BASTROP, La. - Woodlawn Coach Zach Meyer was a bit apprehensive as to how his Bears would perform in their season opener Friday night after making the nearly 100-mile trip to Bastrop, La., to face a physical Prairie View Spartans team.
After all, he was starting an entirely new offensive backfield and a re-tooled defensive backfield against an aggressive Prairie View team that already had two games under its belt and had won the Mid-South Association of Independent School (MAIS) championship two seasons ago with an undefeated team.
But Meyer discovered his new batch of Bears were ready for the challenge, using some explosive plays to open up a threescore lead in the first half before cruising to a 32-14 victory.
"I'm proud of them. They worked their tail off. They deserve this," Meyer said of what he described as a confidencebuilding victory. "I thought they were really focused before the game, and I thought they were really focused all week. They're hungry." Woodlawn scored on its first two possessions, the first on an 83-yard run by Aden Moore and the second on a 23-yard scamper by Brayden Jones. Jones' TD came after Woodlawn's Steven Adair recovered his own onside kick attempt at the Praire View 37 to set up a short field. Garrett Weatherford hooked up with Aidan Johnson on the conversion attempt after Moore's score to give Woodlawn while the second conversion attempt was stopped, giving the Bears a 14-0 lead with 1:54 left in the first quarter.
Midway through the second period, Weatherford intercepted Spartan quarterback Nathan Stokes and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown with 5:11 left in the first half. The two-point attempt was stopped, leaving the Bears with a 20-0 lead.
Prairie View got on the board just before halftime when Stokes converted on third-and-18 with a 25-yard completion to Hayden Little, and then scored on a fiveyard run with 54 seconds left. The Spartans' conversion attempt was no good, l...
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