The Woodland Wildcats (3-4, 2-3) knew they had their cut out for them on Friday night against the Paulding County Patriots, who won in the final seconds of regulation 35-34.

Woodland was set to kick the ball off to begin the game, but coach Tony Plott dialed up an onside kick, which Woodland recovered. Brody Williams would toss a 30-yard touchdown pass two plays later and Woodland would lead 7-0 in the first quarter.

Paulding County would answer with a touchdown pass of its own, but Woodland had more offense in the tank. Kaison Williams rushed for a 9-yard touchdown run to give Woodland a 14-7 lead with just under three minutes left in the first quarter.

What would Woodland do next?

The Wildcats again attempted an onside kick and again recovered it. Demarcus Williams would then make it three Woodland touchdowns in the first quarter as he would take it in from eight yards out to give Woodland a 21-7 lead.

It was much of the same in the second quarter, as Brody Williams would get his second rushing touchdown of the game on a 5-yard scamper to go up 28-7.

But Paulding County wasn’t going away. The Patriots would score before the half and score again off a Woodland fumble at midfield to cut into the lead 28-21 with 8:07 left in the third quarter. But Woodland wasn’t backing down. The Wildcats scored again, this time Brody Williams connected with Demarcus Williams on a 12-yard touchdown pass to give the Wildcats at 34-21 lead after a blocked PAT.

The Woodland defense would hold strong for the second half, but the Patriots would score again on a 3-yard touchdown pass with 2:57 left in the game. The Wildcats got the ball back in the fourth quarter up 34-28 with 2:52 left in the game. The Wildcats’ drive would stall and the Patriots would take over on their own 44-yard line with 1:48 left trailing by six.

The Patriots would connect on a 7-yard touchdown pass on 4th and goal to give the Patriots a 35-34 last-minute win over Woodland.

Woodland will hit the road to East Paulding next week with a chance to remain playoff eligible with kickoff set for 7:30 PM.