Rain or shine, Patriots going for title on Friday
By SAMUEL EVERS
Sports Writers
Thursday, November 1, 2018
There was a determined quiet spell among players on Faith Christian’s football field Thursday afternoon during the Patriots’ last run-through practice of the season.
With no wind to ruin a perfect mid-60s degree day, the scene was intensely peaceful during the hour-and-a-half tuneup before Friday’s game.
“It’s not hot and it’s not raining,” said coach Russell Weinstein as the practice wound down. “That’s a good day.”
Call it a nice little slice of serenity before the impending storm.
Rather than call an audible for the NCISAA 2-A state championship, both Faith Christian (8-1) and Raleigh St. David’s (8-0) decided they would go with the original plan, rather than bump the game up to Thursday like all other area teams.
So, rain or shine, or thunderstorm — and there’s a 95 percent chance of precipitation on Friday evening — the Patriots, in their second season as a football team, will head to Raleigh Friday to take on St. David’s on its natural grass field for a chance at a state title. The game is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
St. David’s, who has scored at least 52 points in every game this season, beat Rocky Mount Academy, 66-31, last Friday to advance to the title game, while FCS topped Arendell Parrott Academy at home last Friday, 72-30, to reach this stage.
These two played on Sept. 7, with the Patriots eventually losing, 52-14, though they weren’t at full strength and had an 8-6 lead after the first quarter.
Since that early-season loss, the Patriots have won every game to get to this point, including the last two against APA.
“We wanted to get back and have another shot at St. David’s,” senior Garrett Pannell said. “That’s what we’ve wanted all season. We knew once we lost against them we were going to see them again in the playoffs.”
Same old work week
After winning its first playoff game in program history to advance to its first state title game in program history, there weren’t any firsts this week in practice, just the normal routine.
By Sunday night, said Weinstien, as is the case most weeks, he and his coaching staff had watched film on St. David’s and formed a game plan to head into the week with.
Monday was a weightlifting day, where the coaches worked to install a defensive strategy and go over any new offensive plays.
Tuesday was a full practice day where the team reviewed the plan in real-time, making adjustments when needed. Wednesday was used to finalize ideas, strategies, game scenarios and play calls, and Thursday was the 90-minute walk through.
It was the usual for a not-so-usual game.
“We’ve been even-keel. I can’t tell much difference in the practices or the kids’ demeanor. They seem normal to me,” Weinstein said. “We just try to emphasize this to them — it’s a big game, no doubt, the biggest one they’ll ever play in high school, but the thing for them is they’ve got to treat it like a regular football game. You go changing things and all that and it gets dangerous. I’ve never been a fan of changing your team up. I like consistency.”
Turning point?
While the emotional highlight of the season may have come during a 60-30 victory over rival Rocky Mount Academy on Sept. 12 — a win just five days after losing to the Warriors — the real turning point may have come during halftime of a game all the way in Courtland, Va.
It was on Oct. 5, and the Patriots were losing to Southampton Academy after two quarters. Somewhere during the 15-minute break, there was a wake up call.
“We won the second half of that game pretty easily. From there, we’ve played some good football,” Weinstein said. “They knew our backs were against the wall because we had already lost that game to St. David’s earlier. You come home from Southampton with a loss and we’re 1-2 in the league, we have some problems.”
They ended up winning that game, 31-14, and have won the three games since then as well.
“The practices have changed since then. We learned since that game that you have to focus during the week for that focus to come out during the game,” senior Zach Warrick said. “Everybody seemed more upbeat at practice. They weren’t waiting to go home.”
‘Kind of crazy’
As Weinstein pointed out on Thursday, much of the roster on this year’s Faith Christian football roster has enjoyed back-to-back rides to a state title in baseball in 2017 and 2018.
“They’re not any strangers to winning,” he said. They know how to win.”
But the facts still stick out: Two years ago, in November, 2016, there was no sign of a football team coming to the school. Now the seniors, most of which hadn’t played football before last season, will end their careers in the 8-man state title game, win or lose.
“It just shows you that time flies by. It feels like yesterday we were just having our first ever practice,” Pannell said. “And now we’re playing for a state championship this year. It’s been running through our minds every day, every minute.”
Has the situation soaked in yet?
“It’s still kind of crazy, the progress from the first day when everybody was scared to hit until now — it’s pretty impressive,” Warrick said. “It’s a bittersweet ending. We get to go out with a state title game and hopefully win it. But it’s also coming to an end. That’ll be the last time most of us play football. It’s bittersweet. It will be fun. It’ll be sad but it’ll be fun at the same time.”
