BEACON FALLS — Just 39 seconds into Woodland’s game against Watertown last Friday the Hawks forced their first turnover of the night. The Indians fumbled the ball on the second play from scrimmage into the arms of the Hawks on a chilly night in the driving rain.
It was sign of things to come as Woodland’s defense dominated Watertown all night and the Hawks cruised to a 40-7 win.
Watertown (1-3) had trouble moving the ball on Woodland’s home field. The first time the Indians crossed midfield was halfway through the second quarter. The Hawks (2-2) forced three turnovers, one fumble and an interception each for captains Sean McAllen and Coby Vacarelli, on their way to a first half shut out.
The Indians were held scoreless until 14.5 seconds remained in the third quarter after most of the Hawks starters were on the sidelines.
Woodland played well in all phases of the game despite the nasty weather to get back on track after two consecutive losses.
“It was a very big win for the program. It was a gut check for us; the last six quarters of football that we have played we have gotten manhandled. We had to swallow our pride a little bit. We challenged the players this week to, if nothing else, give their best effort, to put their best foot forward, and play with some pride. That’s what made us most proud at the end regardless of the scoreboard. They certainly rose to the occasion,” head coach Chris Anderson said.
The Hawks had plenty to be proud of last Friday night as they only had one third down play in the first half, which they converted, to put up 33 first half points to pair with a stifling defense.
“Our base run plays I think we executed fairly well. I think up front defensively we held our own and didn’t get pushed around this week. It was really the difference in the game, the defensive line and the way we executed on offense,” Anderson said.
The Hawks executed those run plays to the tune of 383 yards on the ground. McAllen accounted for 252 of those yards on 11 carries.
With that performance, McAllen broke Jack Debiase’s all-time career rushing record. McAllen has amassed 3,693 career rushing yards on just 490 carries. He broke the previous record on 61 fewer rushing attempts making his career yards per attempt a whopping 7.5.
“We talked about how although his name will hold the record; it’s a credit to all the people who have blocked for him over the last three years and coaches that have coached him. It’s a full team effort,” Anderson said.
One of the players blocking on the offensive line for McAllen on his record-breaking night had never done so before. David Bobbie, a senior running back until last week, made his debut at right guard for the injury-stricken Hawks’ O-line replacing sophomore Joe Kmetz.
“He literally practiced for three days and we ran to his side most of the night. He never practiced at guard before. It’s not easy for a kid to move from a skill position to line as a senior right in the middle of the season. It is a very unselfish act on his part. That’s what we want our program to be about,” Anderson said.
Bobbie was a valuable asset at running back and is in the top ten all time for Woodland in both rushing yards and attempts.
Bobbie did a good job in his first start, not only opening running lanes, but protecting freshman quarterback Zach Bedryczuk, who was turnover free in the victory. Bedryczuk finished 3-for-4 for 64 yards.
“I thought he did some really nice things for us, under those weather conditions, freshman, cold hands, he was able to execute the center quarterback exchange all night long, threw some great passes, another touchdown pass for him. We like what he is doing,” Anderson said.
Bedryczuk’s touchdown pass went for 49 yards to McAllen, who also added three rushing scores of 51, 66 and 82 yards.
Vacarelli scored his first touchdown on a 23-yard scamper and sophomore Ben Nuss also had a touchdown run for Woodland. The lone score for the Indians was a rushing touchdown by Jaylen Arline in the third quarter.
Anderson realizes that this win was much needed saying, “Our backs were against the wall. It’s always nice to come in after a win and get back to work rather than after a loss. It’s easy to believe when you’re winning but when you’re getting slaughtered a young kid could easily say ‘I’m done with all this hard work, for what?’ But they stayed the course and to their credit they continued to believe and work hard. Building your team as the season goes and I thought that we became a stronger team Friday night. Not just because of the win, but I think the kids realized it was a must-perform night and they rallied around each other and hustled and did all the little things that are necessary.”
Anderson knows there is still room for improvement.
“We talk about basic team improvement from week to week. Overcoming whatever adversities there are, position changes or injuries and getting better at what we are doing and not focusing exclusively on our opponent, which of course you have to somewhat. Our opponent really is ourselves and being better at everything we are doing,” Anderson said.
The Hawks will take on Holy Cross (2-1) at Municipal Stadium Friday at 6:30 p.m. to try to add another W in the win column.
