Wolves recover deficit to defeat Dixon

Despite going down by 22 points on the road, the Woodland High School varsity football team scored 28 unanswered points to defeat the Dixon Rams 34-28.

With the win, the Wolves improve to 1-1 in Golden Empire League play and sit 6-1 overall on the year.

The game Friday night was the Wolves ‘ first chance to show whether or not they would let the loss to crosstown rival Pioneer High School the previous week hurt their season. Through part of the first quarter, however, things looked to be going bad.

After opening the game on a Mason Thomas 14 yard touchdown, a series of miscues on offense, defense, and special teams for the Wolves led to Dixon capitalizing with four quick-strike touchdowns.

Early in the second quarter, the Wolves found themselves down 28-6. From that point, the Wolves exploded and looked like their usual selves.

A three-yard touchdown run from James Thompson, followed by a near sack from Javier Marin-Rodriguez that resulted in a Carter Imbach pick-six right before halftime, cut the Rams lead to 28-20 going into the break.

With the momentum fully on their side, the Wolves got back to work in the second half. Jonathan Thompson punched in a three-yard touchdown to make the score 28-26. But, instead of going for the point after attempt, Wolves head coach Javier Marin decided to go for it and attempt to tie the game.

The gamble paid off when quarterback Santana Munoz found Ashton Van Brocklin in the back of the endzone for the two-yard pass completion.

After a tough defensive stop from the Wolves defense, who started to play lights out as soon as Dixon scored the fourth touchdown, the Wolves got the ball back

with a chance to snag the lead and steal the game.

After gaining possession, Munoz dropped back to pass and found Van Brocklin again, this time on a 23-yard strike to give the Wolves the lead and the eventual victory.

Despite being a runheavy team with at least four running backs playing a major role, Munoz once again showed he could step up and pass the Wolves to a victory if needed.

Next for the Wolves will be a return home against perennial GEL contenders and winners Casa Roble, who beat Mira Loma 68-0. The kick-off is set for 7 p.m.

Pioneer High School

Pioneer High Schools’ home game against Mesa Verde was called off Friday night and forfeited by Mesa Verde, giving Pioneer the official 2-0 win.

For now, they remain tied atop the Golden Empire League standings thanks to their victory over Woodland last week.

Next for the Patriots will be, hopefully, another home game, this time against the Dixon Rams, who just lost to Woodland High School Friday night.

Woodland Christian Cardinals

The Cardinals improved to 2-0 in league play after their road victory over Delta 42-36.

While it was a little closer than their league opening 61-7 win last week over Western Sierra Collegiate Academy, the Cardinals showed they could not only win big but win closer games against better teams as well.

Next week, the Cardinals hit the road for another league clash against Valley Christian. The kickoff is set for 7 p.m.