#HSFT19 Stop #37 – Winston Academy Patriots

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LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — Winston Academy is keeping it simple. The Patriots are looking to improve.

“This year what I’ve seen is kids finding a way,” head coach Pat Byrd said. “Something bad happens instead of ducking your head and letting it go and letting it slide finding a way to make things work.”

That’s the biggest change Byrd has seen since taking over as head coach last season. Byrd saying that mentality is necessary to continuously compete.

“It has to be an us versus the world mentality. I think its been since maybe ’07, eight to ten years since they’ve made the playoffs and had success. You need to find success in other areas right now and build off of it,” Byrd said.

“We’re just trying to change the work ethic and we’ve had a tough schedule the past few years but we can’t use that as an excuse anymore,” senior RB/S Jackson Joiner said. “We just have to work harder. We’ve worked really hard this summer.”

The Patriots are aware of the reputation they’ve made with opponents in years past. This year’s team is determined to teach a lesson when they step out on the field: to expect the unexpected.

“Oh we love it,” senior QB Luke Dempsey said. “We want to be the underdog. We’re just ready to show up and prove them wrong.”

“We’ve struggled with offense in years past and everyone receivers, running backs, lineman all are trying to learn the offense and buy into it,” Joiner said.

“You’re going to have off nights. The thing is you have to deal with it. You have to respond to it and don’t let it break you down. It has to build you. That’s tough for young people. That’s tough for old people. That’s something you just have to work through and count on the people next to you,” Byrd said.

Going into 2019, Winston Academy is keeping its confidence high knowing if they believe they can accomplish good things.

“We’re hoping to come out and show everybody what we’ve been working on this summer.” Dempsey said.

“Football is football. These kids want to be successful. They’ve worked as hard as any group I’ve been around. They listen, they want success and they just need some good things to happen to them early,” Byrd said.

The Patriots will get their start against Leake Academy on August 23rd.