Day After Report: Hudson’s Bay 39, Woodland 24
Thank you to the folks at Woodland for making me feel welcome. That was my first football game at the new facility. As Darth Vader would say, Impressive.
Plus, whoever you have as the public address announcer, pay him double. That guy is gooooooooood.
As noted in my game story, Hudson’s Bay is on quite a roll. Three wins in a row definitely counts as a roll for the Eagles. Hasn’t happened since 2002.
But here are some things I noticed last night that were not in my game story.
WOODLAND WILL BE FINE:
Clearly the Beavers wanted a better showing Friday night. At the same time, they also know that it takes time learning a new system under new coach Mike Woodward. Plus, no matter what happened Friday, the Beavers already have a leg up on the 2A Greater St. Helens League competition.
This game against Hudson’s Bay was a non-league game. The Beavers fell to 2-2 overall but remain 1-0 in 2A GSHL play after last week’s big win at Hockinson.
As far as the defense, while the Eagles scored 39 points against the Beavers, the Beavers also showed a lot of signs that the defense will improve.
Jack Ripp made a living in the Hudson’s Bay backfield with at least three tackles for loss. Jacob Flanagan had two tackles for loss. Trent Snead had another. Elijua Schultz and Damon Holland combined for one. Levi Orem had a pass defended. Tyler Flanagan had two.
All night long, the Beavers had individuals making big plays on defense. But for every big play by a Beaver, the Eagles would respond with a bigger play on offense.
Once the Beavers get more consistent, they’ll be just fine.
HOW DID THE EAGLES SCORE 39?
Field position. The Eagles scored 10 second-quarter points starting drives at the Woodland 4-yard line and 42-yard line.
Marco Cadiz returned a punt to the 4-yard line, leading to a field goal for a 17-6 lead. Then Nathan Newo recovered a Woodland fumble (I believe it was forced by Myles Artis) at the Woodland 47-yard line.
Even after Woodland made it a one-possession game, the Eagles only needed to go 53 yards to go back up by 14 in the third quarter.
ALL THE YARDS COUNT FOR SOMETHING:
Marco Cadiz came into the game leading the region in rushing with 461 yards in the first three games. The Woodland defense noticed, and they rarely let Cadiz get any room running the ball. Cadiz finished Friday’s game with 71 yards on 24 carries.
Of course, those who were there know that Cadiz was not slowed everywhere on the field. He caught two passes for 106 yards — with both catches setting up Bay touchdowns.
Plus he had that long punt return to set up the field goal.
Any player can get slowed down from time to time.
A quality player still finds a way to help his team.
FRIENDLY MATCHUP:
The Eagles are 3-1, with that three-game streak. That matches the longest since 2002. You already knew that.
If the Eagles win one more game this season, it will be the first time they have won four games since 2006, when Mike Woodward was the head coach. Woodward, by the way, is now the coach at Woodland. Oh, and Mark Oliverio, the coach at Bay, coached under Woodward at Bay a decade ago.
The two have been good friends for years.
“If I have to lose to anyone, Mark is the best guy to lose to,” Woodward said Friday.
By the way, the last time Hudson’s Bay had a winning record in the regular season was 2002, when the Eagles finished 5-4.
