Through the years, fans of Winder-Barrow High School and Monroe Area have witnessed some classic battles on the football field.
There was the 1998 contest which came down to the final play with Winder-Barrow tackling a Monroe Area receiver inside the 10-yard line to preserve a victory.
There was the 2004 defensive struggle which the Bulldoggs won 3-0 on the strength of a second half field goal.
And now there was last Friday’s contest where points were anything but hard to come by as the WBHS team recorded its second victory of 2009 with a 48-41 win against the visiting Purple Hurricanes in a contest which resembled an old Arena League contest or perhaps a Canadian Football League game.
Perhaps in a touch of irony, late in the fourth quarter, the portion of the scoreboard which shows the points for the respective teams quit working for a time.
“Our kids showed a lot of composure,” Bulldogg head coach Ben Corley said. “There were a lot of momentum swings and we kept coming back like good teams do.”
It was another record-setting night for WBHS junior quarterback Christian Davila who broke his own record for passing yards in a game with 403. Davila finished the contest with 434 yards of total offense as the junior standout also threw for five scores.
Tyler Coleman caught seven passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns and added another two scores on the ground. Alex Waters caught four passes for 47 yards from the tight end spot with a score while Kendrick Davis’ fresh legs in the second half helped give his team a spark with 145 yards rushing on 16 attempts.
When all was said and done, Corley’s team had compiled more than 600 yards of offense, 25 first downs, his quarterback was 21-of-32 and his leading rusher had 145 yards. Not bad for a former defensive coach, a notion Corley himself got a chuckle out of.
“I can’t say enough about Christian and his performance,” Corley said. “He got into a rhythem and we gave him protection up front. We have four receivers catching the football and making plays. The offense worked together to make it all happen.”
Helping clear the way up front were left tackle Brandon Deaton, left guards Dakota Daniel and Asa Thornton, center Matt Harmon, right guards Will Whisenant and Colin Faulkner, right tackles Kyle Phillips and Zach Green and right tackle/tight end Kyle Phillips.
Corley also credited fullbacks Casey Burnett and Jake Foster with solid blocking in Friday’s win.
“We were clicking at every spot,” the coach said.
Corley said up front the coaches try to rotate players in and out and all linemen performed well against Monroe Area.
As well as the offense played last Friday, Corley knows it is going to take a better effort defensively in the future games this season.
“It has been an achilles heel for us the last three weeks,” he said. “We are going to make sure we know our responsibilities and get the players in the right spots. We’ll visit that and make sure we are in the right spots.”
The turning point in last week’s game came after Monroe Area pulled to with 32-27 after a controversial touchdown with 2:54 left in the third quarter. It appeared Winder-Barrow had intecepted a Purple Hurricane pass attempt but an official ruled the play a touchdown.
After a discussion the play was ruled a touchdown. Temporary chaos ensued with a Bulldogg player being ejected along with a member of the chain crew.
When all the unsportsmanlike penalties were assessed, Monroe Area kicked off from the WBHS 15-yard line.
The Bulldoggs recovered at their own 4-yard line and would then go on a 96-yard drive capped by a 66-yard run by Davis.
“That was huge,” Corley said. “We were stuffed on the first play back to the one and almost had a safety on us. Christian was able to get a first down and then we kept it going and eventually scored. That was so big for us to respond because momentum was definitely wearing purple at that point.”
Corley has a set policy to not comment on calls made by officials during games. He did say it appeared after watching the film it still looked as if WBHS had intercepted the pass on the play in question.
Monroe Area would eventually tie the game at 41 but once again Corley’s team had an answer.
Setting up at its own 48 following a facemask on the kickoff return, WBHS needed just two plays to regain the lead. A 52-yard pass to Coleman with 1:02 proved to be the difference.
Monroe Area’s final attempt was stopped on an interception by Graham Galloway with 12 seconds. The victory was finally official and only then was Corley, his coaches and players able to breathe a sigh of relief knowing no additional points would be put on the scoreboard on this evening.
