By PRESTON EDWARDS, Journal Sports

Homecoming is usually a festive time for the home team during a football season.  The fun-filled week more times than not includes a full slate of student activities and dress down days and ends with alumni tailgating at the game. For Woodlawn, coach Thedrick Harris held the belief that THIS homecoming game meant more than that. 

“Playoff implications are at stake,” said Harris earlier this week.

“We are also playing for another victory. That is our goal this week.”

The Northwood Falcons had some important implications riding on this game as well.  A win would give them a shot at a share of the district title against North DeSoto next week, so they needed to come out and play with a sense of urgency.

They did. Northwood’s passing attack and defense overwhelmed Woodlawn Friday night at Independence Stadium in a surprising 48-18 District 1-4A blowout.

It was 42-6 Falcons before Woodlawn’s homecoming court was presented at halftime.

On the first possession, the Falcons offense played like their playoff lives depended on it.  Hutson Hearron opened the night with a pair of completions, the second a 53-yard touchdown strike to Tucker McCabe.  After just 41 seconds of play, the Falcons were up 6-0 (they missed the PAT). 

Hearron stayed hot. His next pass was also a TD. In fact, Hearron hit on his first 11 passes, throwing for 187 yards before the break. 

Northwood put its collective feet on the gas and did not let up.  By the 7:12 mark, not even halfway through the opening 12-minute quarter, the Falcons had scored 21 points on their first three possessions.

While the offense was the star of the show early, their defense and special teams played lights out all game long. 

The defense had three sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery.  All led to short fields or good field position for the Falcons’ offense. 

Coach Austin Brown talked about his defense with high praise. 

“Our defense is young, too, but they are peaking at the right time. They have had nine games of experience so they are playing well now.  This is probably the most athletic defense we have ever had.”

Woodlawn found it tough to move the ball on the ground as Northwood surrendered less than 100 rush yards total.  The Falcons’ forced talented Knights’ senior quarterback Isaiah Kennedy to go just 12 of 25.  He threw for 158 yards with 60 of them coming on the last scoring possession. 

Not to be outdone, the Falcon special teams played exceptionally well as they got into the scoring frenzy.  Elijah Crawford took a punt 50-plus yards to the house and Christian Blackmon scooped up a muffed punt for a 35-yard touchdown. 

Brown felt that a rhetoric change within the program also aided in the win. 

“We told the guys this week that a Woodlawn win meant we were in the playoffs.  So they really stepped up tonight.”

When asked about playing for a share of the district title next week, Brown put the game in perspective.

“It is North DeSoto week.  Anyone saying it is just another game would be fooling themselves.  That game is like OU-Texas or LSU-Alabama.  It is a rivalry game,” he said. “We have gotten them by one or two points the last couple of times.  A win would mean a lot to Blanchard.”

The Falcons raised their record to 5-4, 5-1 in 1-4A with the powerful Griffins looming next week.  A victory next week will earn a share of the district title, a successful defense for the Falcons, and help Northwood host a playoff game. 

Woodlawn dropped to 4-5, 2-4, but has a shot at redemption (and a playoff berth) as the Knights  travel to Minden next week.

Even with one week remaining in the regular season, the teams of 1-4A still have a ton to play for.  

Contact Preston at preston9360@gmail.com