Catholic routs Woodlawn with first-half barrage
Catholic coach Dale Weiner hoped his team would be ready for its District 5-5A opener.
The Bears satisfied their coach by scoring on their first six possessions in a 49-13 victory at Woodlawn on Friday night.
CHS (3-2, 1-0) piled up 441 yards total offense, including 329 rushing, in rolling to a convincing victory.
“We were ready,” Weiner said. “That’s the thing I wanted to see. I wanted to see us come out ready to play. And they were. I’m very proud of our team.”
Khalil Thomas rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown and Derrius Guice added 96 yards and two scores for the Bears.
Juavon Brown led Woodlawn (0-6, 0-1) with 44 rushing yards and the Panthers’ lone touchdown. Cameron Lazare returned two kickoffs for 91 yards, and Jonathan Barnes booted two field goals for WHS.
“We were just outnumbered tonight, and I’m not making any excuses,” Woodlawn coach Don Jones said. “I liked the way we started the game. But we just have to keep chopping wood.”
The Bears needed just four plays from scrimmage to score their first two touchdowns. Catholic used some deception to score on its first play.
Nick Coomes threw a lateral to Christian Brown, who found Reid Mixon for a 49-yard TD pass. Jack Gonsulin kicked the extra point to give the Bears a 7-0 lead with 10:06 to go in the first quarter.
On the following drive, Woodlawn’s Barnes booted a 44-yard field goal to cut Catholic’s lead to 7-3 with 7:43 remaining.
But Catholic answered with a three-play, 75-yard drive. Guice’s 50-yard run put the Bears up 14-3 with 7:06 to go.
Thomas provided CHS’ third first-quarter TD on a 7-yard run that included a Woodlawn facemask penalty as the Bears went ahead 21-3 with 1:42 left in the first quarter.
The Woodlawn penalty was marched off on the ensuing kickoff, and Catholic used the extra 15 yards to attempt and recover an onside kick. On the first play of the second quarter, Coomes faked a handoff and hit Brown in the end zone for a 7-yard TD and a 28-3 cushion.
Ben Braymer took the quarterback reins for Catholic on the next series and he led the Bears to another score. A 19-yard Woodlawn punt gave Catholic the ball at the WHS 38. Six plays later, Braymer’s 5-yard TD pass to Ken Ward put the Bears on top 35-3 with 7:46 left in the first half.
Then Guice notched his second TD run, a 44-yarder, to give CHS a 42-3 cushion with 5:34 remaining in the second quarter.
Lazare set up Woodlawn’s first touchdown with a 55-yard kickoff return. Brown followed that with a 32-yard scamper, and three plays later, scored from 3 yards out. Barnes’ PAT cut Catholic’s cushion to 42-10 with 3:20 to go before halftime.
The Bears were finally stopped on their seventh possession of the half. Woodlawn’s Deante’ Early intercepted Bramer in Panthers territory to turn back CHS.
Catholic scored its final touchdown on its first series of the second half. Matthew Venable’s 28-yard TD run capped the drive with 9:15 left in the third quarter.
Barnes notched Woodlawn’s final points with a 25-yard field goal with 3:18 to go in the third quarter.