It was then that ER went ahead for the first time on a 14 yard run. Their PAT sent the ER lead to 14-7.
The aggressiveness of Winston brought on some costly penalties that were setting them back after big plays. Winston then put the tying points on the board when Wall found Luke Dempsey open in the middle of the end zone for a 4 yard TO pass. The PAT kick by Wall tied the game at 14-14 with 27 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.
ER the started a drive that ended at the Winston 46 yards line on a 4th down attempt. The punting show then started again until 49 seconds left in the game, when Jody McCorkle came up with a big fumble recovery at the ER 42 yard line.
With a fast pass-run attack, Winston marched down to the ER 26 yard line before being stopped as time ended in regulation with a 14-14 tie. ER won the OT coin toss and elected to go on defense. Winston then put the go ahead points up when Wall found Johnson Wells in the corner of the end zone for a 4 yard TO pass. The ever important PAT failed and it was now time for ER to go to work.
After gaining 3 yards on their first play, they tied the game on a 7 yard run up the middle. With both crowds on their feet, the PAT kicked went through the up rights and ER had taken the 21-20 victory.
With Winston dominating in just about every statistic of the game, it was the ever important point stat that they fell short on. Winston gained 341 yards in total offense to East Rankin's 116. The rushing saw J.J. Beamon lead the charge with 68 yards, followed by Jackson Joiner with 58. Brylee Wall's 225 yards in passing and 3 touchdown passes, had several Patriots on the receiving end. Cage Palmer had 68 yards and a touchdown while Johnson Wells had 40 yards and a touchdown, and Jackson Joiner had 40 yards.
Luke Dempsey ended with 18 yards and a scoring pass. The defense saw J.J Beamon and Jody Joiner with 6 tackles while Joiner recovered a fumble. Johnson Wells and Josh McGinnis both had 5 stops while Curry Blake was credited with an interception.
So as the disappointing 0-3 start for the Patriots is not what they had planned for they will travel to Bay Springs this week to take on the Sylva Bay Saints. Game time is set for 7:00 PM.
Patriots looking for first win Friday against SBA
By Robbie Faulk
Winston County Journal
Yes, last Friday presented yet another loss for Winston Academy. They’ve now started the year 0-3 and they’ve lost eight-straight games continuing from last year.
But last week was different than those previous seven weeks for the Patriots as the offense was finally clicking. WA racked up 341 yards of offense and held East Rankin to 116. They somehow lost the game 21-20 in overtime, but it was progress made.
For head coach Pat Byrd, it’s the inability to finish that’s holding his team back for now, but he believes they took a big step in that loss.
“They’re disappointed because they knew they should have won the football game but they understand that they played well enough to win,” Byrd said. “They just have to connect the dots. We’ve got to get the ball in the end zone when we get first and goal. When we get a fumble we’ve got to scoop and score if there’s nobody around us.
“Offensively we had a better stat line but we left some opportunities. I told them the other night that I wish there was a pill I could give all of them to help them know what to do in those situations, but they’ve got to do it on their own. Our quarterback had to play as a freshman last year and we have a lot of guys that just haven’t been there.
The quarterback, Brylee Wall, is starting to put things together for the Patriots and he’s a dangerous weapon for them if he continues to improve. At 6’2, 190 pounds, Wall is already bigger than most sophomores around and that’s been an adjustment for him.
“I think he’s doing a lot of things well. Every once and awhile, he thinks there’s pressure when there isn’t. He’s got to learn to step in the pocket and a lot of that comes from him as a ninth grader running for his life last year,” Byrd said. “Sometimes in practice you get unreal expectations when you see him so we’re growing together.”
That elusive first win still hangs out there for the taking for WA and they’re going to try to get it this weekend against Sylva Bay. The Saints are also 0-3 but have played a tough schedule against Brookhaven Academy, Wayne Academy and Tri-County Academy.
WA already played the Saints in a jamboree before the season and tied them in a quarter of play. Byrd is hoping that they can find that W this week.
“They’re big up front so the heat will be good for us. We might need to tempo them a little bit on offense and get those guys gassed,” Byrd said. “The quarterback is a great athlete so we’ll need to tackle him in space. We feel good about getting back out there on the field.”
