A day late and a dollar short!
Had the Winston Patriots played the entire season the way they played Clinton Christian last Friday night at Patriot Field, they would go into the playoffs as the top seed. But instead, they are almost assured of a playoff spot-unless some drastically happens within the district.
Winston's momentum started on Clinton's first possession when Tanner Boatner recovered a fumble at the Winston 39 yard line. But the Patriots would turn it right back over on a fumble of their own at the Winston 25 yard line.
The Patriots then dug in a stopped them on a fourth down attempt at the 20 to take over possession. It was then that the firework show started as a pass and run attack paid off with the first score on a 4 yard pass from Brylee Wall to Johnson Wells. Wall's PAT put Winston on top 7-0 with 4:41 remaining in the opener.
Winston instantly got a break when Taylor Hudson recovered a fumble of the kickoff at the Clinton 43 yard line. Three plays later Wall found Wells open again for a 12 yard TD pass.
Then Cage Palmer passed to Jackson Joiner for the 2 point conversion to increase the Patriot lead to 15-0 with 4:17 remaining in the l't quarter. After a Clinton punt, the Patriots turned it back over on an interception and Clinton took advantage and added points of their own to cut the lead to 15-6.
The same picture then repeated as and Winston interception set up another Clinton score to end the first quarter scoring with Winston leading 15-12. The second quarter was a slug fest and no scoring developed to end the first half with Winston still maintaining a 15-12 lead.
The Patriots came out the second half on fire with a strong running game led by J.J. Beamon. After an 80 yard touchdown from Beamon was called back on a block in the back penalty, Beamon's running plays got the ball to the Clinton 8 yard line.
It was then that Wall found his go to man, Wells, open for his third score ofthe night. The PAT increased the Winston lead to 22-12 with 9:45 left in the third quarter. A following Clinton punt put the Patriots back in business and the passing game continued. Using receivers, Jody McCorkle, Cage Palmer and Wells, Brylee Wall connected with Johnson Wells for their fourth TD play of the game. The PAT sent the Winston lead to 29-12 with 3:20 left in the third. But Clinton would not turn over and added a score and two point conversion to cut the Patriot lead to 29-20.
As the final quarter got underway, Winston added another score with 5:11 remaining when Jackson Joiner took it across the line from 4 yards out to build Winston's lead to 35-20. But the determined opponents would strike back as score and also a two point conversion to make the score very interesting at 35-28.
Winston then drove it down to the Clinton 39 yard line before being stopped on a 4th down attempt to take over with 2:34 remaining in the game. Winston then turned the lights out on Clinton when Josh McGinnis recovered a fumble at the Clinton 23 yard line to give Winston back the ball and run out the clock for the win. With Winston's first district win in several year, it also practically earned them their first playoff game in several years as well. Winston's offense earned 392 yard . The rushing game saw J.J Beamon lead the charge with 71 yard, followed by Cage Palmer with 35.
Jackson Joiner finished with 30 yard and a touchdown . The Passing game saw Brylee Wall complete 11 of 24 passes for 254 yards and 4 touchdowns, while suffering 3 interceptions. His primary receivers were Johnson Wells with 6 catches for 112 yards and 4 scores, Jody McCorkle with 78 yard and Cage Palmer with 64 yards. The defense had Jody McCorkle and Curry Black leading the charge with 11 stops, followed by Tanner Boatner with 9 and a fumble recovery, and Johnson Wells with 6. Taylor Hudson was also credited with a fumble recovery.
So as the Patriots travel to Waynesboro this week for the final game of the season to play Wayne Academy, they will patiently wait to see the verdict on the playoff picture> but regardless of the verdict, Wayne will face a different group of Patriots---if they play like they just did!!!! Game time is set for 7:00 PM.
Pats knocking on playoff door
By Robbie Faulk
Winston County Journal
As Winston Academy entered Friday night’s Senior Night game against Clinton Christian just 2-6 on the year, they still had much to play for and pride wasn’t all that was on the line.
The Patriots have played a tough enough schedule that they’ve earned themselves some stripes for a potential playoff spot in two weeks. They were in the conversation heading into the final district game against the Warriors, but a win would go a long way in helping seal that up.
It was also a chance to get head coach Pat Byrd his first district win in two seasons at the school. WA has been close this year and last week they felt they let one slip away against Canton Academy, but on Friday, they made sure that they sealed it up. There were plenty of things to correct once again, but the Patriots finding a way to get the win was what was important.
“It was one of the first district wins for most of these kids in their high school career so it was great. It’s kind of like the playoff deal. These kids have never experienced something like this so it’s hard to get there sometimes,” Byrd said.
“We had over 100 yards called back on passing and an 80-yard run called back on penalties. It’s stuff we have to learn not to do. We did not do a very good job of running the trap offensively because of misalignments. But the kids played with good effort just took our foot off the gas a bit.”
The 35-28 win got the Patriots to 3-6 on the season and in position to win four or more games in a season for the first time since 2016 when they travel to Wayne Academy. It also will help clinch what’s becoming a solid playoff resume as they’re looking to get in for the first time since 2011.
As of now, WA would be the No. 11 team in Class 4A in the MAIS playoffs. There’s only 12 schools that are able to get in each season and the Patriots’ tough schedule has allowed them a chance no matter the losing record. A loss on Friday wouldn’t necessarily eliminate them from making it in but it also wouldn’t guarantee. A win would certainly clinch things up and could move them up as high as the No. 9 seed overall.
First things first, WA has to go to Waynesboro and handle business against the Jaguars (3-5). The two teams already played earlier this year in a preseason scrimmage but neither are the same now. Byrd is expecting both teams to look a lot different on Friday night.
“When we played earlier they were a triple option team. They did that against Leake, but against Columbia they ran the Wing-T and they had a couple of guys that played earlier in the year that I’m not finding on film and I don’t know if they’re injured or not,” Byrd said.
“Now you’ve got two different types of offenses and don’t know which one you’ll see. Both of them slow you down on defense so we’ve got to have a good week of preparation.”
