Football Thursday Night: Woodland takes its lumps in coach Kevin Smith’s preseason debut
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Woodland quarterback Brayden Yates scored the team’s only touchdown in its 53-6 preseason loss to Beulah Thursday in Woodland.
If you were looking to put a positive spin on Woodland’s 53-6 preseason loss to Beulah Thursday you could say that in eight offensive possessions Woodland only punted once.
Of course that would be ignoring the fact that the Bobcats committed six turnovers and only managed to find the end zone one time.
It was not a pretty unofficial debut for Woodland under new head coach Kevin Smith, but some mitigating circumstances can help forgive the result and let the new head coach take the game for what it was – his first look at his new team in a competition setting.
In fact it was the first football competition for any Woodland players since last November. They did not play a spring game. They did not participate in any 7-on-7s or passing camps in the summer. The players were out there executing a brand new game plan under a brand new coach, and they were doing it against a solid 3A football team, and the rust showed.
While Beulah and quarterback Demarion Foreman looked relaxed, confident, efficient and generally in control, Woodland looked like a team desperately trying to reconnect with the positives that they built toward the end of last season.
The first quarter set the tone for the game as Beulah took its opening drive 70 yards on 12 plays to score a 7-0 lead. Woodland’s first play from scrimmage was a lost fumble on a handoff to senior running back David Noles.
Beulah capitalized on the turnover and scored on a 28-yard pass play to go ahead 13-0.
Woodland went three-and-out (that was the one punt) on the next possession and Beulah put the punctuation mark on the first quarter as Foreman scored on an 18-yard run as the horn sounded on the quarter.
In all Woodland ran three offensive plays in the first quarter to Beulah’s 25.
Trailing 20-0, Woodland was able to give a glimpse of the kind of drive that will surely become more common as the season goes on. The Bobcats converted a fourth-and-two from their own 38-yard line thanks to a strong run by Noles and that seemed to spark the offense. Yards came in steady chunks as Woodland crossed midfield for the first time. Then the big play – a 17-yard completion from Brayden Yates to Garrett Hendrix that pulled an additional 15 yards for an egregious horse-collar penalty against Beulah set Woodland up with a first-and-goal from the 8-yard line.
But a miscommunication on a handoff resulted in another lost fumble, killing that drive. Two plays later Foreman connected with tight end Hunter Brown on an 81-yard touchdown pass and Beulah led 27-0 late in the second quarter.
In all Woodland lost three fumbles, threw two interceptions and turned the ball over on downs once. Their lone touchdown came on a 19-yard touchdown run by Yates with 5:49 left in the third quarter. That cut the lead 34-6 at the time, but it was also the last play of the game for the Woodland starters.
Noles finished with 40 yards on six carries to lead Woodland, and Yates added 21 yards on five runs. Hendrix caught two passes for 27 yards.
Woodland will open the regular season next week against RCHS in Wedowee.
