Early Turnovers By Woodbury Makes It Easy For West Deptford

High School Football:
Early Turnovers By Woodbury Makes It Easy For West Deptford
Friday, October 31, 2003

By Jerome Michaels
SJSports Special Correspondent

It was supposed to be a battle between two talented backs and a very competitive game that would possibly come down to a last second field goal or touchdown. Woodbury’s Chris Pressley and West Deptford’s Tom Walls have been giving defensive coordinators nightmares on how to contain them from picking up huge amount of yards against opposing defenses. The Eagles forced three quick turnovers and the offense capitalized on each resulting in 21 points. Woodbury didn’t have a chance after that to recovery with West Deptford winning this Colonial Conference match up 38-6 Friday night.

On Woodbury’s first possession, Chris Pressley got his number called and the Eagles defense was ready. Attacking the ball carrier, Pressley fumbled the football and the Eagles had the ball deep in Herd territory. Wasting little time, Kordell Young ran in for a 27-yard touchdown and West Deptford jumped out to an easy and early touchdown lead. Woodbury was forced to punt on their next possession with that punt being blocked by Blake Smith and was recovered by Tariq Howell who strolled in for another touchdown. One more fumbled handoff by the Herd gave Walls a chance to show off his running ability. Walls’ hard-hitting, bone crushing 30-yard run gave the Eagles a 21-0 lead.

Finally, Woodbury began to settle down on both sides of the field. Marvin McKinnie gave the Thundering Herd a spark picking up big yards on the ground. It wasn’t enough to overcome that heart breaking initial five minutes of this game. Walls would add one touchdown before halftime and another 18 yard run in the fourth quarter giving the homecoming crowd reason to cheer. Woodbury would avoid the shutout with Pressley’s touchdown run late in the final quarter.

Photos by Mark Fletcher