Zack Woodard might be known to most as the North Tonawanda Lumberjacks starting quarterback. But when needed Woodard is also a defensive gem.
Woodard had two pick-6s as the Lumberjacks rolled to a 35-8 win over Williamsville East in Section VI Class A North game that was played at George Vetter Stadium at North Tonawanda High School, Friday night.
“Our defensive line is just amazing,”said Woodard, who also had six tackles. “With the pass rush the pick six’s came easy.”
The NT defense did a top notch job of disrupting the Flames offense as QB Nick Falkides was only able to complete just six of his first 23 attempts for 30 yards and forcing four interceptions on the night.
The Jacks (1-0) defense definitely stole the show as they were responsible for three of NT’s first four touchdowns, including a scoop-and-score by Patrick Milbrand after Jordan Holmes blocked a punt in the second quarter.
NT’s offensive score came when Chris Labonte (123 yards on 13 carries) broke a 72 yard run on the second play of the third quarter.
“We picked up a lot of our momentum from the defense,” Labonte said, “and we realized we gotta star putting some points on the board because our defense was doing all the work for us. ”
Joe Dotterweich (5-for-5 in PATs) threw a huge block that enabled Labonte to score.
“He just took it to the house,” NT coach Henry Fumerelle said.”As explosive as he is.” Dotterweich (68 yards on 14 carries) capped off the Jacks scoring with a 4 yard run in the fourth.
The loss was especially disappointing for the Flames (0-1) after coming off a strong week of practice.
“I told our kids on the way over here, we had our best week of practice since I’ve been here coaching,” second-year Flames Head Coach Chris Glenn said.
“And it’s been a year in the making.” Glenn said his boys gave their all, but there was a crucial window of 10-12 minutes where the Jacks just physically out played his team and that made the difference.
Josh Gerena got Will-East on the board with a seven yard TD run with 12 seconds left in the game.
Neither team was happy about the turnover rate as the Lumberjacks committed five turnovers and Will-East had seven.
Editor’s Note: Featured image was taken by Jessica Helen Brant
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