Woodland High's Cambrell Turner (6) bursts through the Forsyth Central secondary on his way to score one of four touchdowns he made against the Bulldogs on Friday night. Woodland won its first game of the season at the Cumming school.
SKIP BUTLER/The Daily Tribune News
It was the first win of the season for Woodland, which had carried an 0-4 Region 7-AAAA record into its contest against Forsyth Central, which was 0-3 on the year in the same region.
Leading the Wildcats offensively was Cambrell Turner, who rushed 11 times for 202 yards and four touchdowns.
"Our kids have worked so hard the past two weeks and they almost did it last week," head coach Steve Hamilton said. "I'm glad they got to see something come of all their work."
He said going for two points in overtime simplified the game: "You go for two points and you either win or you lose."
Hamilton added the decision to give the ball to quarterback Ashton Shelton (2-4-1 for 13 yards, 2 carries, 21 yards) to go for the two-point conversion in overtime was easy: "I asked him what he wanted to do and he said, 'Give me the ball, coach.' He's a special kid. He's such a complete player for us."
The Wildcats, who rushed for 278 yards out of a total of 291, came from behind repeatedly throughout the game as their mettle was sorely tested by Forsyth Central, which grabbed 334 of its 401 yard total through its ground attack.
The Bulldogs' first series opened at the 20 and they used seven running plays and two pass completions to move the ball across midfield to the Woodland 24, where they punted to the 15 while using almost half of the quarter.
Woodland went three and out and the Bulldogs started their next drive from their 28. They made seven yards on one carry, then Alex Taylor (29 carries, 234 yards, four touchdowns) ran off left tackle 65 yards and Central was up 7-0 after the PAT was made, with 3.38 left in the first quarter.
Woodland was intercepted seconds later, after setting up on its own 38.
Central took six plays and just under three minutes for Taylor to score on a 37-yard run. The PAT was missed and Central held a 13-0 lead.
Woodland responded by running the Central kickoff to their own 38. Eight consecutive runs, the last one a 9-yard burst by Shelby Townsend (6 carries, 26 yards, one touchdown) put the Wildcats on the scoreboard. Their two-point attempt failed and Central held a 13-6 lead with 8:52 left in the second period.
Woodland stalled the next Central drive and started its own at the Wildcat 32. Shelton handed off to Cambrell Turner, then faked a handoff to Twan Terrell and both rambled around the right side. Meanwhile Turner got tangled up with a Central defender and then found a crease and rambled downfield for a 68-yard score. This time the two-point PAT was good and Woodland held a tenuous 14-13 lead with 4:55 left in the half.
Central went three plays and Woodland stopped Taylor on the fourth play and took over at the home team's 26.
Turner scored his second touchdown of the game on the drive's second play, as he found the end zone after a 27-yard run. The two-point try failed and Woodland was up 20-13 at the half.
The Bulldogs contained the Wildcats' first drive of the second half and took over on the Woodland 40, where it took five plays for Taylor to find the end zone at the end of a 23-yard run.
On the PAT, the Bulldog holder picked up the ball to avoid a block, then fired it into the end zone where it was tipped by a Wildcat into the hands of a Central receiver, giving the home team a 21-20 lead.
Woodland fumbled the first play of its next series and Central passed once and ran twice to take a 28-20 lead with almost seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Both teams moved the ball the next 20 minutes but it was not until Woodland stopped a Central drive near midfield and took over on its own 10 with 3:48 left in the game that things got serious.
Woodland advanced the ball to the 31, then Turner ran off the right side for a 69-yard score, bringing the Wildcats to 28-26.
On the two-point try, Shelton faked a handoff to Terrell (7 carries, 25 yards) and raced around the Bulldogs to knot the score at 28-all.
Central took the kickoff with 2:11 showing, then marched slowly downfield, recovering its own fumble at the Woodland 28, then attempted a 41-yard field goal that thumped against the left goal post before ricocheting away in the final play of the regulation game.
Central got the ball first in overtime, with Taylor scoring from 11 yards out and the Bulldogs taking a 35-28 lead after the PAT was made.
Turner carried once and scored in overtime, then Shelton scored two points for the Wildcat victory.
Coach Hamilton called Woodland's win a team effort.
"Our defense made the stops when they had to," he said.
Another big factor was the play of Terrell.
"Twan has just gotten better and he was a big factor for us tonight," Hamilton said. "When Cambrell (Turner) scored (68 yarder) in the first half, give the credit to Twan. We faked it to him and they had to respect him.
"He's performed very well for us."
Woodland has a bye week and returns to the gridiron on Oct. 8 when it plays the Chattahoochee Cougars.
1 2 3 4 OT F
WOO 0 20 0 8 8 36
FCE 13 0 15 0 7 35
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Quarter
FCE -- Alex Taylor 65-yd run (Donavan Pritzlaff kick), 3:38
FCE -- Taylor 27-yd run (kick failed), 0:42
2nd Quarter
WOO -- Shelby Townsend 9-yd run (conversion failed), 8:52
WOO -- Cambrell Turner 68-yd run (conversion good), 4:55
WOO -- Turner 27-yd run (conversion failed), 2:51
3rd Quarter
FCE -- Taylor 23-yd run (Pritzlaff kick), 6:53
FCE -- J.T. Locke 27-yd run (conversion good), 5:05
4th Quarter
WOO -- Turner 69-yd run (conversion good), 2:17
Overtime
FCE -- Taylor 11-yd run (Pritzlaff kick)
WOO -- Turner 15-yd run (conversion good)
TEAM STATS
WOO FCE
1st downs 5 11
Rushes-yds 27-278 61-334
Passing yds 13 67
Comp-Att-Int 2-4-1 8-13-0
Total yds 291 401
Penalties 3-19 8-45
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Punts-yds 4-147 5-187