WOODLAWN - The only thing sloppier than the Woodlawn offense in the first half of its season opener was the rain-soaked field, but the Bears cleaned it up with a heavy dose of smash-mouth football over the final two quarters and literally run through the Rose Bud Ramblers, 50-18, last Friday night at the Carl Jones Sports Complex.Woodlawn was clinging to a 22-12 lead at halftime after turning it over four times in the first half. Many of those turnovers were a result of the soggy playing conditions from pre-game showers as well as a rain storm that moved in early in the second quarter leading to about an hour weather delay. Bears Coach Zach Meyer said he made the decision at halftime to simply start pounding Rose Bud's defensive interior regardless of how many the defenders the Ramblers put in the box to stop it.The moved paid off as Woodlawn amassed 482 yards rushing with senior Garrett Weatherford powering for 238 yards on 17 carries with seven touchdowns and fellow senior running back Ethan Adair adding 189 more yards on 14 attempts."I thought we looked really good there in the first 10 plays before the rain came, and the rain came and that kind of washed it away down the drain," Meyer said. "We decided to stick between the tackles and go after it no matter how many they put in the box, and that's what we did," he said .Weatherford came out like a man on a mission at the start of the third quarter. He charged through the line of scrimmage to score on touchdowns runs of 28, 37 and 35 yards in the Bears' first three possessions of the second half.Thanks to a couple of two-point conversion runs by fullback Ethan Oliver and Adair, Woodlawn's lead suddenly swelled to 44-12 by the end of the third period.The Bears then invoked the mercy clock with their first drive of the fourth quarter. Using a 59yard burst by Adair early in the drive, Woodlawn went 83 yards in six plays with Weatherford scoring his seventh touchdown with a...
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