Pirates’ season ends at Mars Hill

FLORENCE — The Winfield Pirates’ season ended with a 28-13 loss to the Mars Hill Panthers in the third round of the Class 3A State Playoffs on Friday, Nov. 22, in Florence.
In a defensive battle through the first half, both teams struggled to put points on the board. The Pirates broke through in the third quarter and traded touchdowns with Mars Hill until the fourth when the Panthers broke the game open and pulled away to get the victory.
Mars Hill got the opening kickoff and needed only 10 plays to cover 65 yards to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead on a 13-yard run with 7:27 left in the first quarter.
Winfield was able to reach the red zone in the first quarter, but costly penalties stopped the drive short of scoring points.
Both defenses held on throughout the rest of the first half, and the Panthers held a 7-0 lead going into halftime.
To begin the second half, the Pirates received the kickoff and began a methodical 16-play 59-yard march to the end zone.
Brady May got the drive started with a pass completion to Garret Beasley for 2 yards, and then May found Keylan Hughes for a 7-yard pass down to the Panthers’ 44-yard line.
May found Beasley again for 8 more yards, and then May passed to Sean Wyers for 13 yards and a first down to the Panthers’ 29.
Declyn Morgan got the rushing attack going on the drive, picking up a first down on three consecutive runs down to the Mars Hill 10-yard line.
Morgan and Hughes kept pounding at the Mars Hill defense, and Morgan finally was able to crack through and into the end zone on a 1-yard run.
May added the extra point to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:39 left in the third quarter.
Mars Hill took over and needed only 4 plays to reach the end zone covering 71 yards to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead on a 28-yard run with 1:57 left in the third quarter.
Winfield answered the Panthers’ scoring drive with another of their own, as May went back to the passing game finding Hughes out of the backfield for a 28-yard gain to the Mars Hill 32-yard line.
May next found Morgan for a 7-yard gain and with a facemask penalty added on, moved the Pirates to the Mars Hill 19-yard line.
May passed to Hughes again for a 12-yard gain to the 7, and then Morgan ran for 1 yard and finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run.
May’s extra point came up short, but the Pirates cut the lead to 14-13 with 11:55 left in the game.
Mars Hill answered the Pirates’ scoring drive with a 3-play 71-yard scoring drive scoring on a 4-yard run with 10:54 left in the game to extend the Panthers’ lead to 21-13.
Mars Hill added one more score later in the fourth quarter on a 56-yard touchdown run and with the extra point, pushed the Mars Hill lead to 28-13 with 7:40 left in the game.
Winfield was unable to get anything going in the fourth quarter as Mars Hill stuffed the Pirates and ran out the clock on the game and the Pirates’ season.
Winfield closed out a season with an 11-2 record and was the Class 3A, Region 5 champions. The senior players on the team finished their high school careers with a 42-7 record over the last four years.