Hominy Survives Woodland 23-20
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Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! In a game that featured #1 Hominy hosting #4 Woodland in a battle of unbeaten teams, with the district title on the line, the Bucks survived…
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In a game that featured #1 Hominy hosting #4 Woodland in a battle of unbeaten teams, with the district title on the line, the Bucks survived at home to win 23-20. It was senior night and two seniors provided fireworks at the end. Senior star quarterback Jaxon Woods Jaxon Woods 6'0" | ATH Hominy | 2024 State OK was once again the hero as he launched a 40-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute left for the game-winning touchdown. As good as Woods was, it was was fellow senior Bryon Marshall Bryon Marshall 5'7" | ATH Hominy | 2024 OK coming down with the reception in between two Woodland defenders at the goal line for the score.
November and the playoffs are right around the corner and Friday night’s game certainly had a playoff game atmosphere. Both teams had some jitters to start the clash between unbeaten teams. Woodland would throw an interception on their first possession and then we saw three straight possessions of three and outs. Woodland would strike first when Jackson Rhodes Jackson Rhodes 6'3" | 185 lbs | LB Woodland | 2024 State OK scored from four yards out. The Cougars would score again in the second quarter on a Trey Bennett Trey Bennett 6'3" | 195 lbs | QB Woodland | 2025 State OK 37 yard run to go up 14-0.
Woods and the Bucks immediately responded on their next drive. On the first play, Woods would race 53 yards to the Woodland 15-yard line. After an incomplete pass, Woods would score from 15 yards out and they trailed 14-8. After empty possessions for both teams the rest of the second quarter, the Cougars led 14-8 at halftime. Hominy would score on their first drive of the second half on a drive that took over four minutes. Woods scored his second touchdown on the ground and the Bucks led 15-14.
Both teams would trade blows to close out the third quarter but each team would see multiple drives stall near midfield. The Cougars would then go on a march in the fourth quarter that featured big plays, some confusion about what down Woodland was on, a fourth down conversion and another Rhodes touchdown run from a yard out. They took over six minutes off the clock and went up 20-15 with 2:24 left.
That was more than enough time for Woods and the Bucks. The senior got Hominy to the Woodland 40-yard line and would launch the 40-yard game-winning touchdown to Marshall. Woods told us after the game that he wasn’t 100 percent on what the play call even was when he went to the huddle. But after he figured it out, he had all the confidence in the world in his fellow senior. And after faking a bootleg run, Woods threw it up and Marshall came down with it in the end zone for the play of the year this season for Hominy.
HOMINY’S TOP PERFORMERS
Coming into this season, Hominy senior Bryon Marshall Bryon Marshall 5’7″ | ATH Hominy | 2024 OK appeared to be the X-factor of this team. He provided a spark for the Bucks on the offensive side of the ball and he did that again on Friday night. Marshall ended up leading the Bucks in receiving with 77 yards on five catches. But no catch was bigger than the final reception when he came down with a jump ball in between two Woodland defenders. Marshall is listed on the Hominy roster at 5’7 and he might have been the smallest player on the field on Friday night. But it did not matter with 49 seconds left. He jumped up and came down with the catch of the year to knock off the Cougars and clinch the district title.
Hominy junior offensive and defensive lineman Elijah Gilley Elijah Gilley 6’1″ | DL Hominy | 2025 State OK was a pivotal part of Hominy’s defensive efforts. Gilley led a Hominy front seven that did a really good job of limiting what Woodland was able to do in the running game and they also put relentless pressure on the passing game. The Cougars were held to under 150 yards on the ground, which was less than their average per game coming in. They also held the Cougars to under 100 yards passing. Gilley and the Hominy front did a really good job of making Woodland earn everything they got on Friday night. The Cougars ran the ball 41 times on the night and only had two carries go for more than ten yards.
It was fitting that on senior night, it was senior superstar Jaxon Woods Jaxon Woods 6’0″ | ATH Hominy | 2024 State OK shining bright, as he has for the last several seasons. Woods finished 10-22 for 149 yards and the game-winning touchdown. He also added over 116 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. He also had countless tackles on defense as he was the safety valve if the Cougars ever made it by the front seven of the Bucks. Woods struggled in the passing game to start. He began 0-6 but then went 10-16 to close out the game. Woods has been one of the best players in the state for well over a year now. He will look to lead the Bucks to their first state title since Zaven Collins led them in 2016.