By SAMUEL EVERS
Sports Writers
Thursday, November 1, 2018
There was a determined quiet spell among players on Faith Christian’s football field Thursday afternoon during the Patriots’ last run-through practice of the season.
With no wind to ruin a perfect mid-60s degree day, the scene was intensely peaceful during the hour-and-a-half tuneup before Friday’s game.
“It’s not hot and it’s not raining,” said coach Russell Weinstein as the practice wound down. “That’s a good day.”
Call it a nice little slice of serenity before the impending storm.
Rather than call an audible for the NCISAA 2-A state championship, both Faith Christian (8-1) and Raleigh St. David’s (8-0) decided they would go with the original plan, rather than bump the game up to Thursday like all other area teams.
So, rain or shine, or thunderstorm — and there’s a 95 percent chance of precipitation on Friday evening — the Patriots, in their second season as a football team, will head to Raleigh Friday to take on St. David’s on its natural grass field for a chance at a state title. The game is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
St. David’s, who has scored at least 52 points in every game this season, beat Rocky Mount Academy, 66-31, last Friday to advance to the title game, while FCS topped Arendell Parrott Academy at home last Friday, 72-30, to reach this stage.
These two played on Sept. 7, with the Patriots eventually losing, 52-14, though they weren’t at full strength and had an 8-6 lead after the first quarter.
Since that early-season loss, the Patriots have won every game to get to this point, including the last two against APA.
“We wanted to get back and have another shot at St. David’s,” senior Garrett Pannell said. “That’s what we’ve wanted all season. We knew once we lost against them we were going to see them again in the playoffs.”
Same old work week
After winning its first playoff game in program history to advance to its first state title game in program history, there weren’t any firsts this week in practice, just the normal routine.
By Sunday night, said Weinstien, as is the case most weeks, he and his coaching staff had watched film on St. David’s and formed a game plan to head into the week with.
Monday was a weightlifting day, where the coaches worked to install a defensive strategy and go over any new offensive plays.
Tuesday was a full practice day where the team reviewed the plan in real-time, making adjustments when needed. Wednesday was used to finalize ideas, strategies, game scenarios and play calls, and Thursday was the 90-minute walk through.
It was the usual for a not-so-usual game.
“We’ve been even-keel. I can’t tell much difference in the practices or the kids’ demeanor. They seem normal to me,” Weinstein said. “We just try to emphasize this to them — it’s a big game, no doubt, the biggest one they’ll ever play in high school, but the thing for them is they’ve got to treat it like a regular football game. You go changing things and all that and it gets dangerous. I’ve never been a fan of changing your team up. I like consistency.”
Turning point?
While the emotional highlight of the season may have come during a 60-30 victory over rival Rocky Mount Academy on Sept. 12 — a win just five days after losing to the Warriors — the real turning point may have come during halftime of a game all the way in Courtland, Va.
It was on Oct. 5, and the Patriots were losing to Southampton Academy after two quarters. Somewhere during the 15-minute break, there was a wake up call.
“We won the second half of that game pretty easily. From there, we’ve played some good football,” Weinstein said. “They knew our backs were against the wall because we had already lost that game to St. David’s earlier. You come home from Southampton with a loss and we’re 1-2 in the league, we have some problems.”
They ended up winning that game, 31-14, and have won the three games since then as well.
“The practices have changed since then. We learned since that game that you have to focus during the week for that focus to come out during the game,” senior Zach Warrick said. “Everybody seemed more upbeat at practice. They weren’t waiting to go home.”
‘Kind of crazy’
As Weinstein pointed out on Thursday, much of the roster on this year’s Faith Christian football roster has enjoyed back-to-back rides to a state title in baseball in 2017 and 2018.
“They’re not any strangers to winning,” he said. They know how to win.”
But the facts still stick out: Two years ago, in November, 2016, there was no sign of a football team coming to the school. Now the seniors, most of which hadn’t played football before last season, will end their careers in the 8-man state title game, win or lose.
“It just shows you that time flies by. It feels like yesterday we were just having our first ever practice,” Pannell said. “And now we’re playing for a state championship this year. It’s been running through our minds every day, every minute.”
Has the situation soaked in yet?
“It’s still kind of crazy, the progress from the first day when everybody was scared to hit until now — it’s pretty impressive,” Warrick said. “It’s a bittersweet ending. We get to go out with a state title game and hopefully win it. But it’s also coming to an end. That’ll be the last time most of us play football. It’s bittersweet. It will be fun. It’ll be sad but it’ll be fun at the same time.”
