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Victorious and valiant efforts
The Bears trailed 7-0 early in the second quarter before Joe Fields scooped up a fumble and tossed it back to linebacker Chris Weaver for a game-changing 76-yard touchdown. The play totaled 93 yards with Fields carrying it the first 17 before pitching to Weaver for the final 76. Neither team was able to score in the first quarter as both defenses dominated early. Woodland got on the board in the second quarter with a 64 yard touchdown drive that ended when Trae Strain found Brandon Nunn on a 9-yard touchdown on a half back pass with 9:28 to go in the first half. On the ensuing possession for the Bears, Ronald Bracey fumbled the football that was recovered by Woodland’s Brandon Nunn at the Leroy 41-yard line. The Bobcats looked as if they were going to add to their 7-0 lead as they drove to the 7-yard line after the turnover. But on first and goal from the seven yard, Trae Strain had the ball stripped by Leroy’s Joe Fields. Fields returned the ball 17 yards and before being tackled pitched it to teammate Chris Weaver who took it the final 76 yard to the house for the touchdown. The play is a Super 6 record for the longest return in the history of the Super 6. Paul Gartman missed the point after but the Bears had snatched all the game’s momentum and pulled within 7-6 at halftime. Joe Fields talked about his big play after the game to the press. “I thought I was going all the way. I heard him (Weaver) call my name and was going to go on about my business, but as soon as I felt home boy catch up to me, we (Weaver) made eye contact and I pitched it to him.” The Bears took their first possession in the second half and marched 75 yards in 6:14 to take a 12-7 lead. Leroy running back Ronald Bracey and the offensive line took over for the Bears on the drive. On first down, Bracey sprinted 29 yards to set the tone for the drive. Bracey finished the drive later on with a 6-yard touchdown run to give the Bears the lead for good. Bracey rushed for 96 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries and was awarded the Most Valuable Player award after the game. Woodland was never able to score again as the stingy Leroy defense shut the Bobcats out in the second half. Leroy was led on defense by Jhared McCleary with 10 tackles. Coach Danny Powell had this to say about his teams’ defensive performance and overall effort. “ These were two really good defensive teams going at it. Our defense came up with two big plays to score one touchdown and set up another, and we ran just enough to keep us in the game.” “Our kids played hard and believed in each other. Our goal from day one was to play for a state championship, and these kids worked hard and did all that was asked of them.” “We had a lot of poor field position. It seems like we got the ball on the 20 every time and gave it to them on the 40.” Coach Larry Strain had this to add about the game. “ This was a very defensive game. They made it tough for us to move the ball. We couldn’t move it running and had to rely on the pass. The turnover early was huge. We had opportunities once or twice to answer, but we never could get anything going” “Our defense has played well, so we felt like we were in it until the end.” Strain said.
The Bears finished the season 13-2 and Woodland finished off at 12-2.
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