One Down For Winston 3 to Go`

The Patriots came into the game this week against Copiah thinking that they had this first round in the bag. I mean who wouldnt? Copiah came in as the number 4 seed and a wildcard out of the South while the Pats were the number 1 team in the entire state. And also the Colonals were a meger 6-5 taking on an undefeated Winston bunch. So no problem right? Wrong. Copiah came out firing and put some points on the board after recovering a Winston fumble on the first play of the Patriots Second drive. Starting on the Winston 30 after two failed trys on good drives before, Copiah marched it into the endzone on third and goal to go from the 1. Not only did they get six but they pulled out the kitchen sink and passed in a two point conversion on the old swinging gate extra point set. After trailing 8-0 though the Patriots would push it down the field thanks to Tyler Dalton running the football as he hit the sideline and turned on the after-burners for a long touchdown run. What made this run all the more impressive was the fact that T.D. was virtually playing on one ankle as he was definitely not 100% coming into the game after last week which proved for the first time in his two year starting career that he isnt "quite" superman. But tonight he wouldnt go quietly as he would put his powerful arm to use. With just a 1 point lead and a little over 5 min. left in the half again Copiah would march down the field as they had done the entire first half led by their quarterback and talented receivers, and they stuck it into the endzone and this time kicked the extra point for a 15-7 lead. The Patriots failed to score on the ensuing drive and Copiah had the lead at halftime. But hear came the Patriots. Their first two plays in the second half were incompletions to Austin Harrison and Dylan Morgan respectively but then came the third down strike in the middle of the field to Morgan. Morgan got one on one with his defender and took off down the sidelines for 6 more and the capacity crowd went into wild. T.D. and the offense stayed in the game as Coach Rogers elected to go for two to tie the game up. Austin Harrison came in motion and took the handoff off the right side and tied the game up to give Winston new life. A three and out stop by the D ( the first such of the game) caused a punt. Austin Harrison took the catch and carried it all the way from his own 40 to the Winston 17. The Patriots though couldnt do anything with the ball and they called upon Dylan Morgan for a long 37 yard field goal. "True Blue" connected and the Patriots took their first lead of the game, one they would never relinquish. It was then the defense's job to take care of buisness and take care of it they did. A fake punt turned into an interception by Caleb Kelly and Winston had the ball right back. Winston's offense would once again go through the air and once again to Dylan Morgan who caught another one for a touchdown. Unsportsman like conduct was called after the play and Dylan was forced to kick a 35 yard extra point which he wouldnt even be close to missing. The Patriots then had a 25-15 lead coming into the fourth quarter. Copiah would drive downfield after a fair kickoff return and having to do without their quarterback the entire second half finally proved affective as they used the tailback taking the snaps and running around the tackle. The Pats though finally stopped em and forced a field goal that would slip in and give them their only points of the half but also get the game back to a touchdown with 9 min. remaining. Winston gave the ball back to them but held them on fourth down and again got the ball back this time with 5 min. left. Thats when winston put the game away as on 3rd down and 3 at the Copiah 20, T.D. caught the defense off guard and hit Austin Harrison on a screen where he was one on 0ne with a defender down the sidelines and ran bounced off the defender at the 5 and dove into the endzone. Another Winston stop on a Copiah 4th down and ran out the clock to end the ball game. Coach Wyatt Rogers definetly felt the heat in this game as this one was the toughest battle yet that the Patriots have had. The South usually the strong part of the state sent their weakest team from the playoffs and gave the best team in the state all they could handle. But once again Winston showed how powerful a team they are in the second half as they outscored Copiah amazingly 25-3. The Patriots now turn to Lee Academy a team they will meet for the third time in the last 4 years in the playoffs. The Patriots won last years game against their south foe at their place but this will be the first time Clarksdale as come to Winston as the last two games have been at Clarksdale Lee. It proves to be another good contest against the powerful South teams as Winston tries to continue their quest for a State Championship and prove that they deserve to be the number 1 team in the state and prove that the North is just as strong if not stronger than the south. C0me out and support your Patriots next week.

Winston to Play Copiah

Winston Academy will take on Copiah Academy in the First Round of AA playoffs this Friday night at Patriot Field. Dont know a whole lot about this team other than their the Number 4 wildcard and that their out of the South. If i find out something else ill be sure to blog.

