The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes (8-1, 3-1) defeated the Woodland Wildcats on Friday night 31-6.

The Hurricanes offense didn’t look crisp and perhaps the Woodland defense deserves a lot of credit. The Wildcats intercepted Cartersville twice, blocked a field goal, and forced Cartersville into tough positions once it crossed into the Woodland side of the field. Cartersville’s defense answered the bell for the Canes Friday night as it put the first points on the board after forcing a safety in the first quarter.

Cartersville would do its scoring by ground with Khristian Lando scoring three times and Malachi Jeffries scoring once. The Canes also converted a 2-point conversion. Woodland scored its lone touchdown on a 99-yard kickoff return by Isaiah Livsey. Braylon Inman, Jamauri Brice and Collin Fletcher had an interception each for Cartersville, while Jaeden Smith and Brayden Pope had interceptions for Woodland.

While Cartersville certainly deserves praise for the win, it is equally important to note Woodland’s improvement over the course of the season. Many expected a relative thumping by the Canes over Woodland Friday night, but the Wildcats never relented and continued to fight until the final minutes of the game. While the final scores have not been what Woodland wanted, it’s hard to argue with the fight and effort displayed by the Wildcats this season.

Woodland will travel to Hiram next Friday night with kickoff set for 7:30. Cartersville will travel to Dalton next Friday night with kickoff set for 7:30. You can hear Cartersville and Dalton on WBHF with pregame coverage beginning at 6:00.