The Woodland Wildcats found themselves down 14-0 before the first quarter could end, but that didn’t stop the resilient football from getting its first 4-0 start in program history with a 26-21 thriller over Paulding County.
Woodland allowed a Patriot touchdown on the opening drive, but the heart-wrenching things that happened to the Wildcats were two kickoff returns called back for infractions. Woodland would start a drive and get into Paulding County territory, but a Demarcus Williams fumble would be picked up and scored for a 77-yard touchdown for the Patriots.
That was enough of that. Justice Carter scored to cap off a 91-yard drive to put Woodland behind by just one possession at the end of the half.
On its second drive in the third quarter, Williams would cap off another long touchdown drive with his short run into the end zone to tie things up at 14. The Patriot offense was up to the challenge, however, and scored on its next possession.
In the fourth quarter, Carter would again finish off a long Woodland drive with a touchdown run. The Wildcats had a decision to make and Coach Tony Plott decided to go for two. The conversion failed and Woodland was trailing 21-20 with three minutes left in the game.
Resilience.
Ronny Ramirez lined up for the onside kick. With everything looking bleak, the Wildcats recovered it. To put a finishing touch to the game, Homecoming King Titus Jones scored from nine yards out to give Woodland a 26-21 lead. A failed 2-point conversion and stalled Paulding County drive later, the Wildcats walked away 4-0. Possibly more important, the Wildcats are 2-0 in region play.
Woodland will look to build off its strong start with a game on the road next week against the Hiram Hornets at 7:30.