Patriots Stay Unbeaten; Knock Off Vols 31-7

It was a far from ordinary Halloween night on Patriot field as both teams played sloppy offensively throughout but the Patriots once again found a way to pull it out again. Coach Brian Sims came back to Patriot field for the first time since leaving and for the first time was wearing a different color then Patriot Red and Blue. He was wearing Orange and looking to salvage his first season at the helm at Starkville. It started out with a stop by the Patriot "D" on three downs. Then the Patriots marched it down the field for nearly 50 yards to the Starkville 5. Thats when the Starkville front took over. They stopped the Patriots on the first 3 plays and then on 4th down at the 3 Tyler Dalton took it off the right side for the touchdown. It would prove to be for naught though as the offense was called for illegal procedure. So Coach Rogers chose to go the field goal route in what would be somewhat of an extra point for Dylan Morgan. But the Big Diesel Jonathan Mackensie got in the backfield and blocked the kick which rolled all the way to the Starkville 30 until Tyler Dalton recovered it. So Starkville took over 1st and 10 but was again stopped on three downs. The Patriots would finally get on the board eventually though right before the end of the first and once again at the beginning of the second quarter. But Starkville answered right back with a strike down the sidelines to their big tight end/wide reciever/defensive end/linebacker etc. etc. and he took it into the endzone to get Starkville on the board and back into the game and at halftime the score was set at Winston 14, Starkville 7. The Patriots would come out though in the second half and play a little better football with the help of Starkville turnovers 4 of them in the second half to be exact(All fumbles as well as 2 more in the first half) Winston would end up getting 3 of those fumbles in the game inside the 10 but only converted that into 10 points. And another fumble was recovered by Stephen Arnett and ran in for 6 points and would prove to be the game changing play because after that Winston would have a 24-7 edge in the ball game. Another T.D. touchdown would end it and the Patriots won their 10th consecutive game and ended the regular season undefeated for the 4th time in school history. The first time since 1997 which was the first of 4 consecutive State championships. Winston also with a win tonight and a loss by AA number 2 Trinity is now the only unbeaten team remaining in the entire MPSA. Now Winston looks on to next week's game the first round of the playoffs against possibly Marshall Academy it is yet to be confirmed by me but as soon as i find out you will be sure to see it. All playoff games will be home for the Patriots so come out and support your team on a possible run to Millsaps College and the State Championship.

Winston Wins District Championship 38-19

The Canton Academy Panthers came to beautiful Patriot Field on homecoming night looking to play the spoiler but after three quarters, the Patriots said no. Both teams came in to the game undefeated in district competition and Winston was undefeated overall. They put their undefeated records on the line and the district championship on the line. A capacity crowd came into the gate dressed in red and both teams came out firing. Winston got the ball to begin the ballgame and marched it down the field early and T.D. put it in the endzone for a touchdown run from a yard out. That would be the only points scored in the 1st quarter. Quickly though Canton Academy answered back and drove down the field with their speed and from 5 yards out Kyle Warren went off the left side and put it in the endzone as well to tie the ballgame at 7 points a piece. The teams went back and forth at each other with a few stops before Winston got the ball back with less than a minute left and a little under 50 yards of field to go. Thats when halloween came a week early and things started to get a little bizarre. Tyler Dalton threaded the needle for a 50 yard touchdown pass to Austin Harrison. But...... A flag flew down and a chop block was called on the offensive line pushing the Patriots back into their own territory. The very next play the same penalty was called and the Patriots had it 1st and 40 from deep in their own territory. Thats when T.D. threw it downfield to Austin who couldnt catch the ball but did get a pass interference called on the defense. That gave the Patriots a first and ten. T.D. then threw a strike to Austin for 25 plus and a first and goal from the 10. Td then rolled out and capped the drive off with a touchdown pass to Sophmore tightend/linebacker Rob Moffit. That gave the Patriots the halftime edge 14-7. After homecoming festivities at halftime, the second half began. And this drive started with excecution on the Panther's part as they drove it down the field and capped it off with a 17 yard pass from the quarterback Kyle Warren. The extra point though was blocked and Winston still had the lead at 14-13. Thats when the Patriot offense took over. Td on the next possession threw a 33 yard touchdown to Austin Harrison.On the next possession Corey Vernon, last week's temptco steel player of the game thanks to his 137 yards and a couple of touchdowns, took it in for another touchdown on the season from 17 yards out and Winston had the lead now 28-13 in the fourth. Canton got a touchdown run from a yard out and Canton made it clear that they were not going away in their fight for the district campionship. Winston again drove down the field with some great running from Tyler Dalton and Corey Vernonand the Patriots sealed the game with Corey Vernon running for his second consecutive touchdown of the ball game and the Patriot lead increased itself to 35-19. Canton came out looking to score quickly but made a big mistake and threw across the middle straight to the "Wee Man" linebacker Steven Arnett and the ball game was officially over. Winston would get 3 more points from a 32 yard field goal by Dylan Morgan and the Patriots remained unbeaten on the 2008 campaign. Coach Wyatt Rogers would be douced by the gatorade cooler as he won his Second District championship in his 3 year career and the Patriots as a team won their second in three of the last four years. Coach Rogers and his Number 1 ranked Patriots now turn to the final regular season game against arch-rival Starkville Academy. Starkville is now coached by former Winston Player and Coach Brian Sims. Coach Sims who has rebuilt the Winston program having sent them to the playoffs in all of the last 3 seasons has moved on to the AAA mark in the MPSA and makes his first trip back to Winston Academy this time in a different blue. The Blue and Orange look to avoid their 3 consecutive lost to Winston something that has never happened in the history of these two schools.

