Wolverines Hang On, 29-22
On Saturday afternoon, Woodside's players experienced something they'd never felt before in their careers, something that had happened just once before in the school's 12-year history. If the Wolverines have their way, it won't be their last first of the season.
Aaron Evans scored two touchdowns and plunged for a game-winning first down in the final minute as the Wolverines held off a late charge by Hampton, 29-22, at Darling Stadium, Woodside's first win over the Crabbers since 2002.
"Fight, fight, fight!" Evans said of his team's mentality. "Use your heart and play to the whistle! We just wanted to win. I hear all the talk in the paper about Hampton and Phoebus every year, and I think we just made a statement."
The Wolverines started speaking loudly about five minutes into the game, when Jarrell Cooper caught a pass from Evans and raced 70 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the Hampton two. Evans jumped over center to score.
The voices kept yelling; less than five minutes later, Evans lobbed a 30-yard strike to Cooper to reach the Crabber 20. On the next play, Marquis Frazier charged through the left side of the line, then spun back toward the center and barreled all the way to the endzone.
"I knew I had to do something with the ball, and make a big play," Frazier said. "We're letting everybody know we're making noise in the Peninsula District. Hampton's a pretty good team, so we had to keep on fighting."
Dion Futch returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards into Woodside territory, but the Crabbers couldn't get a first down, and the Wolverines regained possession with under a minute to play.
Facing a third-and-eight near midfield, Evans hit Brandon Burton over the middle to reach the Hampton 24, and Frazier rumbled to the 11. Evans and Cooper churned out nine rushing yards in two plays, and Evans finished things with another two-yard dive.
Things kept going wrong for Hampton. David Watford threw a pair of passes to Monte Haney to reach the Woodside 12, and he and Futch ran to the seven. But a delay of game penalty pushed the Crabbers back to the 12, and Watford was tackled for a one-yard loss on third down. He threw a screen to Haney on fourth, but Haney could only make it to the 11, and Woodside took over.
The Crabbers got the ball back, but Frazier picked off Watford at midfield to end the half with a 21-0 lead.
"Our coaches told us that big things would happen," Evans said, "good things, bad things, but to keep our heads in the game."
Hampton proved the coaches right just over four minutes into the third quarter; on the second play of a drive, Watford lobbed a pass down the right side to Futch, who outran the Wolverine defense for a 65-yard score.
Woodside punted again, and Watford and Futch re-connected on first down, this time for 68 yards to the Woodside 16. But the Wolverine defense knocked the Crabbers back six yards and forced a pair of incompletions, and Cooper intercepted Watford in the endzone.
Undaunted, Hampton got the ball back to start the fourth quarter, and Futch rushed four times for 27 yards to reach the Woodside seven. Three plays later, Watford got in from a yard out, and Futch charged through the Woodside defense for a two-point conversion to make it 21-15.
Evans went back to work, hurling a 22-yarder to Cooper to get into Hampton territory. A few minutes later, Frazier rushed 16 yards to the Crabber nine, and Cooper went through the right side for a touchdown. Evans made it through for the two-pointer, and the Wolverines were ahead 29-15 with just over four minutes left.
But just as Woodside started to celebrate, Futch corralled a squibbed kickoff at Hampton's 35 and roared through a line of Wolverines, charging all the way to the endzone. On extra point later, the Crabbers were down by seven with 3:58 on the clock.
On first down at his own 10, Frazier rushed three yards. Terrance Tucker took a handoff on the next play, but Kimbrough Parker broke through the line and nabbed him for a one-yard-loss.
Eight yards from a first down, Burton caught a screen pass and made it 12 yards to the Woodside 24. Evans made it to the 32 on first down, but a holding penalty knocked the Wolverines back to the 18.
As chants of "Woodside! Woodside!" rolled through the Wolverine sideline and bleachers, Frazier charged 13 yards on the next play, and Evans made one more first down, reaching the 34 to ensure the win.
With a solid win down, the Wolverines will be looking to make school history later in the year, such as their first win over Phoebus, commonly seen as the "other" district powerhouse.
"Only two or three teams have beaten Hampton in the past 10 years, and we've done it twice," said Woodside coach Danny Dodson. "The first game's always important. You always like to get off on a good start, and beating a quality team like Hampton is a good way to start."
Hampton will go for its first win of the season next Friday against Gloucester at Darling, while Woodside faces Maury the next afternoon at Todd.
