WOODWARD — Few things irritate the Woodward-Granger football team quite like having to be the visiting team on their home gridiron, but that was exactly the case Friday when the Hawks faced host Woodward Academy at Hawk Stadium.
The Academy has a multi-year agreement with the W-G school district that, in exchange for a sizable economic donation that helped fund the construction of the new facility, the Knights would have hosting rights for both football and track meets. W-G and Woodward Academy will meet again next year, with W-G the home team for that game.
The rivalry between the two squads, while not as long or as steeped in community history as that between W-G and Madrid, is, however, no less intense, which each eager to earn bragging rights.
That honor falls to the Hawks this season after Friday’s 56-0 thumping in the Class 1A District 5 opener for both teams. W-G (1-2, 1-0) rolled up 450 yards of offense — 349 on the ground on 51 carries — and bolted to a 50-0 halftime lead.
W-G senior Tanner Vermaas carried 28 times for 256 yards and five touchdowns to led the attack. He scored on runs of four yards and of seven yards in the first quarter, with Brendan Bird hitting Josh Saak on a 14-yard TD strike as the Hawks opened a 20-0 lead after one quarter of play.
Bird sneaked in from a yard out and Vermaas dashed home from eight yards away to push the score to 34-0 in the second quarter. John Stucker’s 22-yard TD reception helped make it 42-0 minutes later.
Vermaas dropped back to punt in the waning seconds of the half, but, upon recognizing no outside contain coverage, improvised and took off with the ball and finding the end zone 56 yards later for a 50-0 lead.
A five-yard run from Payton Tague in the third period capped the scoring.
Bird finished 6-of-7 for 91 yards and two scores through the air. W-G did not attempt a pass in the second half. Saak (2-28, 1 TD), Stucker (2-27, 1 TD), Matt Buch (1-22) and Vermaas (1-14) all caught Bird passes.
Austin Scharlau ran for 69 yards on eight carries, with Gabe Yingst (2-13), Tague (2-13, 1 TD) and Reese Jamison (8-10) also involved in the ground game.
Stucker had an interception for W-G, with J.P. Nixon and Tague each recovering a fumble. Vermaas had 6.5 tackles to lead the defense, with Devan Kirkman, Scharlau and Buch making three stops apiece.
Statistical information from Woodward Academy was not available.
Central Decatur visits W-G for Hawk Homecoming this Friday. The Cardinals are 3-0 and are coming off a 29-13 win over Mt. Ayr.
