Patriots knock off mighty Raiders 12-7

In a game that was noticed among the top 10 games this week in the state of Mississippi and the biggest game between MPSA foes, the Patriots traveled to Grenada, Mississippi to take on a traditional power house in Kirk Academy. The two teams came into the game both undefeated in the early season but unfortunately for the home team, they left with their first loss. Winston was given many oppurtunities to put the game away but was plagued with many mistakes offensively. The game was dominated by the defense on both teams and fittingly was ended on a defensive interception by Austin Harrison. Both teams stalled on their first possession but Tyler Dalton and Dillon Morgan ended that on the ensuing possession. Dalton launched the ball down the field to a covered Morgan who made the catch over his defender for a 50 yard score. Dillion though usually a guy who never misses an extra point sent one wide left and the Patriots took a 6-0 lead to the second quarter. Kirk would answer later in the quarter with a touchdown after their offense took the field off a Dalton interception. They would get the ball back right before halftime and on a pass completion, second string safety Channing Bucklew was hit and the leg and seriously injured. He was eventually carried by ambulence to the Grenada County Hospital and could be out for the year. The Patriots came back to hold them on the drive on fourth down that ended the half and the Patriots trailed 7-6. In the second half, the Patriots marched the ball downfield to the 20 where T.D. found Morgan on a short pass that turned into a big gain down to the 2 yard line. But the Patriots stalled and Morgan was forced to kick what turned into the game winner for the Patriots. From then on out the Patriot defense allowed very little and no points whatsoever and the Patriots would clinch the game with a 38 yard field goal with 1 min. remaining. The Patriots made sure they had the game won on the Kirk possession as Channing Martin overthrew his receiver down field and Austin Harrison was waiting to pull that in. The Patriots improved to 3-0 and Kirk fell to 2-1. The Patriots now turn to Conference play for the first time as they travel to Madden to take on the always tough Leake Rebels in their final game of their 3 game road trip.

Blog back online after overdue break

Well winston fans after a year of not blogging i decided to get back on here for another try... i will have a story up shortly about the Patriots hot start

Winston vs. Canton

Winston looks to continue its winning ways as it travels to Canton, Mississippi tonight to take on Canton Academy. The Patriots who are led by juniors Tyler Dalton and Austin Harrison and seniors Carlos Black and Kyle Harriman, are now 7-2 on the season with a 2-2 conference record coming into tonight. With a win tonight they will definitly have a playoff spot waiting on them although it already appears they should have one anyway. Winston last week knocked off the Tri-County Rebels to get their 7th win of the season. The Patriots lone loses came to the top two teams in the district, Leake and Manchester. Gametime for tonight's affair is set for 7 o'clock.

Patriots overcome homecoming, Rebles, win 27-12

Winston scored on a two play drive to open their offense on their first possession of the game and didn't look back as they went on to win it. T.D. threw for three touchdowns and ran for another while surpassing the 200 yd. barrier on the game. Also Austin Harrison picked off two more passes which gives him 6 in the last three weeks. He also hauled in the first touchdown of the game on a pass from Dalton from 25 plus yds. out. Tri-County never got started offensively although they did score one touchdown on a run. The Patriot defense worked hard in the trenches all night and never allowed any big plays to happen and they also caused four Rebel turnovers with 3 of those being interceptions. Paul David Hatcher lead the defense with 13 tackles and was awarded the temptco steel player of the game. Winston improved to 7-2 and 2-2 in conference play. It is their best start since the 1999 season and they hope to make it an even more magical season as they progress towards the playoffs with only two regular season games remaining. Calling the play-by-play tonight on tv was myself while mr. Dan Sullivan helped me as the color man. Next week, Winston stays in district play as they go on the road to take on their final district opponent, Canton Academy. Canton stands last in the conference standings with Tri-County. The Patriots with a win will secure a definite playoff appearence although the win Friday night gives them a very good chance already.

Homecoming underway in Louisville

Made an appearence today at the homecoming play with half of my senior class showing up (which is saying alot since we had the largest class in WA history). Enjoyed it as usual and hope everyone else there did as well. My dad will be away from the camera tonight so that leaves me to do the play-by-play along with dan sullivan as my color man. Game time is set for 7 once again with the parade of cars starting around 6:30 i would think. And of course halftime festivities involve the 07 homecoming court. All in all should be a great night.
P.S.- d.j.ing the dance afterwards if anyone would like to keep me company..

WA improves to 6-2 with win over Heritage

The Patriots and the Patriots squared off on the field last friday night in Louisville and the WA Patriots controlled the game from the get go as they one big 20-0. It started with a fumble recovery on the first drive by Kyle Harriman for a TD after a hit from Carlos Black. Winston scored 2 more offensive touchdowns with Caleb Kelly pulling in one of those for his first career touchdown. Austin Harrison pulled in 2 more interceptions and now is leading the conference defensively. The game was paced, as it has been all year, by the defense and Brandon Garner was named the Temptco Steel player of the game for his efforts in the secondary after having 5 pass defelections and 4 of them on 3rd or 4th down. The star athlete for Heritage as expected was Mississippi State signee punter Baker Sweedenburg. And perform was what he did. He was on the field for what seemed like the whole game booting the ball to Austin Harrison.
Winston now gets prepared for the homecoming game against district foe Tri-County who is last in the district. A win would keep the quest for a playoff spot going with just one more district game left after it against Canton.
One important note after the Heritage game: Winston's defense has not surrendered a touchdown to a non district opponent yet, nor have they surrendered a loss to a non district opponent (4-0). Also the patriot team has not given up a point in 10 quarters giving them one of the best defenses in the entire state.

Patriots back on track after 42-0 victory

The Patriots took the field last Friday night with little doubt in their mind that they would be losing to 1A Macon Central. And with 5 minutes remaining in the first, the Patriots solidified that fact. This was because of the 35-0 lead they had built in a somewhat junior high effort they were against. Austin Harrison settled into a groove after taking a punt back and twop interceptions for touchdowns and that was enough. Coupled with that was two scores by the Winston offense in the only two drives they had. The first score was on the first play of their first drive with Kyle Harriman taking it left tackle all the way to the house.
After the first quarter, the Patriots had only one other touchdown and it was from the legs of Stephen "wee man" Arnett from a 25 plus yard distance. The second teamers got plenty of playing time as Coach Sims let everyone get into the game off the bench that would be eligible. Most importantly, Channing Sanders got three quarters of playing time at qb that he desperately needed. And Channing performed well and did as he was instructed. Didn't get to see much of his throwing ability that we've seen already on the baseball diamond, but the 10th grader should produce nicely with some more work.
With the win Winston moves to 5-2 on the season and they are 1-2 in conference play. If the Patriots are to win the last two district games against both Canton and Tri-county, they will more than likely become eligible for the playoffs via wildcard.
The Patriots return to action fiday night back at the field of champions for the first time in three weeks as they take on those other Patriots from Columbus the Heritage Patriots. Heritage has just one win on the season coming last week against Oak Hill a team the WA Pats have already defeated in the first game of the season. Game time at Patriot field is set for 7:00 p.m.