Woodlawn Seniors Shine in 49-13 Rout of Tara

Oct 18, 2017

Jerit Roser, www.datboot.com

Woodlawn was dominant from the onset Thursday en route to a sixth straight victory.

Xavier Lodge prepares for the snap versus Tara.

The Panthers’ defense immediately set the tone, and the offense exploded for its highest point total in more than a year in the 49-13 rout of visiting Tara (3-4, 0-2).

“That’s why we always defer,” coach Daniel Luquet said. “We want to get our defense on the field, because they’re the best part of our team right now. Not taking anything away from our offense. But when you’ve got the players we’ve got on our defense, you want to get them on the field and give an offense a sense of what they’re gonna be up against the rest of the night.

“We’ve really stressed turnovers because that’s the one thing this defense hasn’t really had a lot of is turnovers. Now the last two weeks we’ve gotten a couple here and there. And I’m telling you, when you’re playing that good of defense and you can turn the football over and give your offense a short field like we did tonight, we can be really good.”

Senior linebacker Anthony Arinze intercepted the Trojans’ second play from scrimmage and returned the ball 25 yards to the 6-yard line.

An offsides penalty brought Woodlawn to the 3-yard line, and senior running back Chris Middleton Jr. scored on first down.

“We knew it was gonna be pass all the way, so I dropped back in coverage and I don’t think the quarterback saw me,” Arinze smiled. “They had a lineman between me and the quarterback. All I saw was the ball come out, and I just went for it and tried to run around the corner and get an edge.”

Brian Byrd fires a pass against Tara.

The Panthers (6-1, 2-0) forced a three-and-out on Tara’s next possession, and senior quarterback Brian Byrd and the offense got quickly back to work again.

Woodlawn marched back down the field for a 12-yard touchdown from Byrd to senior Evin Puckett.

“Me and Brian’s relationship is very good,” Puckett said. “We’ve got good chemistry on and off the practice field. We just hook up and do good things and make big plays on the football field … We’re doing good.”

The defense continued to stifle Tara, other than occasional long runs by standout running back Chris Avery.

And Byrd and company used their opportunities to further extend the lead with second-quarter strikes to Puckett and junior Bryson Reaser.

“I feel good back there,” Byrd said. “From Week 1, things were kind of shaky and we didn’t have as much chemistry. But now, Week 7, I feel comfortable back there. We’ve got some playmakers on the outside. And my job is to just get them the ball.”

The Panthers pinned Tara deep in its own territory in the final minutes of the half and sacked the punter at the 2-yard line to regain possession and set up an immediate touchdown run by Xavier Lodge for the 35-0 halftime margin.

“It feels good,” said Lodge of his opportunities to help the team on both sides of the ball. “My mindset is to score. That’s how I feel. It feels good when I play both sides.”

Avery broke free for a long third-quarter touchdown to break the shutout.

But Woodlawn answered twice to further seal the contest.

A second short run by Lodge capped a 90-yard drive late in the third, and sophomore running back Ray Sierra burst 36 yards into the end zone to push the lead to 49-6.

And Jadarius Givens rushed for a late Tara score, but only after the contest was well out of reach.

“To me, the defense, we did excellent,” said senior defensive back Jonathan Scott, who intercepted a pass in the end zone and broke up multiple other attempts. “We’ve got little stuff to pick up and patches to fill. But other than that, we’re ready.”

Chris Middleton sheds a Tara defender.

Byrd completed 12 of 22 attempts for 166 yards — led by 53 on two passes to Puckett and 48 on three to Reaser — and ran four times for 18 yards.

Lodge and Middleton led the rushing attack with 87 and 77 yards, respectively, and Joshua London and Sierra added 37 and 36.

Woodlawn finished with 280 rushing yards and 195 passing yards, and the 49 points marked the team’s most since Sept. 16, 2016, at Lafayette.

The Panthers’ six-game win streak marks the program’s longest since claiming eight straight victories in 2010.

“We knew it was going to happen,” Lodge said. “We just had to build. Last year we had a lot of young players, but most of them are seniors this year, so we’re ready to rock and roll now.”

Panthers Roll in Homecoming Victory

Oct 11, 2017

The Woodlawn Panther football team was able to put aside all distractions from Homecoming Week festivities that led up to Thursday night’s game and come away with a victory over district foe St. Michael. The Panthers (5-1) were able to score 38 points and kept the Warriors out of the end zone until late in the fourth quarter, when the game was out reach and the Panthers were already guaranteed the victory.

Josh London and the Panther offense come off the field after his touchdown versus St. Michael on October 5, 2017.

The Panthers scoring started early in the first half, following an interception by senior defensive back Xavier Lodge. On third and eleven, the Warriors quarterback attempted to float a pass over the middle, and Lodge came down with the ball on the Warrior 38-yard line. Lodge returned the ball to the 6-yard line, setting up classmate Josh London for the touchdown run two plays later. Junior Jacob Barnes added the extra point attempt, and the Panthers led 7-0.

After forcing a punt, the Panther offense stalled, but Barnes was able to add to the lead with a 43-yard field goal, putting the Panthers up by the score of 10-0 with 4:24 to play in the first quarter. Woodlawn added its second touchdown of the quarter on senior quarterback Brian Byrd’s 40-yard scamper. After Barnes’ extra point attempt was true, the scoreboard read 17-0.

Woodlawn’s offense continued to click on all cylinders. The Panthers went back to the ground and scored on the second play of the second quarter from 36-yards out. This time senior Chris Middleton found the end zone, and Barnes PAT put the Panthers up by a commanding 24-0 lead. Woodlawn would reach pay dirt on one more occasion in the first half, when Byrd found junior wide receiver Bryant Jacob alone in the end zone for the score. The point after by Barnes made the score 31-0.

The Homecoming Court watches the Homecoming Game.

After receiving the second half kickoff, Woodlawn used eleven plays to score for the final time of the night. Lodge took the hand off from 35-yards out, racing untouched for the touchdown. Barnes once again added the extra point for the 38-0 Panther lead.

The Woodlawn offense totaled 281 yards in the Homecoming victory, with 187 yards coming on the ground. In total, five Panthers found the end zone during the night. The defense was once again dominant, shutting the visiting team out until under two minutes to play in the game. The defense also held the Warrior offense to 198 total yards.

Byrd led the Panther offense with 159 total yards, with 94 of those yards coming through the air. Byrd was responsible for a touchdown on the ground and through the air. Lodge added 47 yards on three carries, Middleton carried twice for 39 yards, and London had nine carries for 31 yards. Each added a touchdown on the ground.

Bryson Reaser had 61 yards receiving on one catch. Jacob caught the one pass for 14 yards and a touchdown, while Tyrell Smith had one reception for 11 yards. London added one catch for eight yards.

Cheerleaders show their support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Senior linebacker Talbot Daniels was extremely disruptive to the Warrior offense, totaling 11 tackles with a sack, tackle for loss, and sack.

The Panthers will be the visiting team despite playing at home versus Tara on Thursday, October 12.