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Woodland Hills Clinches Playoff Spot With 28-27 Win Over Gateway

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Woodland Hills at the Wolvarena.

TURTLE CREEK, Pa. — The Woodland Hills Wolverines (6-2, 4-0) welcomed the neighboring rival Gateway Gators (3-5, 2-3) for a Class-5A Big East matchup on Friday night. A blocked extra point with just over two minutes left in the game resulted in the Wolverines defeating the Gators by the score of 28-27 to stay tied atop of the Big East conference standings and clinch a playoff spot.

The game started with the Wolverines in control of the ball but after one explosive play from Cam Walter to William “Scoop” Smith, the Wolverines were forced to punt.

The Gators trotted out freshman quarterback Elvis Koutsakis to face one of Class-5A’s best teams and he immediately showed up with an 18-yard connection to Shawn Moorefield. With the Gators near midfield and driving, the Wolverines got a crucial sack by Lenoir Butler which set up a fourth down attempt that went astray for the Gators.

After another explosive connection between Walter and Smith, the Wolverines second drive stalled out, too. On the punt, Moorefield returned the ball into the Wolverines and an unnecessary roughness penalty set the Gators up in prime scoring position.

On the very next play, Koutsakis found a wide open Kacey Carter at the Wolverines’ 5-yard line where he caught it and rumbled into the end zone for the game’s initial score.

The Wolverines went three-and-out on their next drive and fumbled the snap on the punt attempt which placed the Gators right back into plus territory. Luckily for the Wolverines, their defense held strong and forced a punt.

The Wolverines turned their good defense into offense as the other unit began to wake up. Aided by a defensive pass interference call, the Wolverines tied the game up on a 20-yard rushing touchdown by Nico Mager.

It looked as if the Gators would re-claim the lead on the next drive as they used 11 plays to get down to the plus-39. On the twelfth play of the drive, Koutsakis’ pass fell incomplete resulting in a turnover-on-downs.

Again, the Wolverines used the momentum their defense built to score points. A 39-yard connection between Walter and Smith set them up for an eventual 24-yard field goal by Jacob Mroz.

Mroz added a 43-yard field goal as the second half expired which gave the Wolverines a halftime lead of 13-7.

The Gators opened the second half with the ball and a chance to re-take the lead which they did. On the drive, the Wolverines forced a third down stop but a roughing penalty extended the drive for the Gators. Koutsakis finished the drive with a two-yard rushing score on an option play.

A few drives later, the Wolverines were marching and looked to re-claim the lead but more self inflicted wounds set them up in a third-and-long when Walter threw an interception at the Gators’ 8-yard line with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

Luckily for the Wolverines, they forced a much-needed three-and-out. A great return by Smith plus a facemark call set the Wolverines up at the plus-15. Three plays later, Walter found Smith on an in-route inside of the five and he twisted up field and into the end zone for a touchdown.

On the very next offensive play, Prince Tarrant got the ball back for the Wolverines as he intercepted Koutsakis’ pass to start the drive. The gave the Wolverines the ball back inside of Gators’ territory. Just a few plays later, Mager appeared to be tackled after a good gain but never hit the ground and ran into the end zone from 44 yards out to give the Wolverines a two possession lead.

The Gators pulled within one score with just over five minutes left on an 18-yard scoring connection between Koutsakis and Moorefield.

On the Wolverines next offensive drive, they looked to run the ball and run the clock out but were stopped and forced to punt the ball back to the Gators. Starting at the Wolverines’ 37-yard line, the Gators had a chance to tie the game with just around two and a half minutes left.

On the drive, Amari Gans rumbled into the end zone from 13 yards away to pull the Gators within one point. The Gators appeared they would go for the two-point conversion to take the lead but a personal foul made the Gators try the extra point instead. That is when Earl Perry rushed around the edge to block the potential game-tying extra point attempt.

The Wolverines earned themselves a showdown for the conference’s top spot next week against Franklin Regional while the Gators will return home to host Latrobe.

Sandy Schall, Coldwell Banker
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