Woodward Academy 34, Decatur 7
Even minus its star running back, Woodward made it look easy.
With heavily recruited Elijah Holyfield sitting out the game, the Class AAAA No. 3 War Eagles used a balanced offense and suffocating defense to jump to an early lead and were never challenged, beating Decatur 34-7.
Woodward coach John Hunt said Holyfield, who is set to announce his college decision next week, didn’t have a serious injury but was held out as a precaution.
“Elijah got a little nicked up in the previous game,” Hunt said. “We just wanted to make sure he’s healthy. He could have gone; he wanted to go. It was a coach’s decision of mine. And he’s such a team player, he said, ‘That’s no problem at all, coach.’”
Holyfield or no Holyfield, it didn’t seem to much matter for the Eagles (1-0) in this one.
After just two possessions and less than 10 game minutes, Woodward was already ahead 17-0 on the strength of one lengthy touchdown drive, an interception returned for a score and a 38-yard field goal.
That first drive spanned 77 yards on 10 plays and ate more than 5 minutes off the clock before a key third-and-22 conversion set up first and goal, followed by a Max Richardson touchdown dive from the 1-yard line one play later.
Three plays from scrimmage after that, defensive back Jeffrey Hubbard jumped a sideline route and ran 35 yards to the end zone to make it 14-0 in the first quarter.
After falling behind 17-0, though, the Bulldogs (0-1) got their legs underneath them and started to look like they might get back into the game.
A second-quarter drive that took more than 6 minutes died at the Woodward 3-yard line, when Decatur couldn’t get to the 2 for a first down. But that backed the Eagles up and they had to punt, giving the ball back to the Bulldogs on the Woodward 41 with 2:01 left.
Decatur quickly worked its way back to the 18 with a first down, but a chop block penalty pushed the Bulldogs back to the 39, and they couldn’t recover.
The key play to both possessions for Decatur was a pass interference call in the end zone against Woodward, giving a boost to a Bulldog offense that often struggled to find its footing against a speedy Woodward defense.
Two quick third-quarter touchdowns for the Eagles effectively ended any threat Decatur may have had to get its first win against Woodward in four tries. After leading by only 17 at the half, it was exactly what Hunt was hoping he could see from his offense.
“That’s exactly what we talked about (at halftime),” Hunt said. “Just being methodical, running our offense. And we did that; we went down the field and did some good things. So that was really encouraging, coming out of the half.”
