Woodson Gone, Lake Braddock moves on

Last night, was the opening round of the Playoffs for Lake Braddock, and the game couldn’t have gone more smoothly. The Bruins emerged victorious once again with a score of 49-0 against a hapless Woodson team, that wasn’t able to have much if any success that night. Woodson (4-6), narrowly entered the postseason and lost to the same team that blew them out 61-0 in game 7 of the regular season.
Given how easy the win seemed, it’s a wonder that Lake Braddock’s Head Coach James Poythress thought this game was going to be harder to prepare for, especially after a heartbreaking loss the previous week to South County 33-30. When asked why this was the case, Poythress said, “This type of scenario makes these kids overconfident. Facing a team they beat big before can hurt their concentration.” That concentration was absent against South County, where the Bruins blew a 27-7 halftime lead. This time, Lake Braddock struggled at first to get firm footing, but a few miscues by Woodson certainly helped. The first drive by Woodson ended in an interception that led to a Lake Braddock touchdown, and the Bruins blocked a field goal attempt on the following Woodson drive. All in all, Woodson got intercepted twice and fumbled the football on many occasions. Lake Braddock seemed to learn their lesson about cockiness and never let up, as evidenced by the score.
Offensively, Lake Braddock was magnificent, but the team operated a bit differently, this time using more passes than runs as opposed the power game they had been using. Offensive Coordinator Chris Weiler explained before that the game that “South County really keyed in on what our running game was in the second half and shut us down,” He added, “We’re going to use the spread offense more and try to get a more balanced attack.” The result was the best performance to date by senior Kyle Edwards, who passed for five touchdowns and 292 yards. Edwards had a completion percentage of 57.1%, but tonight he only missed six passes, giving him around an 80% completion percentage.
Edwards said he felt no pressure whatsoever leading up to the game. “This is fun and I don’t feel nervous at all, I only feel excited.” he said .After witnessing him tear apart Woodson’s secondary, it’s not hard to understand why. The running game did produce a few rushing touchdowns at the end to pad the score, but it also caused a lot of damage as well. The Bruins combined for over 240 yards rushing, although Woodson did manage to stuff them in the back field only a couple of times.
Defensively, Lake Braddock was just as dominant, forcing 3 turnovers, a blocked field goal, a fumble, two interceptions, and a few failed fourth downs. Lake Braddock seemed to show that there’s nothing left for them to prove. However, the team’s defensive coordinator felt differently, saying, “There’s always something to prove, this is the playoffs. If you lose, you go home. simple as that.” It’ll be interesting to see how this states caliber team matches up against the competition later on. Lake Braddock certainly has the tools to succeed, and definitely knew how to do just that last night.