Winston Home Coming Queen Suzanne Stewart and her court displayed beauty and glamour to the overflow crowd at Patriot Field last Friday night and the Winston Patriot football team displayed an effort that everyone was also proud of. The only thing missing was a Patriot victory, as the AAA Oak Hill Raiders escaped by beating the Patriots 13-12 in a down-to-the-wire battle.

In a game that saw the Patriots play with several key players side lined with injuries, it was still their best team effort of the year as Winston fell to 2-5 on the year.

As action got underway, the first 5 teams possessions ended in punts until 2:14 left in the opener. It was at that point that Kyle Harriman displayed his speed as he broke into the open field and raced 85 yards for the first points of the night.

Daniel Parker's PAT kick narrowly missed and Winston had gone on top 6-0. As Oak Hill started with possession in the second quarter, they answered with a score and PAT of their own with 9:44 showing on the first half clock to go on top 7-6. Winston's next possession looked like disaster in the making when a bad punt snap went over punter Zach Boswell's head and the Raiders took over at the Winston 10 yard line with 7:59 showing. But the Winston defense stepped up and denied the end zone and Oak Hill had to settle for a 27 yard field goal attempt.

Fortunately the kick was wide and Winston had dodged a Raider bullet and the score remained at 7-6 in favor of Oak Hill. Winston then put together a drive that started at their own 20 and took them to the Raider 7 yard line.

But the Raider defense stepped up and robbed quarterback Luke White with a interception and brought it out of the end zone to the Raider 22 yard line with 2:41 left in the half. After moving it to the Winston 27 yard line just before half time, the Winston defense held their ground on a 4th down attempt and took over on downs as the half came to an end with Oak Hill leading 7-6.

With Winston starting with ball possession to open the second half, their drive ended with a punt from their own 40 yard line. But luck followed the Patriots as Josh Lee recorded his first interception of the year and returned it 24 yards to the Oak Hill 48 yard line. Luke White hit Zach Boswell down field, and Boswell carried it to the 6 yard line before being brought down. It was two plays later that Harriman added his second score of the night with a 2 yard run to put Winston on top 12-7.

The attempt at two was no good and the Patriots had regained the lead with 3:58 left in the 3rd quarter. But the Patriot lead did not last long as Oak Hill answered right back with a score with 28 seconds before the start of the final quarter. They elected to try for the two point conversion and also were stopped short but had regained the lead by a score of 13-12.

As the final quarter of action got started and after a Winston punt, the Raider drive came to an end when Boswell recovered a Raider fumble at the Oak Hill 20 yard line with 6:49 left in the game. Things were looking good for the Patriots with time on their side and only 20 yards from pay dirt. But as luck may have it, another Patriot interception in the end zone ended their hopes and Oak Hill took over with 4:01 remaining. After the Winston defense held on a 4th down attempt, the Patriots were given one last chance with under 2 minutes on the clock, the Patriots started their final chance.

Facing a 4th and 8 from the Oak Hill 35, the stay alive pass fell incomplete with 25 ticks left on the clock and the Patriots saw their hard fought battle go down in defeat as Oak Hill narrowly escaped with the 13-12 victory. The Winston offense got a superb performance from Kyle Harriman as he rushed for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns, while the defense attack was led by Nick Duty with 18 tackles and followed by Harriman with 13, Josh Lee with 10 and an interception, Daniel Parker and Paul David Hatcher with 8 each. Winston will travel to Maden this week to play Leake in a district game. Game time is 7:30.