Like a hawk, Woodberry coach Clint Alexander watched carefully and coached from the press box. His defense was giving up almost fifty pounds a man to the Liberty Christian offensive line, but the Tigers were clearly faster than the bigger and stronger Bulldogs. He wanted to be able see every detail of his opponents offense and adjust his defense accordingly.
“We felt like if we could keep our legs fresh, just keep moving — you know they can block us for a few yards but if we were just quick enough to get off the block and regain the edge — we’d be okay,” Alexander said.
Something had to give in this meeting between the two titans of VISAA Division 1, the two winningest programs over the last five years. Not a lot was given. The two offenses traded touchdowns in the third, and the Tigers got the edge thanks to a defensive touchdown in the second quarter and its defense holding firm as LCA tried to put together a drive late in the fourth. In the end, Woodberry held serve, gutting out a 13-8 win in a grueling battle against the only team that delivered the program a loss last year.
“LCA has more formations than you can fit on a wrist script,” Alexander said. “So I knew I needed to be up top to see everything, allow us to do different things but in a way where it wouldn’t feel different for the boys, different stunts, different coverages. It took a while in camp, but we’ve never had that time to deal with these guys. It helped a lot and we’re used to playing Liberty on a short week and they are just too good to play on a short week.”
Until Tigers cornerback Nathaniel Tyrell decided to make things interesting in the second quarter, the game was nothing but a stale mate with both defenses clamping down, forcing punts, coming up with clutch turnovers on their own end of the field. But with just three minutes until halftime, the Tigers drew first blood with Tryell jumping a route at his team’s own seven-yard line coming up with an interception and then simply dashing 93 yards for a touchdown.
“I was there, but I don’t think their QB knew I was faster than I was playing,” Tyrell said. “I baited him a bit and tried to get him to throw. He did, I jumped it and caught it and took it to the house with my boys so that was just awesome. It set the tone. We fed off that energy.”
Liberty’s offense answered in the third quarter behind its beefy offensive line. Running backs Jordan Foster and Lamar Webster methodically worked the ball into the redzone and Webster was able to punch in a short rushing TD while Foster ran in the following two-point convert to give the visitors an 8-7 lead.
Offensively speaking, the Tigers struggled with stalled drives, but the one they put together following the LCA touchdown defined the game. Quarterback Lindell Stone worked the ball to receivers Zach Roderick and Nate Ingram while HT Minor carried the load on the ground. Pat Shea had just two touches on the day, but his 10-yard run to make it 13-8 wound up being the game winning score.
“That was just a big, big play,” Alexander said. “That drive, to respond was huge. The heavyweight champ bangs you with a big right hook like they did on their drive and our guys responded, didn’t panic.”
Of course, there was the rest of the third quarter and all of the fourth to play. The Tigers’ defense won the day there. After Woodberry missed on a 35-yard field goal, LCA marched into Woodberry territory, but a sack by Wylie Mendicino on third down followed by an incompletion thrown to the endzone gave the Tigers the ball back to end the game in victory formation.
“A sack and two great deflections, it was a great way to end the game,” Tyrell said.
Having lost the previous two meetings with Liberty Christian, the win had particular meaning to this group of athletes.
“We knew about this game the entire summer,” Tyrell said. “We knew we had to work hard to be able to come out with the win, and we did so that’s just a great feeling.”
Of course, it meant even more to Alexander and the coaching staff as the Tigers had not played a single game with its season opener being cancelled two weeks prior.
“Honestly I’m a little bit in shock to beat a team that good that is so well coached and already played three games in our opener – I really was a bit terrified coming in,” Alexander said. “Our guys were just so calm in the pregame though and that was huge. When you get that adrenaline going, you only get 45 minutes and then you hit a wall. At 1 p.m. they were calm and that got us through the first half.”
Woodberry (1-0) hosts Flint Hill on Saturday at 2 p.m.
