Woodland Football Kicks off with Loss

The Woodland Hawks Football squad has begun its season in a way that it hasn’t since joining the Naugatuck Valley League in 2003--with a loss. The defeat came at the hands of the Wolcott Eagles on a soggy Friday night at the turf of Monroe Field by the final score of 29-21.

            The Hawks certainly were not helped by several bad breaks, including the wet conditions, as three lost fumbles resulted in three Wolcott touchdowns. In addition to the loss of the game, Woodland lost junior quarterback Brandon Fowler and senior running back Jon Murren to ankle injuries, which have the potential to sideline the playmakers.

            On the Hawks’ second play from scrimmage, Fowler fumbled the snap away to the Eagles at the Woodland 25-yard-line. Wolcott was able to capitalize on the opportunity gained by the takeaway as senior running back Eric Larson plunged into the end zone from two yards out for the first score of the game.

            The Hawks coughed it up again on their next possession, as it was Murren who fumbled the ball away at his own 37-yard-line. Larson took advantage as he scampered 26 yards on the third play of the drive for his second score of the game, putting the Hawks in an early 14-0 hole with 2 minutes left in the first period.

            But before the quarter was finished, the Hawks were able to get on the scoreboard. Murren rebounded from the fumble on his previous carry with a 75-yard touchdown run for the first Woodland points of the night. Fowler added a two-point conversion to make it 14-8 at the end of the period.

            Late in the second quarter, the Eagles added a 33-yard field goal by senior Zach Williams, stretching the lead back out to two possessions, 17-8, with 34 seconds until the half. But the final possession of the half for the Hawks was disastrous as not only did they not get a score, but Fowler, rolling out to his left to attempt a pass, injured his ankle just before halftime.

            Junior Steve Petracca stepped in for the injured Fowler and immediately engineering a 77-yard scoring drive to begin the second half. Murren capped the series with his second score of the night from five yards out after doing most of the work on the drive, including a 56-yard run to set up his score. The conversion attempt failed this time around, leaving the score at 17-14 with 8:47 left in the third.

            Grommisch intercepted a Kevin Nicol pass on Wolcott’s next possession, but Woodland was unable to advance the ball. The Eagles proceeded to drive for another touchdown, as this time it was Chet Crofut who scored from one yard out early in the fourth quarter, making it 23-14. On the Hawks’ next drive, Grommisch muffed the snap on a punt attempt, which was recovered by Wolcott. Crofut seized the opportunity and scored once again from the 1-yard-line to stretch the lead to 29-14 with 11:19 left.

            The worst was yet to come for the Hawks. Senior Perry Robinson recovered a Wolcott fumble midway through the final quarter and on the ensuing drive, Murren went down in the backfield with an ankle injury. He was carried off the field, and the offense went without him and his 175 yards rushing for the rest of the night. Petracca connected with senior wideout Zak Favoccia later on the drive for a 58-yard touchdown strike to cut the deficit to 29-21, but the attempted onside kick failed, effectively ending the game and giving Wolcott its first-ever victory over Woodland.

            “We’re a young team,” said Favoccia. “Most of us haven’t seen much varsity time in the past, and it will take us a little while to get used to the varsity field. We’ll be fine.” The good news for the Hawks is that the injuries to Fowler and Murren do not appear to be serious. They have both seen the practice field this week and expect to play Friday at Watertown, who is coming off a 20-14 victory over Kennedy.

You can listen to the broadcast of the game by clicking on the WRHS Radio page.