By Bernard W. Carr
The Woodbridge varsity football team managed to leave the field with a thrilling one point victory over an upstate rival in Friday’s first home game of the season at the Woodbridge Sports Complex in Greenwood. The Raiders’ senior linebacker King Peden, tackled Wilmington Friend’s senior running back Cooper Strauss just mere inches from the goal line on a two-point conversion attempt.
The Raiders’ defense had a difficult time most of the night stopping the 210 pound player as he finished the game with 111 rushing yards. The successful tackle by Peden allowed Woodbridge to escape the game with a 7-6 win.
Peden said about his game winning play, “I was thinking, if I don’t make this play and stop Strauss, this game will be over and we lose.”
Woodbridge running back Malachi Hayes follows his blockers to a 31-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Hayes finished the game with 41 rushing yards and two tackles on defense.
Strauss had scored earlier on a one-yard run to score his team’s first touchdown of the evening with only 37:1 left on the clock in the fourth quarter. Both of the aforementioned players not only were major contributors on offense, but were stalwarts on defense as Peden ended with a game-high 16 tackles, and Strauss finished with 12 tackles.
The game right away turned into a defensive battle and neither team could muster much offense in the first quarter as it ended with no score. The Raiders started the second quarter with possession on the 19 yard-line after receiving two consecutive penalties. With 11:55 on the clock, Woodbridge senior quarterback Ryan Scott connected on a pass with Peden for a 46-yard gain.
At the 10:09 mark, Woodbridge senior running back Malachi Hayes rushed 31 yards untouched to the end zone to score the game’s first touchdown. Hayes finished the night leading the Raiders in rushing with 41 yards. Woodbridge junior kicker Evan Woodall kicked what turned out to be the game winning extra point. The Raiders led 7-0, and the lead remained at half-time.
The third quarter saw intense defensive pressure from both teams, with neither threatening to score. At the 10:45 mark, Woodbridge sophomore defensive back Christian Artson intercepted a pass on the 36 yard-line, which was the game’s first turnover. However, Woodbridge was unable to capitalize and punted the ball away to Wilmington Friends with 1:30 left.
The Raiders entered the fourth quarter with possession after a huge gain from senior running back Tyler Eley to the one yard line. On the next play, a mishap occurred and the Raiders fumbled the ball at the 9:38 mark with Wilmington Friends recovering at the 14 yard -line. It was the only turnover in the game for Woodbridge.
With the turnover, Wilmington Friends seemed to gain momentum and marched downfield to score their only touchdown of the game with 37.1 left in the game. After Wilmington Friends failed to convert on the two-point conversion attempt, they executed an onsides kick that was recovered by Woodbridge senior tight-end Jabril Neal.
After the 7-6 victory, head coach Marvin Dooley addressed his team, “I’m happy with a win, it was an ugly win but I’ll take it. It’s hard winning high school football games, so enjoy this one. Defensively, we must have been on the field half of the game. We could’ve quit and lost when they scored, but we held our own. There were a lot of positives, so stick with it and we’ll get better. We’re 1-1, our goals are still there, but we got to find some offense.”
The two teams entered the game with two wins each since Dooley took over the program five years ago. Dooley classified Wilmington Friends as rivals and further stated, “This game is going to be a big one. Our game plan is pound and ground.”
Woodbridge gained 132 total yards to 195 for Wilmington Friends. Woodbridge travels to face the Sussex Central Knights on Friday, Sept. 12 in Georgetown
