STRONG – In their first year as an eight-man program, Strong has made an immediate impact by making their way to the top of the league standings with the bulk of their conference wins coming in lopsided fashion.
However, that was not the case on Friday night.
LaQuincy Shelton scored on a 1-yard run to give the Strong the lead late in regulation and Cedrick Brown preserved that lead with a game-saving tackle, as the Bulldogs rallied past Woodlawn 30-26 in an 8-Man South thriller at Jerry Burson Field.
The win clinches a playoff spot for the Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0), who kept their undefeated season intact and can clinch the South’s No. 1 seed for the postseason with a win at Spring Hill next week.
The Bears (4-2, 3-2) are idle next week before taking on Spring Hill in their regular-season finale.
Strong led 22-12 after three periods of play, but the Bears rallied with 14 unanswered points to take a 26-22 lead with 3:03 left.
But a big reason why the Bulldogs have stayed unbeaten is due to the three-headed monster of Shelton, Byron Maze and Treveon Daniels that has consistently shouldered the load on offense for Strong, and they quickly went to work to get the lead back.
Shelton connected with Maze on a 49-yard pass play to Woodlawn’s 1 that led to Shelton scoring the aforementioned go-ahead touchdown moments later.
Shelton then connected with Caneilus Betters on the successful two-point conversion to make it 30-26, but the Bears responded.
A Woodlawn player caught a deflected pass and it appeared the Bears were going to retake the lead, but Brown raced 55 yards to catch him and make the tackle.
Strong’s defense then made it’s biggest stand of the season to date with Jayme Correa and Maze registering sacks to end Woodlawn’s bid for a second comeback.
“Tonight was a great win by the kids showing some Bulldog grit,” Strong coach Sirl Wright said. “Winning big is easy for most, but winning the close ones builds character for future playoff matchups.”
The Bulldogs led 6-0 at the end of the first quarter and 14-6 at intermission before rallying to keep their record unblemished.