With first place in Class 5A’s Big East Conference locked up, Woodland Hills looked to end the regular season with a seven-game winning streak and did just that, taking down Kiski Area, 28-0, on Friday.
“Defensively, we’ve been strong all year,” Woodland Hills coach Brian Tarrant said. “We did struggle to get going early on, but in the second half we wanted to get the offense moving. We didn’t quite get that done tonight, but at the end of the day, a win is a win.”
Scoring was all Wolverines in the first half, and Scoop Smith continued his fantastic senior season with a pair of first-half touchdowns, including a 20-yard rushing touchdown and a 5-yard receiving touchdown.
“He is awesome,” Tarrant said. “I’m about to start crying because it’s my last regular-season game getting to coach him. He is one of the best kids I’ve ever met and one of the best kids I’ve ever coached, and we love him.”
The Cavaliers wasted ample opportunities in the first half, including three scoreless possessions inside the Woodland Hills 10-yard line, as well as harming themselves with nine penalties for 70 yards.
“Unfortunately, they were drives that stalled out,” Kiski Area coach Colyn Haugh said. “When you make penalties in that area and get behind the sticks, you then force things downfield and get out of sync.”
Come the second half, the Wolverines equaled their first-half point total, as the offense looked smoother, but the defense was suffocating, limiting the Cavaliers to 9 total yards.
“The defense has been playing lights out,” Tarrant said. “We have a lot of confidence, even when the ball is in the red zone, we feel like we’re a bend and don’t break group. We have a lot of playmakers out there and cover well.”
For the offense in the second half, the run game took over, rushing for 137 yards as a unit, including a 48-yard touchdown run by Smith for his third touchdown of the night.
The final score of the night came on Walter’s second touchdown pass, this time to Ziggy Moore from 11 yards out.
Woodland Hills is awaiting seeding for the postseason and will likely be a top-four seed and earn a bye in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.
“I love the bye,” said Tarrant. “We are a lot healthier this year, so we can get some really solid practices and it’s a blessing we get to enjoy the playoffs a little with the bye.”
On the Cavaliers side, they have clinched a postseason berth despite the loss, thanks to Armstrong’s victory over Franklin Regional.
The three-way tie for third place in the Big East Conference with Kiski Area, Armstrong and Gateway goes to the Cavaliers based on WPIAL tiebreak points.
“It’s exciting we get to play postseason football this year,” Haugh said. “It was our goal to be playing meaningful football this late into the season. We played a meaningful game tonight and we have another one coming up.”