Canes win at Woodland, 55-7
September 21, 2024 Charles Wilson / BartowSportsZone.com
The Cartersville Purple Hurricanes dominated the Woodland Wildcats with a 55-7 victory on Friday night.
Cartersville struck early, opening the scoring with a 63-yard Nate Russell touchdown pass to Brady Marchese. A two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the Canes up, 6-0, with 10:21 remaining in the first quarter.
On the next drive, Russell added a 12-yard rushing touchdown for a 13-0 advantage with 8:17 left in the period.
Baylon Long and Jacaiden Leonard followed with rushing touchdowns of their own, pushing Cartersville to a swift 26-0 lead. Long's 3-yard run came with 11:22 remaining in the second quarter, and Leonard's 3-yard plunge occurred with 8:18 left in the half.
With 6:51 remaining in the second quarter, Cartersville’s defense secured a safety and a 28-0 advantage after tackling Woodland in the end zone following a snap over the head of the Wildcats' punter. Andrew Purdy capitalized on the next Canes' possession with an 8-yard touchdown run. It was the Hurricanes’ fourth rushing touchdown of the night.
Woodland put points on the scoreboard before the intermission. Isaiah Livsey fended off several would-be tacklers and scored on a 19-yard run with just over a minute remaining in the first half. The Wildcats' touchdown cut the deficit to 35-7 at the half.
In the second half, Freshman quarterback Harris Turner tossed a pair of touchdown passes for the Hurricanes. Turner connected with Jackson Montgomery for an 11-yard scoring play to give Cartersville a 42-7 lead with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter. He also had a 40-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Melvin with 4:07 left in the game.
Between those two scoring strikes with 11:07 remaining, Kaiden Kent punched in a sweep play from the 7-yard line, adding to the 55-7 final score.
Woodland (1-3, 0-1) travels to Cass on Sept. 27. Cartersville (6-0, 2-0) enters a bye week before hosting Cass on Oct. 4.
~~ Kevin Pate, Matt Santini, and David Herron contributed to this report.
