»RELATED: Week 10 scores, boxscores
The energized Wildcats erased a 13-point deficit with big pass plays, strong red-zone runs and a suffocating defense to defeat Trotwood-Madison 21-20 in Friday night’s regular-season finale and locked up a home playoff game.
Springfield (9-1), ranked No. 6 in Division I, might also earn the top seed in Division I, Region 2. The playoff schedule will be announced Sunday, but according to joeeitel.com the Wildcats will be the No. 1 seed and host Marysville (6-4) on Friday. Trotwood (7-3) will likely travel to Wapakoneta in Division III, Region 12.
“I’ve been waiting for this since peewee,” Wood said. “We all came together as seniors and we’re trying to go 15 weeks to get that ring.”
First there was the matter of Week 10 after Trotwood scored twice in the final 38 seconds of the first half to lead 20-7. The Rams drove 35 yards and scored on Keon’tae Huguely’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Sammy Anderson with 38 seconds left. Springfield fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Rams drove 25 yards and scored with eight seconds left on Huguely’s 8-yard run.
Douglass said all he could think about was “slowing down the momentum — get us to halftime with the least amount of damage as possible.” He said there weren’t major game-plan changes at halftime.
“It was just all mental and just going out and wanting it a lot more than what we gave the first half,” he said. “The first half was not anything like we’ve been playing all year. And the second half was more like the team that we’ve been all season.”
Sophomore safety Delian Bradley said, “The basic message was we needed to play as a team and just focus together and work on the game plan. We weren’t focused in the first half.”
Bradley made the play the Wildcats needed in the third quarter when he intercepted a deep pass.
“We had just talked before he went out there that they were going to try to go over the top, and he made the play of the day defensively,” Douglass said.
On the next play, Te’Sean Smoot hit Wood on a deep post for 45 yards to the Trotwood 10. Two plays later Jeff Tolliver scored from the five to cut the deficit to 20-14. Smoot and Wood hooked up for a 52-yarder on the same route in the fourth quarter to set up Tolliver’s 15-yard touchdown run to take the lead with about seven minutes to play. Smoot had also thrown a 55-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Minney in the first half.
“I was just just trying to get my team in great position to score,” Wood said. “He was dropping dimes. Those were some of the best passes I’ve ever seen.”
The difficult second half is something Trotwood coach Jeff Graham hopes teaches his team a lesson.
“I think some of our guys get comfortable when we get comfortable leads,” he said. “And they have to learn from that where even though we’re leading we still gotta compete. Sometimes we get a little complacent, and that catches up with us.”
About the Author