Woodland came to White Salmon last Friday needing a win to clinch a spot in the SW Washington District 4 football playoffs.
And the Beavers got it, shutting out Columbia High's Bruins, 46-0, on the final weekend of the 2004 Trico Division season.
Woodland scored on its first three possessions of the first quarter to build a 20-0 advantage, then added two touchdowns in the second to take a 34-0 lead into the halftime break.
The Beavers (4-2 in Trico, 5-4 overall) finished off their pre-playoff performance with a pair of scores early in the fourth quarter.
Junior running back Justin Leonard led the way for Woodland, rushing for 175 yards and three scores to pace a ground game that accounted for 345 of the Beavers' 419 yards of total offense.
Columbia (1-5, 2-7) ended the night with 145 yards of offense but, for the second game in a row, couldn't find the end zone.
"We played harder, we kept battling," said Bruins Coach Scott Ross. "But we let them get that big lead on us and had to play catch-up the rest of the way."
The closest the Bruins came to scoring was a 60-yard run by sophomore Mason Giovannoni that was nullified by a clipping penalty.
Overall, Ross said, Columbia played much better on both sides of scrimmage in the second half.
"Defensively, we held them scoreless in the third quarter. We cut down on their big plays and made them earn their points more," he noted. "And offensively, while we didn't score, we were able to hold onto and move the ball better."
Senior Jon Bryan led the Bruins with 44 yards rushing on 10 attempts. Giovannoni and senior Alex Riley each carried 14 times for 43 and 38 yards, respectively.
On defense, Bryan, Giovannoni, senior Will Brasuell and junior Mike Charters shared team honors with three solo tackles apiece. Bryan also had six assists.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.