Dorchester – The Woodland High School Wolverines scored on their first drive of the football
game and then steadily pulled away as they opened Region 6 AA play with a 41-12 over
Ridgeland-Hardeeville at Homecoming on Friday.
The win improved their record to 6-0 on the season as they go on the road for what could be a
region championship showdown with Hampton County (7-1, 2-0) next week. The Jaguars fell to 3-4 and
0-2 as they head to Barnwell (4-3, 1-0) next week.
“I was pleased with how the offense played tonight, but we have to clean some things up on
defense heading into next week’s game,” said Woodland head coach Eddie Ford. “Hampton County
is a good football team, and we will have to play our best game of the season next week to beat them.
They like to run the ball and play physical football like we do,”
The 2023 Homecoming queen is SaQuanna “SaSa” Hill while first runner-up is Ayanna Brown
and second runner-up is Erin Carreira.
The Wolverines opened the scoring when Cooper Glazer hit Tyrell Sampson with a 19-yard
scoring strike. The extra point was no good and they led 6-0.
The Jaguars responded with an 80-yard, 11-play drive to tie the game at 6 when Maurice
Brown connected with Kam-Ren Wrice with a 20-yard touchdown pass. On the drive, Brown was
5-for-6 for 74 yards with Cordell McClain catching three of the passes for 54 yards.
Woodland needed one play to take the lead for good when Jaidyn “Juice” Gardner-Taylor
took a reverse handoff and raced around the right side and outran everyone for a 67-yard
touchdown. Erin Carreira added the extra point and the Wolverines led 13-6.
Woodland’s Ty’ree Edwards picked off a pass to stop the Jaguars' next possession. The
Wolverines then marched 73 yards in eight plays to push their lead to 20-6 when Glazer and
Sampson connected again, this time from 29 yards. Sampson went up over the Jaguar defender
to make a Sports Center type catch.
Ridgeland-Hardeeville would not go down easy as it put together a 12 play, 65-yard drive that
was capped when Brown scored from 10 yards out. The 2-point conversion was no good and
the Wolverine lead was still 20-12 going into the half. The big play on the drive was a
roughing-the-passer penalty that allowed the Jaguars to convert a fourth down.
The Wolverines opened the second half determined to put the game away as they stopped the
Jaguars on their first possession and then went 72 yards in four plays on the legs of Trace “TJ” Wright.
He carried the ball three times for 77 yards and a touchdown. The point after was good and the lead
was 27-12.
The Jaguars would move the ball consistently throughout the second half but were unable to
cross the goal line as Woodland would add two more scores.
“We have had trouble finishing drives all year. We must find a way to dig deeper and make plays
in key moments,’ said Jaguar head coach Rodney Barr.
The Wolverines' final two scores came on Sampson’s third score of the game, a 14-yard run, and
when backup quarterback Jervaz’e Salley hit Lavonte Farray with a 57-yard touchdown pass.
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