RISON - Woodlawn lost two fumbles and had a couple of interceptions as the Rose Bud Ramblers capitalized for a 54-30 win over the Bears Friday night to hand them their first loss of the season at the Carl Jones Sports Complex.
Woodlawn fell to 1-1 with the loss while Rose Bud improved to 2-0.
While it was a three-score difference on the scoreboard, it was a fairly even game statistically. The Ramblers outgained the Bears by a net 22 yards: 396 total yards for Rose Bud compared to 374 for Woodlawn.
But the one statistic that decided the outcome was turnovers: Woodlawn had four and Rose Bud had none.
“Rose Bud was good but it was one of those losses that we should not have lost,” Bears Coach Doug Means said about the setback.
Means took responsibility for one of the lost fumbles and one of the interceptions, saying he called plays that he should have spent more time on in practice.
Woodlawn took the opening kickoff 52 yards in nine plays with Griffin Manes scoring on a 12-yard touchdown run. Parker Arnold added the conversion on a quarterback keeper to give the Bears an early 8-0 lead.
Rose Bud answered with an eight-play, 56-yard drive capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kade Whortham to tight end Manny Waites. Wortham hit Waites for the conversion to tie the game, 8-8.
Woodlawn suffered its first turnover on its ensuing series as the Ramblers came up with an interception at their own 38. But the Bears defense held on a fourth-and-two attempt and regained possession at the Rose Bud 45. Two plays yielded seven yards before a high snap resulted in an 11-yard loss. Manes then came up a yard short on a fourth-and-14 run down to the Rambler 36.
Again, the Woodlawn defense held to force what would be the only punt of the game, a 53-yarder that rolled into the end zone for a touchback.
Taking over at their own 20, the Bears used 10 plays to march to the Rose Bud 19 before turning it over for the second time with a fumble.
Two plays after the turnover, the Ramble…