Archbishop Murphy’s Henry Woods plowed into the end zone from 1 yard out to give the Wildcats a 21-14 overtime win over Archbishop Riordan Aug. 31 in Las Vegas.
In Nevada, teams start from the 10-yard line of the opponent in overtime. The Wildcats ran three plays and got the ball down within a foot of the goal line when Woods took it in.
Archbishop Riordan’s opportunity to tie was squelched on third down when J.J. Quinlan punched the ball out from the quarterback and J.D. Melton pounced on the ball in the end zone.
Woods finished the game with 20 carries for 84 yards and three touchdowns. Russel Stiegler rushed 19 times for 90 yards.
Temperatures rose to 105 degrees in on the field at Sam Boyd Stadium, the home of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
“We knew it was going to be hot,” Archbishop Murphy coach Terry Ennis said. “We prepared well for that, stayed hydrated through the (game).”
The game was part of a four-game, two-day event called the 2007 High School Gridiron Tour, sponsored by Varsity Sports Network and MaxPreps.
Archbishop Murphy took the lead 7-0 in the first quarter on a Woods touchdown run but Archbishop Riordan answered with a score in the second quarter to tie it. Woods scored again in the third quarter but Riordan answered again in the fourth to force overtime.
“We had two good sustained drives that resulted in touchdowns and ate up at lot of the clock,” Ennis said. “We didn’t break any long runs but we were able to string together some first downs.”
Ennis said Riordan’s quarterback ran the offense out of the shotgun was “very athletic,” and ran the ball effectively.
“He put a lot of pressure on us,” Ennis said.
Ennis said his team played hard but pointed to areas where it needed to improve when it faces Black Hills of Olympia this Saturday, Sept. 8.
“Our open-field tackling wasn’t anything that we’d like it to be,” he said.
Ennis also said the Wildcats still need to work on being more aggressive on offense and holding blocks longer.
“Things everybody in the state in working on this week,” he said.
The Wildcats’ junior varsity played Kennedy of Burien and won 28-16 Sept. 1 on the UNLV campus.
A total of 75 players, coaches and chaperones flew to Las Vegas on Aug. 29 and returned Sept. 1.
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