At one point in Saturday’s clash with archrival Episcopal, because of a barrage of injuries, Woodberry Forest was down — on the field — to one captain and one other leadership committee member, a designation for underclassmen leaders.
They started the season with eight total.
Saturday served as a microcosm of the Tigers’ entire season. They lost several key players over the course of the game and then when it counted, they persevered. Woodberry used a combination of sterling defense, timely offense and guile to top Episcopal 21-12 Saturday afternoon.
“You kind of kid yourself about what’s next, what else can go wrong,” said Woodberry coach Clint Alexander. “And then it does. That’s what’s made this year such a satisfying (run). We haven’t had the same offensive line in one game. Defensive backs we’ve been shuttling, defensive line we’ve been shuttling — for these guys to keep finding a way, it’s pretty impressive.”
Woodberry forced four turnovers and held Episcopal to just 191 total yards of offense, with 65 of that coming on a late fourth quarter touchdown that didn’t mater much. It took the Maroon 33 carries to gain 62 yards on the ground as Woodberry’s defensive unit stood tall. Edwin Borden led the effort with eight total tackles while Doug Randolph provided a relentless pass rush with six quarterback hurries to go along with a forced fumble.
The offense put it away by dialing up a seam route to Reid Swearingen on fourth down with 31 seconds to play where the senior wideout came wide open and sprinted 27 yards for the touchdown. Episcopal connected on the long touchdown seconds later, but Carlson Milikin broke up a pass on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt and Woodberry’s Wallace Branche recovered the onsides kick to effectively end it.
And they did that all despite the fact that the Tigers’ sideline looked like a medical ward during most of the game.
Star defender and return specialist C.J. Prosise tried to play through an ankle injury but eventually just couldn’t go any more. Senior defensive back Milikin, who’d dealt with a nagging hamstring injury all year, took a shot in the calf and didn’t manage to shake that off until he re-entered the game during Episcopal’s final drive. Powerful defensive tackle Cameron Wooster went down with what appeared to be a serious leg injury and didn’t play the entire second half.
But after what the Tigers experienced this season with Jacob Rainey’s devastating preseason leg injury as well as losing captain and defensive engine Rogers Clark, Woodberry didn’t blink. The Tigers scored early to take a 7-0 lead and nursed a 7-6 advantage going into the half.
The toss to Swearingen was well-timed and put the game out of reach. The call came from Alexander, who usually leaves the offensive play calling duties to Ryan Alexander, and his nephew had called a solid ball-control style attack until that point that allowed Woodberry to lean on a hobbled but still effective defense. The head coach Alexander stepped in though and made the late-game call.
“I’ve obviously played those guys a little longer and I felt if we could get in that formation we could do two things — we could max protect it and get a slot guy and get the matchup we wanted,” Alexander said. “It’s nice when it works.”
Milikin re-entered the game on Episcopal’s final drive after the Maroon scored the quick touchdown. He baited Episcopal quarterback Austin de Butts into making a throw on the two-point conversion that put any desperate Maroon comeback hope completely out of reach.
“There were three receivers and we normally do a cover five, which is the inside guy (where he lined up) jams and plays the flats,” Milikin said. “They hadn’t thrown to my receiver all day and I was just running with the out route. I just kind of baited him to throw it and I got my hand on it. And that was my last high school play.”
Overcoming the injuries seemed only natural after the adversity that the Tigers have faced all season, and it made what is already an emotionally charged game perhaps even more intense.
“(The Tigers’ injured players) had been working hard all year and they definitely deserved to be out there playing,” said Woodberry tailback Hunter Faulconer. “Toward the end we started playing for them because I knew they wanted to be out there with us.”
Faulconer made a critical play himself in the third quarter to give Woodberry some breathing room, sprinting over right tackle and into the endzone from 21 yards out. That score pushed the Tigers’ lead to 14-6. Faulconer couldn’t see it but as he crossed the 10-yardline en route to the end zone, his father, Hunter Faulconer, III, was clambering down an ivy-clad embankment near the red zone at Episcopal’s Hummel Bowl. He called his son over as he made his way back to the bench and the two embraced.
“I did that because my father did the same thing when I scored my first touchdown (at a game at Episcopal),” said the elder Faulconer, who played at St. Anne’s-Belfield.
The performance wrapped up an intense week for Faulconer, who came to Episcopal Friday to represent his grandfather, Hunter Faulconer, Jr. who was inducted into the Episcopal Sports Hall of Fame this year.
“It was very emotional,” Faulconer said. “I’m really proud of my grandfather even though I didn’t know him that well, and I just love him.”
Woodberry’s defense continued to hold on after Faulconer’s touchdown sprint, forcing a pair of turnovers on downs. Then the Tigers’ offense held onto the ball during two long drives that ate up much of the fourth quarter. The two drives were separated by just one Episcopal play, a fumble Woodberry recovered, neither resulted in points for the Tigers, but took nine minutes off the clock.
Faulconer and Jack Sewell, the lone captain who played the entire game but missed five contests earlier this season, led the rushing attack that gained 159 yards with 86 and 78 yards respectively.
