MARVELL - Early on, it looked as though the Woodlawn Bears might be in for another dogfight with the underdog Marvell Mustangs.In their last trip to Marvell two years ago, the Bears were clinging to a 16-12 lead entering the fourth quarter before pulling away late for a 40-20 win. And that Woodlawn team advanced to the state semifinals.This time, Woodlawn was leading just 8-6 midway through the opening period before Bears’ offense began to click and take over the game, putting away the Mustangs, 64-26, in a South Conference victory at Marvell.Woodlawn improved to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play with the win while Marvell fell to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in league action. The Bears’ win sets up a showdown this Friday night as they travel to Brinkley to face the Tigers (4-2 overall and 3-1 in conference) for the no. 2 playoff seed in the South Conference The game could not have started any better for Woodlawn as the Bears recovered an onside kick at the Marvell 47 on the opening kickoff. But three running plays netted just two yards forcing what would be the only punt of the game.After pinning the Mustangs at their own 18 following Garrett Weatherford’s 33-yard punt, the Bears’ Ethan Oliver and Matthew Green smothered Marvell’s Terry Bledsoe for a 10-yard loss on a fake punt on fourth down, giving Woodlawn possession at the Mustang 9. On the next play, Weatherford raced in for the score and the Bears went up 8-0 after quarterback Aden Moore trotted for the two-point conversion.It didn’t take long for Marvell to respond, however, as the Mustangs’ Dimitrius Thompson ripped off a 53-yard touchdown run on the first play after the Woodlawn score. The Bears stuffed the two-point try to maintain the lead at 8-6.That would be as close as it would get as Woodlawn started to get its running game going and pulled away from there, scoring on its next six possessions.A 16-yard pick up...
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