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Game of the Week |
Thumps LF Other Games of the Week
Photo: Woodbridge head coach John Parker has guided his team to a 5-0 record. FELTON -- One streak ended, but the most important one continued.
Now 2-0 in the South, the 10th-ranked Blue Raiders are 5-0 overall and should have convinced any remaining skeptics that they are legitimate contenders, not pretenders beating up on easy opponents. Lake Forest, one of the pre-season favorites in the South, dropped to 1-1 in the South and 4-2 overall. Woodbridge, putting to rest all memories of the past two 1-9 seasons, dominated the game throughout and held a 14-0 halftime lead on a 21-yard touchdown run by C.J. Pitts and a 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jason Rust to wide receiver Jeremy Maddox. The stalwart Blue Raider defense, which hadn't allowed a single point in the team's first four wins, completely shut Lake Forest down in the first half. The Spartans had minus 21 yards of total offense in the first half, including five plays for losses and a 33-yard loss on a bad punt snap that the Raiders converted into Maddox's TD reception. Lake Forest, which posted wins over three Division 1 teams before meeting Woodbridge, did manage to make a game of it in the fourth period, becoming the first team to score against Woodbridge this season on a 3-yard run by running back Mike Taylor with 8:20 left in the game. The run capped a short drive that started with a Lake Forest fumble recovery on the Raider 25. The Raiders quickly made it 21-7, however, when Jeremy Maddox took the ensuing kickoff at his 11-yard line and burst straight up the middle for an 89-yard touchdown gallop. A possession later, Rust put the game out of reach with a 71-yard run on a bootleg that made it 28-7 with 3:49 remaining.
Photos: The Woodbridge defense (top) smothers Lake Forest quarterback George Hicks (5), while quarterback Jason Rust (bottom right) starts off on his 71-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and Jeremy Maddox (bottom left) runs with one of his 6 receptions. Maddox also returned a kickoff 89 yards for a score. 
First Quarter: 8:04 -- WOODBRIDGE (7-0 Woodbridge) 5:06 -- WOODBRIDGE (14-0 Woodbridge) 8:20 -- LAKE FOREST (14-7 Woodbridge) 8:08 -- WOODBRIDGE (21-7 Woodbridge) 3:49 -- WOODBRIDGE (28-7 Woodbridge) 2:59 -- LAKE FOREST (28-14 Woodbridge)
Woodbridge coach John Parker on the victory: "This is probably the biggest win in Woodbridge history." Parker on his team's underdog role and silencing the doubters: "Anybody can say what they want, but we're not going to worry about what other people think. I don't think anybody looks at us as an underdog, but truthfully, we are still underdogs. We're the smallest school in the state playing schools double and triple our size except for Delmar." Woodbridge quarterback Jason Rust on the Raiders' approach to the game: "We looked at this game as a championship game. We played it like it was the last game of the season." Rust on those who felt Woodbridge's 4-0 record was due to a soft schedule: "We heard everybody saying we hadn't played anybody. We heard all the comments. We'd go to field hockey games and guys from other teams were saying Lake Forest was going to shut us down." Rust on the end of the Raiders' shutout streak: "The winning streak is more important, but we know we're not going to lose if we shut the other team down." Rust on his 71-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter: "I haven't had a feeling like that since Pop Warner." Woodbridge wide receiver Jeremy Maddox on the win: "I'm so proud. This is a big step for us and the program." Maddox on his 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, which put Woodbridge up 21-7 in the fourth period: "We needed a spark and all I was thinking about was scoring. I had good blocking and there was a big wedge in front of me."
Photo: Woodbridge running back C.J. Pitts rushed for 99 yards including a 21-yard touchdown run in his team's 28-14 win over Lake Forest on Oct. 15.
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Copyright © 1999 Sussex County Online |
In a key early-season Henlopen Conference Southern Division showdown at Lake Forest on Oct. 15, 1999, the Woodbridge High School football team didn't walk off the field with another shutout, but it did post an impressive 28-14 victory.
