Woodbridge defeated Laurel 6-0 Photo courtesy of BF Imagery
Laurel – The irresistible force met the immovable object, for fans of defensive football they got a treat on Friday night. The Woodbridge Blue Raiders and Laurel Bulldogs came in the game undefeated in an anticipated showdown before a large crowd that filled the bleachers and surrounded the fence at Schollenberger Field at Laurel High School.
In the end it was an 85 yard touchdown pass from Seth Smart to Lextyn Wescott midway through the fourth quarter that gave Woodbridge a 6-0 road victory.
“Well anytime you can go to the house of a 4-0 team and get a win it’s very satisfying. The boys played tough all night,” Woodbridge head coach Marvin Dooley said.
Neither team could mount an offensive drive in the first quarter. Woodbridge would reach the red zone first early in the second quarter after a fourth down and five from the Laurel 27 yard line, when Smart threw a pass as he was going to the ground connecting with Wescott who caught the pass the spun out of a tackle and took the ball down to the one yard line.
On the next play Kenny Newton took the snap from the wildcat formation, but the Laurel defense stiffened forcing a fumble at the goal line, Evan Collins recovered the fumble at his own one yard line as Laurel averted an early scoring attempt by Woodbridge.
After a scoreless first half both teams continued their offensive struggles into the second half trading punts and turnovers. The game had nine total turnovers, Woodbridge with six and Laurel with three. Neither team was able to capitalize on the turnovers or field position for three and half quarters.
“This was an awful game for in turnovers, the good things about this is it shows the fight are boys have to overcome so much adversity and to have a relentless attitude to keep grinding,” Dooley said.
Woodbridge finally capitalized when Jordan Evans intercepted Kaden Shockley’s pass at the five yard line and returned it to the Woodbridge 15 yard line. That would lead to the game’s lone score as Wescott made a leaping catch at his own 42 yard line then raced to the middle of the field then cut back to his right to elude two defenders and raced into the endzone. The conversion attempt failed and Woodbridge led 6-0 with 5:18 to play in the game.
“The play was great for a few reasons. The pressure Smart faced, the catch and run Lex made in a pressure situation,” Dooley said.
Wescott caught four passes for 150 yards, while Smart completed six of nine passes for 157 yards a touchdown and two interceptions. Newton led the Blue Raiders on the ground carrying the ball 20 times for 49 yards.
Javier White had 20 yards on ten carries, caught two passes for 27 yards and had two interceptions on defense for Laurel.
The Bulldogs drop to 4-1 on the season and will return to Class A play next week when they travel to Odessa in a District 2 matchup. The Ducks are 2-3 so far this season.
Woodbridge improves to 5-0 and will host Caravel Academy (5-0) in a Class AA District 3 showdown on Friday night.
