WOODLAWN - Woodlawn used a 75-yard kickoff return from Matthew Green and then recovered two onside kicks in the fourth quarter as the Junior Bears rallied from a two-score deficit to edge the Hermitage Junior Hermits, 48-40, in a wild South Conference shootout Friday evening at the Carl Jones Sports Complex.
The two teams combined for 752 yards of offense. Woodlawn finished with 365 yards, all on the ground. Hermitage had 387: 232 yards rushing and 155 yards passing.
In addition to his 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, Green, a freshman running back, also ran for 176 yards on just 11 carries with TD runs of 33, 43, 46 and 14 yards.
Meanwhile, 8th grade fullback Ethan White, getting his first start in the offensive backfield, was a bulldozer for the Junior Bears. He had 149 yards rushing on 18 attempts and one touchdown. He also scored four twopoint conversions.
The Junior Hermits, who trailed 16-6 in the first quarter, reeled off 20 unanswered points to take a 26-16 lead with 6:55 left in the third quarter before the two teams traded TDs.
White scored on a 12-yard run to cap a five-play, 60-yard scoring drive with 5:32 left in the third. He powered in for the twopoint conversion to make it 26-24 at that point.
Hermitage quickly answered when the quarterback kept for a 53-yards touchdown run on the first play after the kickoff. Another successful two-point conversion pass pushed the Junior Hermits back to a two-score lead, 34-24.
On the ensuing kickoff, Green found a seam in the middle of the field and raced 75 yards for the touchdown to close the gap back to two, 34-32, after White pounded in the two-point run.
The Junior Hermits responded with yet another touchdown drive as a 10-yard quarterback keeper ended an eight-play, 61yard scoring drive with 45 seconds left in the third. The conversion pass fell incomplete, leaving Hermitage with a 40-32 lead.
Taking over at th...
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