Patriots Win Another; 47-8

Winston Academy marched onto the field at a perfect 7-0 and 3-0 in district play. They were also looking to seal a playoff spot for the Fourth consecutive season. They would come out a little slow though defensively and give up a touchdown to Tri-County on their second drive of the game following a Winston Academy touchdown by Corey Vernon. The ball was marched down the field for 85 yards and a two point conversion was successful and the Rebels had a 8-7 lead early in the game. Unfortunately that would be all that Tri-County could do to compete with Winston. After that, Winston would score on every possession for the rest of the ballgame while Tri-County was either punting or turning the ball over. Tyler Dalton threw for a touchdown and ran for another on his way to another great game with 79 yards on the ground and Corey Vernon had a career game putting 3 touchdowns into the endzone and 137 yards. Caleb Kelly was the defensive star of the night as he produced 10 tackles and his first career interception and the rest of the defense had another fantastic show. Winston Academy now turns its attention to tonight as homecoming is on campus and Canton Academy the team tied with the Patriots for the division lead is visting for the District Championship and homefield advantage throughout. Winston has not clinched homefield advantage for the entire playoffs since 1999 which was, fittingly, Coach Rogers first season on campus. Gametime for tonights game is set for 7 o'clock with the parade of cars for the homecoming court starting at 6:30. Another note is that the school is calling for a "Red Out" for tonights game in which everyone should wear red. Hope to see you there! Go Pats

Battle of the Patriots Goes Winston's Way; 38-10

Winston came into Columbus with the heads held high thinking that another win would easily be in the books. But after 10 min. of the first quarter was gone it looked like they would be in for an upset. Heritage came out on the opening drive and on three plays was forced to punt after a few penalties put them back to a 4th and 19. Sweedenburg the punter mis-handled a punt and picked it up to begin to run. With the Patriots rushing towards him he lofted the ball up in the air to find a wide open receiver downfield for a first down. Luck continued to play into the hands of Heritage as on third down at the Winston 30 yard line, Mac Thatcher got a toss, avoided Caleb Kelly's rush, and threw the ball into the endzone for the touchdown. That gave the Heritage Pats an early lead at 7-0. Winston stalled on their opening drive and was forced to punt. On the next Heritage drive, they caught a screen and raced down the sideline for over 50 yards. But Winston held the homestanding team and forced a 35 yard field goal and trailed 10-0 with 5 min. remaining in the first quarter. Thats when Coach Rogers and the Patriot offense said that was enough. Winston marched down the field and scored with two seconds left in the first on a Tyler Dalton 3 yard rush. From then on Winston would score on every possession and they had the halftime lead 21-10. Eventually Winston would put up 38 unanswered points and T.D. had another stellar performance on offense and Winston proved finally why they are the number 1 team in the state. Corey Vernon came up big in this one also putting three big ones into the endzone. The defense was this weeks Temptco Steel Player(s) of the Game though because of the way they answered the call after going down early in this one. Winston had their best game of the season by far and continued their winning ways to improve to 7-0 on the season and are one conference win away from clinching the division. Their next oppenent is the Tri-County Rebels a team at the cellar of the conference.

Patriots Use Bye Week To Rest; Reflect

The Pats took a week off from action this week because of some preseason scheduling problems with Macon Central. After 6 weeks of action though the Patriots didn't have much reason to rest considering they where flying high after a 6-0 start, 2-0 in the district, and number 1 in the state of Mississippi in their respective classification. But this week is a good time for Coach Rogers and his crew to look at what they have done wrong in the first part of the season and how they can correct that in the coming weeks to end out the season. The Patriots may be undefeated at this time but they have a very tough ending to the season in the final four games. Can the Patriots march into the playoffs undefeated? Or will this team finally be brought down?