WHAT WE SAW: Gilbert 35, Brookland-Cayce 21

Chris Dearing October 29, 2022 @ 07:33 AM

GILBERT | With a No. 1 seed on the line and at least a couple of home playoff games hanging in the balance, Gilbert coach Chad Leaphart turned to his bread-and-butter backfield tandem of [player_tooltip player_id='262635' first='Alias' last='Graham-Woodberry'] and [player_tooltip player_id='267430' first='Jaden' last='Allen-Hendrix'] Friday night in a 35-21 victory over Brookland-Cayce.   The two backs combined for 322 yards rushing and all five touchdowns to allow Gilbert to secure a No. 1 seed in the upcoming Class 3A playoffs. It's the fourth region title overall for Leaphart at Gilbert and second in three years. They won each of the last two region titles by beating Brookland-Cayce on its home field.   Gilbert (8-2, 5-0) will host Battery Creek next week in the opening round of the playoffs. B-C (6-4, 4-1) will also get a home game, likely against Hanahan.   “It's so sweet to get the region championship back here in Gilbert,” Indians coach Chad Leaphart said. “This game has turned into a hot, contested rival game, they want to beat us, and we want to beat them, and you put the championship in there with it and it makes it all the sweeter.”   Graham-Woodberry, a senior, ran for 183 yards on 26 carries and three touchdowns with Allen-Hendrix, a junior, adding 139 yards rushing and two TDs. Gilbert ran for a total of 353 yards and had 417 yards of total offense.   Both running backs praised the play of the offensive line for their success. Graham-Woodberry has 1,476 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns on the season and Allen-Hendrix has added 1,255 and 22 rushing TDs.   The Indians played without North-South All-Star [player_tooltip player_id='132510' first='Blake' last='Cooke'] due to injury but the five guys upfront more than did their job. Will Stroud, Adam Thomas, Nat Yon, Kai Garris, and Colton Travis, who moved from starting defensive line to tackle to fill in for Cooke, paved the way to 353 yards rushing and 417 yards of total offense.   “The O-line did what they had to do,” Graham-Woodberry said. “They made it easy for us to do what we do.”   If Gilbert wants to make a deep run in the postseason, theY need to get more out of the passing game. Brookland-Cayce safety Will Young recorded three interceptions that included two in the end zone.   The Bearcats had several players playing both ways and that seemed to play a factor. Deshaun Washington finished with 115 yards and one TD on 18 carries. [player_tooltip player_id='91137' first='Naahzeikial' last='Mays'] added 94 yards rushing and Tanner Staton finished with 46 yards. But the passing game was non-existent for the Bearcats as they finished with one completion for 11 yards.   It's also concerning that Staton and Washington went down with injuries on consecutive plays late in the game.   Both coaches will look to clean up the penalties as well. The Bearcats were flagged 14 times for 135 yards and Gilbert had 10 penalties for 125 yards.

GILBERT | With a No. 1 seed on the line and at least a couple of home playoff games hanging in the balance, Gilbert coach Chad Leaphart turned to his bread-and-butter backfield tandem of Alias Graham-Woodberry Alias Graham-Woodberry 5'9" | 165 lbs | RB Gilbert | 2023 State SC and Jaden Allen-Hendrix Jaden Allen-Hendrix 6'2" | 230 lbs | RB Irmo | 2024 State SC Friday night in a 35-21 victory over Brookland-Cayce.