For two photo galleries from this game, click here and here and one from the Friday night bonfire, click here.
Woodberry Forest’s Buckley Davis is a versatile, tough athlete who plays with a passion that’s obvious with every step he takes. Like many of his teammates, he’s not a superstar on the order of last year’s group of Tigers who went on to play football at Stanford, UCLA, Wake Forest and Kansas. He’s an awfully good high school inside linebacker who takes care of his assignment on every play he’s in the lineup for.
Saturday, a bunch of awfully good high school football players were more then good enough to do exactly what Woodberry sets out to do every single season — beat Episcopal.
“It’s probably the most special thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Davis said. “I’ve never done anything this cool, never done anything this special. It’s one of the neatest things I’ve ever been a part of — I’ll never forget it.”
Davis and the Tigers pulled away late against the Maroon, grabbing a 29-17 win in the 110th meeting between the schools to cap an 8-1 season, matching last year’s star-studded roster’s own output exactly.
While Davis and the Woodberry seniors put together solid afternoons — Davis had several key tackles and laid a big hit on a kickoff return — the junior tandem in the secondary of C.J. Prosise and Carlson Milikin did the most damage.
“Big players make big plays in big games,” said Woodberry coach Clint Alexander. “Those two dominated the field.”
Prosise and Milikin each had two interceptions for the Tigers in a dominating performance by the Woodberry secondary. Prosise and Milikin’s big plays, along with J.T. Hornyak and the rest of the unit’s coverage, helped limit Episcopal’s passing game to 45 total yards.
Milikin got in on the offensive act too, ripping off a 68-yard swing pass catch and run for a touchdown on Woodberry’s opening drive to put the Tigers up 6-0. His first interception set up a late first half touchdown run by Heys McMath that handed the Tigers a 12-3 halftime lead. His second touchdown came at a critical juncture in the third quarter as he took the ensuing kickoff back 80 yards after an Episcopal touchdown on the opening drive of the second half cut the lead to 12-10.
“It’s normal for him — we call him ‘The Franchise’,” Prosise said. “That’s what we do. We’re going to come through when we need to and make big plays.”
Prosise himself could lay some claim to that franchise tag after his performance Saturday, particularly if he hadn’t had one touchdown return — on a punt — called back. He was critical in the clutch though, with his second interception setting up Hunter Faulconer’s game-sealing touchdown.
McMath had a monster of a game. As just a sophomore, he threw for a touchdown and ran for the other on a slick fake jet sweep play from the four-yardline in the closing seconds of the first half. McMath was unaffected by the atmosphere despite taking snaps in his first matchup with Episcopal.
“My wife Elaine was worried about that and I said ‘that kid is so composed for a sophomore, he’ll be fine’,” Alexander said. “And he was.”
Episcopal had one sustained touchdown drive, and a pair of back-to-back pass interference calls helped spur that march. The Maroon’s Alex Henry, a 295-pound lineman employed as a fullback in a power-I set, finished off that drive with a three-yard touchdown plunge. But Milikin’s kick return for a touchdown on the ensuing boot nullified Henry’s score.
Woodberry’s lone real weakness Saturday was in the kicking game, with Episcopal blocking a total of three kicks, a field goal, an extra-point and a punt in the third quarter. The punt block by Jack Blaine led to a scoop and score by Buck Armstrong for the Maroon, cutting Woodberry’s lead to 19-17. That slim advantage didn’t change until Milikin’s second interception in the fourth — a one-handed grab on a slightly overthrown deep ball — set up a 19-yard field goal by Mark Monroe. Later in the fourth, Prosise’s pick and Faulconer’s score finished off Episcopal.
The victory was Woodberry’s third straight over Episcopal and it sent Davis and his classmates that include fellow captains Rue Hockensmith, Jason Creeden and Joe Miller out on an incredible note.
“The whole year built up to this,” Davis said. “At the beginning of the year, everybody doubted us and thought we were going to be awful and it was the worst feeling. We don’t have one or two guys that we rely on—we all play together and it’s just been the most special year ever. It’s a brotherhood.”
