A little reconnaissance work by the football staff has helped pump up the numbers and the enthusiasm for the football program at Woodland Cartersville.
Coach Tony Plott and his staff made it their mission to scour the halls and the roster of other spots and find potential players. In short order the numbers in the football program have gone from 40 to 105. And the Wildcats are now in the unusual position of making a run for the playoffs.
Since the program began in 1998, Woodland has made the playoffs just one time and that was all the way back in 1999 – when none of the players on the current roster were even born.
“Before the season started the kids made that a goal,” Plott said. “But we’ve got to remain focused. Our region is brutal.”
The top two teams in Region 7 are among the state’s best – No. 1 Rome (the two-time defending state champion) and No. 4 Carrollton.
Even the thought of playoff aspirations seemed silly when Plott took over the job in 2015 after he’d spent 11 years as an assistant at the school. Woodland was 1-9 and 0-10 those first two years. Last year things began to break the right way for the Wildcats, who won three games. This year the program is for the first time since 2000.
A couple of players recruited off the basketball team have helped. Jaylen Ballard is a 6-foot-2 senior cornerback who Plott said “has been unbelievable.” Dawson Wilkins, a junior, has played receiver and running back.
The team is led by the multi-talented Titus Jones, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior who is an outstanding defensive back and starts at quarterback. “He just flies down the field,” Plott said of Jones, who had to start at outside linebacker last week.
Woodland runs an old-school offense, operating out of T-formation with two tight ends. It helps to have a pair of outstanding runners in senior Justice Carter and junior Demarcus Williams.
“We knew we didn’t have the same kind of athletes as other schools and we had to do things different,” Plott said. “We try to do a good job running the football and carrying out our game plan.”
Carter already has rushed for 575 yards (despite playing less than a half against East Hall) and already has two 200-yard games. He ran 29 times for 205 yards last week in a win over Paulding County. Williams, who tweaked his ankle last week, ran 20 times for 105 yards against Paulding.
Other outstanding players on defense include junior cornerback Jaden Johnson, outside linebacker Seth Johnson (who has four interceptions) and outside linebacker Blake Cash.
Woodland will face a big test this week against Hiram (2-1), which has been invigorated by new coach Pete Fominaya. The loser will have a difficult time staying in the playoff picture.
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