WOODSTOCK — The Woodstock High football team is extremely young this season, with just six seniors on a roster of 39, but the Wasps sure are thankful that Willy Underwood is one of them.
Underwood rushed for 175 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries, leading Woodstock to a 34-19 victory over visiting Oxbow on Friday night.
“I couldn’t have done it without (the linemen),” Underwood said. “It’s a team sport, and everybody has to come together to make it work. All my runs, it may look like it’s me, but it’s really the linemen.”
The Wasps (2-1) trailed before Underwood even had a chance to touch the ball after the Olympians (1-2) took the opening kickoff and marched steadily downfield. Senior Xavier Beaudin returned the kick just across midfield, and senior quarterback Chase Lund found another senior, Nikk Schwarz, for a 35-yard gain on fourth-and-10. Lund finished off the drive himself with a four-yard run on a ball fake, and Oxbow had an early seven-point lead.
Woodstock wasted no time responding, with an Olympians penalty moving the ball across midfield following the kickoff return. Underwood’s four-yard run up the middle put the hosts on the board.
“Willy’s been pretty tough for us the last three years,” Wasps coach Ramsey Worrell said. “He’s had a good start to the season and certainly had a good game tonight. It’s nice to be able to lean on him when we might be struggling in some spots. We leaned on him pretty heavy tonight, and I imagine we’ll lean on him pretty heavy throughout the season.”
A defensive battle ensued after both teams scored on their first possession. Sophomore Caeden Perreault intercepted Lund on Oxbow’s next drive, but Woodstock punted each of the next two times it had the ball. Sophomore Chance Palmer nabbed Lund’s second interception of the first half on a tipped ball late in the second quarter, and three plays later, Underwood broke free from 42 yards out to give the Wasps their first lead.
Down 14-7 at the half, the Olympians went with an onside kick to begin the third quarter, and it worked, with Oxbow recovering just across midfield. After connecting with Beaudin for a 29-yard pickup, Lund plunged in on a quarterback sneak for his second rushing touchdown of the night.
But Underwood, as he did all game long, had an answer. He carried on five of eight plays of Woodstock’s ensuing possession, this time breaking a 35-yard scoring run on fourth-and-2.
“He’s a big boy. He runs with a head of steam, and he’s a strong kid,” Olympians coach Chad Wescott said. “We prepared for it all week. We have to do a better job of wrapping him up and gang-tackling him. With a guy like that who runs as hard as he does, you have to come together as a team and get as many guys on him as possible.”
Oxbow did not go away — Lund hit Schwarz over the middle for 44 yards, which set up a 13-yard touchdown pass to senior William Ilsley. Lund completed 10 of 22 passes for 169 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
In the end, though, the Wasps’ ground game was too much. Woodstock’s next drive appeared to stall in the red zone when a fourth-down pass fell incomplete, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Olympians bailed the Wasps out. Junior Josh Hough slipped a tackle for a nine-yard touchdown one play later, putting Woodstock up by eight.
A pair of big plays by Lund — an 18-yard pass to a wide-open freshman Brady Kilduff and a 19-yard scamper — put Oxbow at the Wasps’ 24, but the Woodstock defense stiffened and forced a turnover on downs with 4½ minutes left. Junior quarterback Brooks Ruderman ripped off a 30-yard run to put the Wasps in the red zone, and Underwood capped his stellar performance two plays later with his fourth touchdown.
Woodstock hosts Mill River next week, and Oxbow will return home to face Missisquoi.
“With a young group, it’s all about experience,” Worrell said. “We’re not even close to where I think we can be, and we’re certainly not playing our best football, but we responded to my challenge this week pretty well, and I’m pleased with that.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.