WOODRUFF — How many high school football teams can say they outlasted an opponent that had a load of momentum on its side after recovering an onside kick, then marched downfield to score a touchdown and take its first lead with less than three minutes to play?
Well, Woodruff can.
The Wolverines could've crumbled under immense pressure, and potentially been the victims of an upset loss at the hands of Christ Church. But that's a hard thing to become with Aiden Gibson on your sideline, whose eyes brighten at the mere mention of running into an end zone.
The junior running back did just that after darting for a 12-yard touchdown run for the game winner on Nov. 14 with 55 seconds left to give Woodruff a 40-37 victory in the SCHSL football playoffs Class 3A second round at Woodruff High.
"Absolutely, 100%," Gibson said when asked if he knew his number would get called on the Wolverines' final drive. "My coaches trust me to do my job, and I do my job very well. My offensive line blocked their butts off for me, too. On our last play of that drive, I saw that wide-open gap, and I took it."
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Woodruff (11-1) plays Belton-Honea Path (12-0) on Nov. 21 in the SCHSL Upper State Class 3A semifinals.
The Cavaliers had the chance to send the already wild ending to overtime. But after Christ Church (8-4) missed the 45-yard field goal, all you could see was burgundy helmets soar into the air on the Woodruff sideline.
Wolverines coach Brett Sloan shook his head with a sly smile, thankful to still be in contention for a state championship.
"Haha, I'm relieved right now," he chuckled. "We made plenty of mistakes. The type of mistakes that you normally can't make and still win a football game, especially a playoff game. And somehow we were able to overcome it. That's a testament to our kids' mental toughness, belief, and culture. But we still have to fix all those mistakes, because if we don't, it's going to get harder to keep playing.
The Wolverines had over 80 yards of penalties and gave up a 33-22 lead with less than four minutes to play.
"I hope they learned their lesson after tonight, but the big thing I stress to them is you have to stay even-keeled," Sloan said. "You have to keep your composure, and you can't go up and down all the time. All it takes is one too many mistakes to allow a team back into the game come the second half. Some of these guys will never play football again after today, so everyone's fighting for the privilege to play one more week. Hope is a powerful thing, and we have to do a better job of not giving other teams so much hope. And we will."
"Composure" was the word of the night for the Wolverines. Especially for one of the team's top offensive weapons and Liberty commit, senior tight end Kameron Taylor, who recognizes how much his attitude can affect the whole team.
"I'm not going to lie, I was definitely freaking out on the inside," Taylor said. "But we know we have to stay calm, especially for big guys on the team like me and Aiden. If they see us freaking out, then everybody's going to freak out. We're seniors, so we have to be leaders, and lead us to the win."
Kamryn Jackson covers high school and college sports for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Greenville News and Anderson Independent Mail, and the USA TODAY Network. Please email her at [email protected] and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @KamxJack.
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