Woodbury football: Royals survive second-half scare in Hastings

HASTINGS – Nobody said wins had to be pretty.

After climbing to a 33-6 first-half lead, Woodbury fended off an inspired second-half assault by Hastings but survived to record its first win of the 2012-13 season.

“Be proud of the win,” Woodbury head coach Andy Hill told his players after the game. “But it shouldn’t taste good.”

The visiting Royals topped Hastings 33-26 in the Suburban East Conference match-up. The win puts the Royals’ record at 1-1 (1-1 SEC) after opening the season with a home loss to Stillwater.

The game was played less than 24 hours after Hastings High School lost one of its own – junior Maddy Sake, who died in a car crash on Thursday. She was honored during a pregame ceremony that included a moment of silence.

“The spirit of this town, and the players and the coaches … really showed in this game,” Hill said after the game.

Hastings nearly completed a comeback after falling behind big in the first half. In fact, the Raiders were driving in the fourth quarter with a chance to win with about two minutes left on the clock.

But a big tackle for a loss on third down by Woodbury senior Quran Al-Hameed put Hastings in a fourth-and-18 situation that the team couldn’t solve; the Raiders’ final play on offense was an incomplete pass that allowed Woodbury to close out the game by taking a knee for the final four plays.

“I think we just got too full of ourselves,” senior Woodbury quarterback Sawyer Moon said the Royals’ second-half play. “We thought it was in the bag.”

Hill agreed, saying the upbeat attitude heading into the locker room at the half may have been more cocky than confident.

“We treated (the second half) like it was a cakewalk,” he said.

The Royals go back to work Friday, Sept. 14, in a home game against 1-1 Park.

Check back for more on the Hastings game, including player stats.

Tags: woodbury high school, sports, sports, prep, football, royals