Defense shines in Woodbridge victory

By Joe Conroy

Published: October 17, 2008

Forest Park was determined to not let Woodbridge’s De’Antwan Williams beat them. Focusing all their defensive effort on the task of stopping him, the Bruins held the Vikings’ star tailback to just 24 yards in the first half Friday night, and Williams had to deal with a host of defenders in the backfield on almost every running play.
Though the strategy worked against the Vikings’ main offensive threat early, Woodbridge brought its own brand of swarming defense to Forest Park, creating touchdowns on two turnovers on the way to a 53-19 victory for the Vikings’ second Cardinal District win of the year.
Leading 6-0 after a 41-yard strike from Frank Buckley to Kyle Cody, Woodbridge defender Keyon Wade recovered a botched shotgun snap in the end zone for the first defensive score. He then returned an interception 59 yards for the second.
“I was just reading the flats and I jumped the route and scored,” Wade said. “I think we played extremely well on defense today.”
The Vikings (7-0, 2-0) took a bend but not break approach Wade added, surrendering gains on the ground and short passes, but nothing long.
Even when the Bruins threatened to score before the second quarter expired on a drive from Woodbridge’s 37-yard line to the 25, Demetrius Quarles nearly extended the lead when he intercepted Bruce Facundus’ pass at the goal line and returned it 91 yards before Miguel Marshall caught him from behind, ending the half.
Buckley made the Bruins pay for their strategy, too, throwing for 250 yards and four touchdowns. He even completed three consecutive scoring passes in the third quarter, each for 56 yards or longer, including two to Kelvin Lewis.
“They were stacking the box, slanting in and bringing everybody to the inside so we opened it up with the passing game,” said Buckley, who has thrown eight touchdown passes in his first season as the varsity starter. “Every time you throw you want to score. We just tried to set the tempo early and that happened on that play when (Cody) went up and got the ball.”
Facing a steady rush every pass play, Facundus and Jared Johnston were sacked a combined eight times in the game.
Forest Park (3-4, 1-1) didn’t help itself much either, picking up penalties throughout the game, particularly in key situations.
Despite Forest Park’s defensive efforts, Williams did get loose, scoring on a 74-yard reception, hurdling one defender then cutting across the field untouched. He scored again on the Vikings’ next offensive play, dashing 46 yards into the end zone.
Williams, who ran for 83 yards, now has 6,262 for his career, just 894 shy of the Group AAA state record of 7,156 held by Phoebus’ Elan Lewis. He has 22 rushing touchdowns this season.