War Eagles beat Godby, 35-34
The Wakulla War Eagles beat a high-ranked Godby team on Tuesday night, 35-34 – a game that Head Coach Derek Allen Jr. showed his team’s resiliency.
“They never quit,” he said. “Even down two scores in the fourth quarter, they didn’t seem like our guys showed any kind of doubt – they just kept fighting to the end.”
The War Eagles improve to 6-2 (2-0 in the district).
The game was postponed from Friday until Tuesday because of Hurricane Isaias. It was a chance for Godby to win the district crown as it had already beaten Suwannee and Baker. Instead, with Wakulla winning, the War Eagles can earn the district crown with a win over the Baker Wildcats on Friday night.
Coach Allen noted that if Wakulla loses to Baker this week, they may be out of the playoffs altogether as there would be a three-way tie and it would come down to MaxPreps rankings. Even with Wakulla beating Godby, Godby went up to a ranking of 35 on MaxPreps, while Wakulla didn’t break the Top 100.
On Sunday, Coach Allen said he sent an email to MaxPreps asking for an explanation.
And even if Wakulla wins the district crown on Friday night, the coach noted that it doesn’t guarantee a home game in the first round of the playoffs. With the rankings as they now stand, Wakulla could be forced to travel to Leon to play Godby again.
In the Godby game, the difference was one blocked extra point by the War Eagles. Special Teams Player of the Week Colby Carranza made all five points-after for Wakulla.
Godby got off to a quick start, with the opening kickoff taken to the 7, and scoring a couple of plays later to go up 7-0. Less than 45 seconds had run off the clock.
Wakulla mounted a long drive capped by a 5-yard run by Armon Lindsey.
Godby scored again as the first quarter ran down. The extra point was blocked, 13-7.
The War Eagles took their first lead of the night on a 6-yard Ryheem Moore run to go up 14-13.
In the second quarter, a Wakulla punt was blocked and recovered by Godby at the 10. They scored on a touchdown pass. The Cougars then went for 2 and didn’t make it. Score at halftime, 19-14.
In the third, an interception by Godby was returned for a touchdown. The Cougars go for 2 and made it. Score is 27-14.
Ryheem Moore scored another touchdown on a 15-yard run. Extra point cut Godby’s lead to 27-21.
But Godby scored again to go up 34-21 as the third quarter ended.
In the fourth, down two scores, the War Eagles scored again on a Moore run to pull within 6 points, 34-28, with 7 minutes to play.
The kickoff by Carranza was short, muffed by a Godby up-man, and recovered by Wakulla at the Godby 33.
Coach Allen said it wasn’t an intentional onside kick, but he felt momentum change then. Godby players hung their heads.
On the ensuing drive, Moore got his fourth touchdown on the night, taking it in from the 2. up 35-34 with 4:53 to play, the War Eagle defense forced Godby to three-and-out and Wakulla got the ball back with just over 2 minutes to play. They got a first down and then ran out clock.
Moore was Overall Player of the Week with his four touchdowns. He had 71 yards on 13 carries, as well as 5 receptions for 53 yards.
Offensive Player of the Week was CJ Whitehead, a blocking fullback who doesn’t get a lot of attention. But Coach Allen called Whitehead an “unsung hero,” and noted he had a couple of pancake blocks in the game.
Defensive Player of the Week was lineback Ced Hicks, with 5 tackles, an interception and 2 sacks.
Running back Armon Lindsey had 118 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown.
Quarterback Ashton Brooks went 10-for-14 passing for 90 yards.
Linebacker Rayshon St. Hilaire had 9 tackles in the game. And Ryheem Moore had 7 tackles on defense playing safety.
The game was also notable in that Jaylen Jones, who leads the War Eagles in rushing, was unable to play with a torn meniscus from earlier in the week and is out for the season. He had surgery the day after the Godby game.
Coach Allen noted that Jones is a commit to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks and will be starting at the college in January.
UP NEXT:
BAKER WILDCATS
Scouting on Baker shows a physical team, with no stars that stand out, just a group of players who play hard.
For Wakulla, Coach Allen says his player have to be more physical than Baker, take care of the ball, and capitalize on the Wildcats mistakes.
The game is being played at Glen St. Mary in Baker County – giving the Wildcats a home field advantage with their home crowd.
“We need our fans to show up,” Coach Allen said.
Last week: The War Eagles got a win over district rival Godby to potentially win the district.
Scouting: The Baker Wildcats are physical. No big stars, just guys who play hard.
Key to victory: War Eagles need to out-physical the Wildcats and capitalize on Wildcat mistakes, while not giving up any turnovers.