Vikings cap Cardinal District with rout

By Justin Creech For the News & Messenger
Published: November 8, 2008

Friday night’s matchup between the Gar-Field Indians and visiting Woodbridge Vikings ended the way many of the Vikings games have this season — with a resounding Woodbridge win.
The Vikings received 100 yards and four touchdowns from star tailback De’Antwan Williams and received another suffocating performance from their defense to put a cap on their undefeated regular season and Cardinal District championship with a 50-21 win.
Woodbridge took advantage of three early Gar-Field turnovers and better-than-average field position to build a 43-0 halftime lead. Six of the Vikings’ seven first half possessions began in Gar-Field territory, five of which they scored on in succession, with the worst of that being at the Gar-Field 44.
“That definitely made things easier for us,” said Woodbridge coach Keith King of his teams’ first half starting field position. “Gar-Field’s defense played us pretty tough, so that was a big advantage for us.”
Williams capped three of the five scoring drives with touchdown runs and starting quarterback Frank Buckley threw touchdown passes to Kevin Tyrra and Demetrius Quarles on the other two.
The Vikings’ defense completely overwhelmed the Gar-Field offense in the first half holding them to minus-12 yards and forcing three turnovers. The Vikings picked off Indians quarterback Aaron Jackson twice in the first half, one of which was returned 51 yards for a score by junior safety Colin Frazer with 3:07 left in the first half.
Woodbridge’s defense was so stout that the Indians didn’t cross midfield until the 7:45 mark of the third quarter.
“We feel like our defense is the strength of our team,” said King. “We run the ball well and we can throw well, but we returned nine defensive starters from last season, so we knew we would be good.”
With their undefeated regular season set, the Vikings (10-0, 5-0) now have their sights set on the Division 6 Northwest Regional playoffs. Woodbridge has rarely been tested this season with its smallest margin of victory being a 13-0 win over Highland Springs on Sept 5. King, however, isn’t concerned about how little his team has been challenged.
“We’ve answered when we’ve been challenged this season,” said King. “That game against Highland Springs was in tough weather conditions and Hylton played us tough.”
After Buckley threw an interception in the end zone on the Vikings second possession, Gar-Field turned the ball over when Bryce Miller mishandled Jackson’s option pitch at the Gar-Field three. Williams scored on the very next play and also converted the two-point conversion. Williams scored from six yards out on the Vikings next possession and scored his third and final touchdown of the first half on a three-yard run that gave Woodbridge a 29-0 lead with 9:24 left in the half, his 30th touchdown of the season.
“We are really motivated,” said Williams. “We know what it feels like to lose in the state final and we don’t want to feel that again.”
Williams scored on his only carry of the second half on a 25-yard run. The score came after Miller fumbled on Gar-Fields first play of the second half.
Gar-Field (4-6, 2-3) got scores from Ke’Shaun Allen, Miller and a 58-yard scoring run from junior Nick Meyer on his only carry of the game.