BROCKWELL - Last Friday night's Class 2A eight-man semifinal against the Izard County Cougars could very well go down as perhaps Woodlawn's most memorable comeback as well as its most devastating loss.
After the Bears had erased a 16-point deficit with 8:34 left in the game, Izard County quarterback Wyatt Buchanon connect with Malachi Cruz in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass as time expired, lifting the Cougars to a 62-56 victory in the eight-man state semifinal held at Izard County High School.
By virtue of its literal last-second victory, Izard County, the top seed from the North Conference, advances to play Rector, the no. 2 seed from the North, in the state championship game Dec. 1 at War Memorial Stadium. Rector surprised South Conference champion and topranked Mountain Pine, 30-28, in the other semifinal game last Friday night.
It was a heart-wrenching loss for the Bears, who were playing some of their best football of the year over the previous two games.
"I'm proud of the way we fought, but we had one too many mistakes is what it boils down to," a dejected but proud Woodlawn Coach Zach Meyer said after the game. "But they fought, they fought through adversity, they kept fighting and kept grinding just I knew they would. I'm proud of them." Those mistakes Meyer was referring to included three turnovers in the first half, and then losing an onside kick in the third quarter that allowed Izard County to build a two-score lead that left the Bears playing catch up the rest of the game.
Woodlawn had five fumbles overall, losing two. One of those came as the Bears looked like they were ready to punch in a touchdown at the Izard County 2.
But despite those turnovers and the sub-freezing temperatures, the Bears nor the Cougars had any issues heating up their offenses as both finished with more than 400 yards of total offense, albeit getting there in different ways.
Woodlawn had its way o...
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