Woodland Hills gets big win over Gateway

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News

Andrew Schaffer | September 2, 2023

Woodland Hills bounced back in a big way on Friday night in their 27-0 shutout win against rival Gateway. The win was also the first win for new Woodland Hills Head Coach Brian Tarrant.

Gateway got the ball to start the game and got into Woodland Hills territory but ultimately ended up turning the ball over on downs.

Woodland Hills would eventually strike first on their second drive of the game. Cam Walter connected with Scoop Smith for a 28 yard touchdown pass. Walter played a key role in the win for Woodland Hills he was 10 of 16 for 121 yards in the win. “He had a good game, he battled” said Offensive Coordinator Cam Saddler. That made the score 6-o Woodland Hills with 2:19 in the first quarter.

Gateway got the ball once again and again they were into Woodland Hills territory but again they turned the ball over on downs. A key factor in the game was the Woodland Hills defense. “They were just stellar, this is the type of game we wanted to put together” said Coach Tarrant.

Early on in the second quarter Woodland Hills struck again. For the second time Cam Walter found Scoop Smith for a 35 yard pass. Smith had an enormous game for the Wolverines he had 120 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns. “He’s a phenomenal player, my personally belief is he’s the best receiver in high school right now” said Coach Tarrant.

Offensive Coordinator Cam Saddler also had high praise for Scoop Smith. “I’m watching him like oh he’s sweet, he’s just one of them guys man, as a coordinator it’s a challenge to figure out ways to get him the ball, and he does the rest”.

Before the half ended Woodland Hills struck one more time on a trick play the ball was pitched to Amere Brown and he found Scoop Smith for his third touchdown of the game this one being 49 yards. “That was one I called, I’m happy to talk about that one, that was one I suggested to Coach Saddler, Gateway was pursuing so hard I knew we had to double throw off that” said Coach Tarrant. “That was something we drew up early in the week, we saw Gateway was playing aggressively at the safety position, we felt we might get a look there” said Coach Saddler. The score at halftime was 20-0 Woodland Hills.

In the second half it was basically the same story. Gateway did have some success on offense and had the ball numerous times in Woodland Hills territory but they just couldn’t find the end zone. “We had 2 goal line stops there down inside the red zone, created a couple turnovers, got a couple sacks, we were really getting after it today” said Coach Tarrant.

Woodland Hills would score one more time in the game in a 84 yard run by Elijah Nesby which made the final score 27-0 Woodland Hills.

Next Week Woodland Hills hosts Penn Trafford. Gateway looks to get in the win column at home against North Hills.

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