Woodbridge pulls away from Hylton in second half

By Joe Conroy

Published: November 15, 2008

A haze of fog hung over A.T. Howard Stadium Friday night, creating a surreal atmosphere that lingered throughout the Group AAA Division 6 Northwest Region semifinal between visiting No. 3 seed Hylton and No. 2 Woodbridge.
A De’Antwan Williams fumble returned for a touchdown and an early Hylton lead only added to the feeling.
The Woodbridge crowd seemingly didn’t know how to react while watching the Williams gaining just 3.76 yards per carry. And with the field a muddy mess affording little to no traction, things didn’t seem to be likely to improve.
Down four points with just more than a minute to go in the first half, Woodbridge showed why it is one of the premier teams in Virginia this year, scoring the first seven of 28 unanswered points in what turned out to be a 34-10 rout of Hylton.
Woodbridge offensive coordinator Kevin Smith had to reach deep into his playbook and found something the Bulldogs would not be expecting and the Vikings finally found some room.
Quarterback Frank Buckley threw to Kyle Cody on second down and Cody immediately pitched the ball to Williams on a designed play that left Woodbridge on Hylton’s 1-yard line. A play later and the Vikings were up for good.
“We didn’t prepared for the defense (Hylton was) in,” Smith said of the Bulldogs’ blitz scheme that disrupted the running game and passing attack alike. “They were playing eight, nine deep to stop Rocket (Williams). We had to go with a lot of short passes to loosen them up, to get their linebackers out so we could run the ball.”
Cody caught most of Buckley’s 11 completions, reeling in four catches for 108 yards, including a 71-yard scoring play.
“We had to make some adjustments at first, but Frank’s a great quarterback,” Cody said. “I definitely give (credit) to him. They’re a real tough team and I just appreciate that they gave us a run for our money.”
Woodbridge looked vulnerable early, picking up minimal gains on the ground and struggling with consistency on offense. The defense held strong, forcing Hylton to punt on four of its first six possessions and creating two turnovers.
When Williams fumbled on his sixth carry of the game, Hylton’s Jabari Neeley was there to pick the ball up and return it 60 yards for the first score of the game.
“I was trying to get extra yards and I had tape on my arm, so that was an extra hold on my arm,” Williams said. “I make mistakes so I just came back, got the ball and just ran it down their throat.”
Playing from behind is not something the Vikings (11-0) have done much of this year and it was a different feeling for most.
“We were down 10-6 and I don’t know if the kids did, but I know I felt a little weird,” Smith said. “It’s my first year calling plays and this was the first time we were losing. I started getting a little nervous myself.”
“All year we’ve talked about battling adversity and they really challenged us,” said Buckley, who threw for 253 yards. “We haven’t been behind at all this season, we learned what we were made of tonight.”
Williams became more of a decoy by the end of the night, picking up just 79 yards in the game, but keeps his quest for the state career rushing record of 7,156 yards alive as the Vikings advance.
“I’m glad we had a chance to go through this because we might have to do it again,” Williams said. “Now we’ll know how to react. I give it to Hylton, they are a really good team.”
Woodbridge will host Osbourn next Friday after the fourth seed upset No. 1 Battlefield in Haymarket last night.