Luke Crilly’s kicks the last gasp field goal to send the Warriors to State! More pictures at westbendnews.net
MARION – Senior Luke Crilly kicked a 28-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Woodlan Warriors to a Class 2A Semi-State 15-14 victory over top-ranked Eastbrook and send his squad to Saturday’s state championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The Warriors, who will make their second championship appearance, will play at noon on Saturday at the home of the Indianapolis Colts.
Woodlan’s first appearance ended in a state runner-up finish back in 1981 when the Warriors finished 8-3 overall and lost 7-6 to Hamilton Southeastern.
Following a scoreless first quarter on Friday, the Warriors got on the scoreboard in the second quarter with a 15-yard touchdown run by Jack Rhoades with 3:53 left in the first half.
The Panthers answered in the third quarter as Eastbrook’s defense produced points.
Clay Dalton picked off a pass from Woodlan quarterback Justin Durkes and returned it to the end zone as Eastbrook went in front 7-6 at the 3:15 mark of the third period.
Woodlan’s Jack Rhodes scores the first touchdown of the game! More pictures at westbendnews.net
Eastbrook extended its lead to 14-6 with 11:45 remaining in the contest on a five-yard scamper by Andrew Barajas.
But, Woodlan would answer.
Durkes found Ah’lan Howard on a 20-yard touchdown toss that helped get the Warriors within 14-12 at the 5:52 mark of the fourth quarter. The two-point conversion attempt failed to keep the deficit at two points.
After Woodlan recovered the onside kick, the Warriors turned the ball over on downs.
However, the Warrior defense then recovered an Eastbrook fumble to set up the game-winning drive as time expired.
Rhoades topped Woodlan’s offense, rumbling for 145 yards on 35 carries while Durkes completed 7 of 17 passes for 77 yards.
Barajas rumbled for 132 yards via a dozen carries on the ground to lead Eastbrook. The Warrior defense limited the Panthers to 156 yards of total offense, all via the rushing attack.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES: Tickets for the state championships are $15.00 per day are available at Woodlan High School. Woodlan will keep $1.00 of each ticket it sells and all tickets sold are general admission tickets. Children age five and under are free to get in. The doors to Lucas Oil Stadium will open at 11:00 a.m. The Class 2A state championship game will air live on Fox Sports Indiana. The other two games on Saturday will have Lowell (14-0) playing East Central (11-3) at 3:30 p.m. in Class 4A followed by Penn (12-1) against Ben Davis (13-0) at 7:00 p.m. in Class 6A.
