The Woodside Wildcats ended Carlmont JV football’s undefeated title in league games after beating Carlmont 50-12.
With a strong start at the beginning of the game, freshman tight end Patrick Harvey-Guedes scored a touchdown against Woodside early on. However, the Wildcats’ offense quickly retaliated, scoring both a touchdown and a field goal, leading with a score of 9-6 in the first quarter.
Things started to look good in the second quarter for the Scots, with Harvey-Guedes scoring another touchdown after receiving a pass from freshman quarterback Brody Zirelli. This play put them in the lead for part of the quarter. However, once again, aggressive offense allowed Woodside to score multiple more touchdowns, ending the quarter 30-12.
In the second half, the Scots lost momentum against the Wildcats. The Scots started to be pushed more on defense, with the Wildcats racking up 20 more points and the Scots scoring none.
“We started pretty well, but they just started running away with it, and we didn’t come back with enough energy,” Zirelli said.
The Scots also faced mental obstacles with the team, correlating to their poor performance in the second half.
“When Woodside scores touchdowns and people aren’t giving enough effort, it brings the whole team’s morale down,” Harvey-Guedes said. “It’s hard to come back from that.”
It was not just a loss of momentum that contributed to the Scots’ loss. The team also had to adapt to injuries of players like sophomore quarterback Lucas Robertson. Robertson had been dealing with a hamstring strain in the week leading up to the game against Woodside, making him ineligible to play.
“It’s definitely tough on our coach, he has to switch up the game plan a little bit and plan accordingly,” Robertson said.
Going into their final games of the season, the Scots will be training extra hard to address the obstacles encountered in this game to end strong.
“Everyone needs to be a leader to themselves and to other kids because when you have so many leaders on your team, everyone can lead themselves, everyone does their job,” Zirelli said.
A strong mentality is essential for the Scots and how they approach this season’s final games. Harvey-Guedes noted this crucial aspect of the sport.
“We gotta keep our heads up, keep the energy up, keep our teammates up, and give full effort,” Harvey-Guedes said.
