JOURNAL SPORTS
There wasn’t a highlight reel of plays produced from Thursday night’s Northwood-Woodlawn jamboree football contest at Jerry Burton Stadium.
The Falcons prevailed 14-8, with the Knights getting the brightest highlight on a fourth-down touchdown play by Brandon Henderson, who leaped above a couple defenders in the back of the end zone to snag an Isaiah Kennedy pass from about 30 yards out.
“He may be the best athlete in the city, and hardly anybody knows about him. He sure looked like it on that play,” said Northwood coach Austin Brown.
The catch and a two-point conversion moved Woodlawn up 8-0. Northwood pulled within 8-7 by halftime, and notched the decisive TD later.
Otherwise, fans saw a fairly solid performance by both teams.
“It was a good night. Pretty uneventful. We didn’t get to run too many plays because they were huddling and taking their time running their offense, which worked against us,” said Brown.
“We were good on pre-snap penalties – we had none. We had no major issues like that which usually crop up at this time of the year. Defensively we played well, but we just got out-athleted a couple times,” said Brown. “We were live in special teams and had no problems.”
The Falcons’ new starting quarterback, Hutson Hearron, went 10 for 14 for 148 yards. He didn’t throw a TD pass and was intercepted once, but Brown said it wasn’t his QB’s fault.
“We were just throwing the ball up so we don’t count that as an interception. It is one, but that one was on the coaches, not Hutson,” he explained.
Jalil Wainwright caught three passes for 78 yards. John Sneed ran for a touchdown and had 64 total yards. Defensively, the Falcons’ leader was Elijah Crawford with seven tackles.
“We didn’t make a big jump from the scrimmage (last week) but we did take a small step or two, so we’re pleased with tonight,” Brown said.
Northwood kicks off the regular season at home next Friday night against Benton.
Woodlawn is also at home for its opener, hosting Natchitoches Central next Friday.
