Former NFL old timer Jim Mora once hilariously said after a game, “Playoffs? Don’t talk about playoffs. You’re kidding me, playoffs? I just hope we can win a game.”
Well, the coveted playoffs are now on the minds of all three football teams in the city of Woodland, following Woodland High School’s second straight Golden Empire League win on Friday night, at home during homecoming, as the team came back from two scores down to defeat Dixon 36-29.
“It feels great to be alive this late in the season,” Wolves head coach Dane Gallagher said. “It’s awesome to see the kids getting better every week and having the momentum, energy, and focus carrying over into practice. They are locking in. We are coming up with great schemes offensively, and defensively, we are in the right positions.”
“Our strenght of schedule at the early part of this year was just absolutely insane. Building into the league by playing two other tough games against Sutter and Casa Roble really set us up. We had some great moments in those games, so we fully knew what we were capable of.
“We kept telling the boys the whole time to lock in, we have one job, one play at a time. They have been doing that lately, but I feel like we really have room for improvement, which is scary because right now we are putting up points and making stops.”
The Wolves (2-6, 2-2 GEL) came into the matchup on the highest high they have been on all season, following last week’s tension-relieving first win of the year over Natomas, by the score of 26-21.
In that game, sophomore Cohen Dwyer gained regional attention, putting up an insane 9 catches for 266 yards and 2 scores.
Dixon (2-4, 1-1 GEL) came into the game fresh off the bye week, but after a massive 62-12 loss to Sutter two weeks ago. The Rams’ lone league win was back on Sept. 19 against El Camino, 44-6.
With two wins in a row under their belts, the Wolves await a bye week, followed by two winnable league games against Rio Linda and El Camino. Pair up those factors with the Wolves’ meat grinder first-half schedule, and the playoffs, which seemed at least a few years away for the Wolves, are a very real possibility.
“We want the playoffs really bad,” Wolves quarterback Joe Abarca said. “We (Lincoln Twilley) were both sophomores on varsity, so we haven’t really done much these past two and a half years up until this point. Back-to-back wins are great for our morale, and hopefully, we can push for the playoffs. Coach Gally had done a great job of preparing us these last two weeks. We knew what we were going into. ”
“It feels good to turn our season around,” Wolves tight end Lincoln Twilley said. “It’s the exact motivation we needed for the final part of the season. We have a chance, and it’s all we talk about. It’s our motivation that keeps us going. We need to maintain our focus and stay locked in. Every week we are 0-0.”
“(Win streak/Playoff potential) It certainly energizes you, and it makes practices more fun where the kids are fully believing in our system and believing in what we are doing and what the staff has been doing week in and week out,” Gallaher said. “We laid the foundation, now we are putting up the walls, and we are so excited to see what this program is going to become over the next few weeks.”
The Wolves gave the packed Woodland Community Stadium, filled with future, past, and present alums, something to cheer about right away as Abarca would find Dwyer for a 20-yard touchdown catch and run to make it 6-0.
A mere minute later, Dixon showed that they packed a lunch and were in it for the long haul, tying the game up at 6-6 and then immediately taking a 7-6 lead following the point after attempt.
The Rams would then cap off their next possesion with another touchdown to eventually go up 14-6 with about three minutes left in the first quarter.
With only a minute expired in the second quarter, the Wolves’ senior running back Trevor Zane mashed in a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 14-12. On the two-point conversion, Abarca found his favorite target, Twilley, tying it up at 14-14.
Dixon would get the ball back on the next possesion and end the drive on a 15-yard passing touchdown to take a halftime 22-14 lead.
Out of the break and fast-forwarding to six minutes left in the third quarter, the Wolves enjoyed modest success on their ensuing drive as junior Alex Van Damn ran the ball three straight times, eventually earning a first down, but also fumbling in the process, giving possesion to the Rams.
Dixon then made the Wolves pay for the fumble with a nice drive to set them up right at the 3-yard line and punch in a quarterback draw to give them a 29-14 lead.
The Wolves needed an instant answer on their next drive and dialed up four passing plays to Twilley, eventually setting the Wolves up at the 5-yard line. From there, junior running back Shayaan Khan rumbled in a bruising touchdown to make it 29-20.
“On offense, I felt like we moved the ball extremely well,” Gallagher recalled. “There were a few drives and penalties that killed our momentum. We are also finally playing well into the third and fourth quarters, and I think that was the main factor for us in this game.”
On the 2-point conversion, Abarca once again found none other than Twilley to cut the lead to just 29-22.
“He (Twilley) is so great,” Abarca said. “I have only known him for five years. I met him in eighth grade, and he was the most unathletic person I had ever seen. Now in his senior year, he is playing tight end for us and balling out.”
“It’s very exciting to be a part of the offense,” Twilley said. “You go from freshman year being a horrible tight end to playing tackle my sophomore and junior year, and now this. It’s exciting.”
After three consecutive turnovers, including one on downs and back-to-back fumbles, the Wovles got the ball back in favorable field position, with about eight minutes left to play.
After driving for three minutes, the Wolves would run back the previous score and call upon Khan again to rumble in a short-range touchdown and make it a one-point game at 29-28.
Unfortunately, Abarca would not be able to convert the two-point try, and the score remained there.
With about three minutes to play, the Wolves forced a punt on defense and got the ball back near midfield with just over three minutes left to play.
A fantastic pass from Abarca to Cohen would line the Wolves up at the 15-yard line, setting up the play of the game.
With just under 40 seconds left to play, Abarca performed a play action, evaded an incoming pass rush, and somehow, spiritually or telepathically, found Twilley surrounded by orbiting defenders right at the 2-yard line. Once Twilley snagged the pass, he immediately reached down for the pylon, managing to tap it, scoring a touchdown and giving the Wolves a huge 34-29 lead.
“I told Joe to feed me the ball late in the game,” Twilley said. “Not in an egotistical way, obviously, but I had been balling in that fourth quarter, so I just said throw it to me. I ran the route, he threw it to me, and it was a perfect execution. When I caught it, I looked right away for the pylon. I thought ‘Was I in, or did I have to reach for it?”‘
“It was a play-action so I booted out, and I saw him wide open,” Abarca recalled. “He caught it, and I thought he was going to try to get out of bounds, but he just went for it, and once I saw him put it over the pylon, oh my god.”
On the 2-point conversion, Abarca changed it up and connected with Cohen to convert, making it 36-29.
With just over 30 seconds left, Dixon managed to get off a few frantic plays, and even made it to the 2-yard line, but by the time the reciver was down, time had expired and the game was over.
The Wolves rushed the field, then briefly calmed down to shake hands, before racing over to the victory bell to give it a good ring, and celebrate homecoming with a photo under the scoreboard.
Up next for the Wolves will be a much-needed bye week, followed by a home game against Rio Linda for the team’s senior night on Sept. 24, and the season finale on the road against El Camino on Halloween night.
“I think we can win out,” Gallagher said. “It’s nice to have the bye week this late in the season. I’d prefer to have it in the middle of the season, but at the same time, it lets us get healthy and keep the kids focused.”