The 5-1 Woodgrove Wolverines entered the Heritage Pride stadium looking to continue their climb towards a high seed in the 4A West power point rankings and they came away with one of their more impressive victories of the season as they took early control of the ball game notching a 49-7 win on Friday night.
Most of the scoring was done during the early stages of the contest as the Wolverines scored three times in the first quarter and tacked on three more in the second leading to a runnning clock in the second half.
SCORING SUMMARY
TEAM TIME SCORING PLAY GAME SCORE
WOOD 11:53 (1) Clewis 57 yards, PAT Gieseman 7-0
HERT 6:00 (2) Carlin to Miller 17 yards, PAT Villalon 7-7
WOOD 2:18 (1) Kovich to Gryniuk 33 yards, PAT Gieseman 14-7
WOOD 1:02 (1) Kovich 32 yards, PAT Gieseman 21-7
WOOD 9:26 (2) Clewis 29 yards, PAT Gieseman 28-7
WOOD 3:40 (2) Kovich 17 yards, PAT Gieseman 35-7
WOOD 0:33 (2) Clewis 6 yards, PAT Gieseman 42-7
WOOD 7:51 (3) Kovich 5 yards, PAT Gieseman 49-7
KEYS TO VICTORY
PLAY WELL EARLY
It was homecoming night at Heritage and the Pride were hosting perhaps the biggest game in school history as they entered undefeated, winners of six straight, hosting a 5-1 Woodgrove squad who has ranked among the best 4A teams in the area for the last couple of seasons.
In cases like this, getting an early jump would mean a lot and the Wolverines got just that when Charlie Clewis took a handoff on the very first play from scrimmage and motored 57 yards for a touchdown and an early 7-0 lead for Woodgrove.
The team then traded punts before Heritage made their first big play of the contest recovering a fumbled punt on the Woodgrove 20-yard line giving them an opportunity to get back into the game midway through the first quarter. It was an opportunity that they would not squander as quarterback Alex Carlin found wide receiver Cole Miller in a one-on-one situation in the end zone where his man made the play to knot the game at 7-7 with six minutes to play in the quarter.
Woodgrove answered back right away with a scoring drive of their own as they quickly moved into Pride territory then got a big play from wide receiver Mason Gryniuk (pictured) who turned a short first down catch into a 33-yard catch-and-run touchdown that gave the Wolverines back the lead at 14-7, a lead that they would not surrender.
After the game, Heritage coach Reed Prosser would lament that his team made some uncharacteristic mistakes in the game, the first of which came on their ensuing drive after the Woodgrove score as they laid the ball on the ground in their own territory as the Wolverines recovered the fumble on the Pride 28-yard line.
On their first play of the next drive, Woodgrove found the end zone again when quarterback Mike Kovich (pictured) kept the ball on a zone read play and found nothing but open space in front of him dashing 29 yards for the Wolverines' third touchdown of the quarter, pushing their lead to 21-7 at the end of the first quarter.
WIN THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE
While Woodgrove was winning the line of scrimmage on offense giving Clewis and Kovich plenty of running room, their teammates on the defensive line were more than holding their own as well.
Adding to the success of the defense, the Wolverines offense capped their first drive of the second quarter with another touchdown run by Clewis less than three minutes into the period. They added a second score in the quarter, their fifth touchdown of the game, when Kovich kept the ball again from inside the Heritage red zone, finding the end zone from 17 yards out pushing the lead to 35-7 nearly halfway into the quarter.
Offensive lineman Jake Wernle pictured right
Following the defense's third stop of the quarter, Woodgrove traveled 76 yards in under three minutes to add a dagger before halftime when Clewis scored from six yards out with just 33 seconds left in the half as the Wolverines carried a 42-7 lead into the halftime break.
Playing the second half under a running clock situation, Woodgrove once again took advantage of a Heritage miscue when Zack Lockhart recorded a sack and forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Gunner Hilling at the Pride 14-yard line. A couple of plays later, Kovich found the end zone for the third time on the ground to account for the 49-7 final score.
**Post-game audio with Woodside coach Mike Skinner**
**Post-game audio with Heritage coach Reed Prosser**
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Charlie Clewis Woodgrove
Mike Kovich Woodgrove
Woodgrove O-line Josh Shourds pictured
CHARLIE CLEWIS
The senior running back found the end zone on the first play from the line of scrimmage, the first of his three touchdowns, to spark his team early in the contest.
MIKE KOVICH
The Wolverines signal caller accounted for four touchdowns on the night rushing for one and throwing for one in the opening quarter before adding two more scores on the ground later in the contest, one in the second quarter, the other in the third.
WOODGROVE O-LINE
The Woodgrove offensive line led the way for both Clewis and Kovich as the Wolverines totaled over 300 yards on the ground. They were especially effective in the first half as the offense scored on six of their seven possessions before halftime.
EXTRA ANALYSIS
The victory is the sixth straight for Woodgrove and their offense is proving to be especially problematic for opposing defenses scoring 31 or more in every game this season since their opening week loss to John Champe, 20-17 in overtime.
Woodgrove head coach Mike Skinner pictured
The loss isn't a great moment in Heritage history as this could have been a huge victory for them as they look to build up their program from a middle-of-the-pack team to being capable of competing at the top level.
Still, the loss is step in the learning process and seemingly a necessary one as it's happened to almost every elite program as they clawed their way to the top. There is more talent on the roster than they showed in this game. They may not quite be ready to compete for a state title, but they will present a tough challenge in the postseason, especially for team's whose defense might be suspect in some areas.
Football Editor Rod Johnson is entering his second decade with www.VirginiaPreps.com having started with the site in 2003. To keep up with all the high school football news in Virginia, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook. He can also be contacted via e-mail at vaprepsrod@cox.net.
