The Woodland Hawks entered their second to last game feeling like they needed to prove something. As they had two games left, one against Kennedy and one against Seymour, they knew they only had a few chances left to win. Kennedy had defeated Sacred Heart with a score of 46-8. Meanwhile, Sacred Heart defeated Woodland 67-28. On the other side, Seymour beat Torrington, Naugatuck, St. Paul, Oxford, and Sacred Heart, all teams that Woodland has lost to this season.
Looking at pre-game observations, it had appeared that Woodland would have a winless season. However, it would be a mistake to count those Hawks out just yet; they came up with a 40-20 victory against the Kennedy Eagles.
The Eagles were coming off of a huge 46-8 win victory. They planned on bringing that momentum into the game against an inexperienced Hawks team. However, these Hawks were ready.
With Kennedy at a record of 4-4 before this game and Seymour, who is currently 7-2, the Hawks knew that their last chance of winning may have come against Kennedy.
Quincy Koch had 3-4 pass completions, the best pass completion percentage all season. Two of these receptions went to Isaac Negron for a total of 17 yards and the third pass went to Scott Lawrence for a 19 yard reception. Koch passed for a total of 36 yards. The Hawks did the most damage on the ground where they were able to score a total of 6 rushing touchdowns. However, this ground and pound game would not have been successful if it wasn’t for key blocks up front by the offensive line. The offensive line has been working hard all season to improve and these young players are finally putting that work into play.
The offensive player of the game, however, was Running Back Tom Smith. Smith rushed for an impressive 254 yards in the game, the most by any Hawk Running Back this season. Smith had two rushing touchdowns, one of which went for a 66 yards. Another weapon used in this ground attack was none other than Senior Running Back Isaac Negron. Negron has continued to add to his career stats this season as he had a total of 135 yards and 2 touchdowns. Quincy Koch was also very effective with the wheels as he motored into the end zone for 2 of his own touchdowns and he ran for a total of 64 yards.
Defensively, Seniors Scott Lawrence and Isaac Negron led in tackles. Scott Lawrence had 9, one of which was a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, and Negron had a total of 7. Sophomore Edit Krivca also had a huge pass deflection that helped keep the Eagles’ offense off balance. Scott Lawrence and Carter Amore both had fumble recoveries that really hurt the Eagles when they were trying to pick up first downs.
The Hawks will play their annual Thanksgiving game against Seymour. This game will also be the Hawks’ Senior Night as all five seniors will be involved in the pre-game ceremonies. Woodland will look to carry the momentum of their first win into this game as they are taking on an opponent who is coming off of a 54-0 blowout victory.
