With Woodstock marching toward what looked like its second consecutive long touchdown drive to start the game, Kell’s defense looked spent.
Turns out, the Longhorns were just getting started.
Kell’s defense held Woodstock to 73 yards and three late points after that initial burst, giving the offense time to complete the comeback in a 17-10 victory.
On its first possession, Woodstock (2-1), ranked No. 10 in Class AAAAA, put together a punishing 15-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by Tanner Skogen to give the Wolverines a 7-0 lead.
After a three-and-out by Class AAAA No. 6 Kell (3-0) Woodstock took the ball back and looked to be doing much of the same.
Nine plays into that second drive, the Wolverines had a first down at the Kell 41-yard line and had all the momentum. But a sack by Kell’s Nathan Lowman seemed to spark the Longhorn defense, leading to a 3-yard loss on the next play, followed by a 4-yard loss, and Woodstock’s offense never looked the same.
It seems Lowman’s burst into the backfield was just the lift the Kell defense needed to get going.
“I think we just woke up,” Kell coach Derek Cook said. “I’m not taking anything away from Woodstock; they’re a great team that’s very well-coached. They’re a very tough opponent. We were just in a little bit of a funk there. We needed a big play or a big hit or whatever it was on defense to spark it. Once that spark happened, we looked like we’re supposed to look.”
It took the offense a little longer to find its footing, but there was no surprise who made the big play when it did.
After tying the score late in the first half, the Longhorns got the ball back after a Woodstock fumble on the Wolverines’ 39-yard line.
On the second play, Tennessee commit Brian Randolph caught a pass on the left side, spun out of a tackle and sprinted to the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown that gave the Longhorns a lead they would not surrender.
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