High School football: Woodland looks ahead after stunning victory last week

Elijah Andersen of Woodland, shown here in a Week 2 game against La Center, had more than 300 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns in the Beavers’ victory over Washougal last week. Photo by Mike Schultz

Beavers sent shockwaves throughout the Class 2A Greater St. Helens League by defeating defending champion Washougal

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

One week can change an entire high school football season.

Going into the fourth week of the year, the Woodland Beavers find themselves in a brand new position.

“I don’t think we’re going to sneak up on anybody anymore,” Woodland coach Sean McDonald said. “For sure.”

The Beavers, after all, earned the surprise win of the young season last week, taking down defending league champion Washougal 33-28.

A game into league play in the Class 2A Greater St. Helens League, it is the Beavers, not the Panthers, at 1-0.

The victory came a week after Woodland managed just one touchdown in a non-league loss to La Center.

Little mistakes added up in that game to the Wildcats, McDonald said. As he has always preached to his players, though, get better every week and just see what happens.

Woodland (2-1 overall, 1-0 2A GSHL) will be taking on Columbia River (0-3, 0-1) on Friday. There is no such thing as overlooking an opponent, though. Not for the Beavers. After all, no one outside of their sideline gave them much hope last week against Washougal.

The 2A GSHL also features one game of league unbeatens this week. Ridgefield (2-1 overall, 1-0 league) will host Hudson’s Bay (3-0, 1-0).

Washougal will try to bounce back at Mark Morris, and R.A. Long will face Hockinson in the other 2A GSHL games.

Stevenson is at Seton Catholic on Friday in a Trico League matchup. Seton Catholic, 3-0, is playing its first league game of the campaign.

The rest of the slate featuring Clark County teams will be non-league matchups. La Center, Evergreen, Skyview, and Battle Ground also are undefeated.

Before focusing on Week 4, though, here’s a look back at Woodland’s incredible victory over Washougal:

I was able to watch on Hudl, thanks to the Woodland coaching staff. Sometimes difficult to see the numbers, but this is what I had for stats:

Elijah Andersen had 30 carries for 142 yards and two touchdowns, plus he caught four passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

Chase Hall had six receptions for 106 yards and a score.

Quarterback Brett Martynowicz was 12 for 18 for 310 yards and three TD passes.

Early in the game, Logan Busig had a huge sack to stall one Washougal drive. Later, Karson Northcutt had a tackle-for-loss on another drive that ended with no points for the Panthers.

The drive of the night for Woodland, though, had to be when the Beavers went up 27-14 in the second half.

Woodland went 80 yards on 12 plays, and they ran the ball 11 times. That’s a Let-the-big-guys-go-after-it-and-win-the-game strategy.

Here are some of the lineman numbers I saw during that drive alone: Diego Gutridge (50), Seth Popp (51), Jess Starr (55), Charles Elkinton (56), River Standley (60), and Cody Armstrong (62).

“We came out ready to play. The defense played lights out. It all clicked that night,” McDonald said.

In his second year as the head coach at Woodland, it was clearly his biggest win at Woodland. More importantly, he said, it was a huge victory for his players.

“For the senior class, it’s the biggest win of their careers,” McDonald said. “I don’t think we won a game we weren’t supposed to last year. We knew we had the tools, but putting it all together and feeling that victory, that was awesome.”

That Week 3 victory clearly got the attention of everyone else in the 2A GSHL. But win or lose, McDonald said, the goal is always the same at Woodland.

“Were we able to get better every week?” he asked.

Well, from Week 2 to Week 3, absolutely yes. Now the challenge is to continue that for the rest of the season.