Woodbury football: Royals drop third in a row

Woodbury found its offense again Friday, but it wasn’t enough against a speedy Roseville team.

The Raiders handed the Royals their third loss in a row, winning 36-22 during Roseville’s homecoming game.

“We gave them too many big plays,” said Woodbury football coach Andy Hill.

Those included three jump-ball passes hauled in for touchdowns and a kickoff return that broke the Royals’ back.

The Royals entered the second half with a manageable 14-13 deficit.

Woodbury got back on the board and took the lead in the third quarter with a 29-yard Colton Johnson field goal.

Later in the third, Roseville launched a deep ball to receiver Logan Brown, who beat Woodbury defensive back Abiola Abudunde on the jump ball, running it all the way to the end zone for a 61-yard score.

Entering the fourth quarter down 22-16, Abodunde found redemption on an interception taken down the Roseville 46 yard line. The play set up a scoring drive for Woodbury, capped by a 22-yard pass from quarterback Sawyer Moon to receiver Reid Peters.

After watching an extra-point attempt into the wind by kicker Bailey Lervick – one of three Royals girls soccer players now kicking for the football team – fall short in the second quarter, Hill opted for a two point conversion on a fake kick after the fourth-quarter score; that attempt failed.

The momentum from the touchdown, however, was short lived.

The Raiders returned the ensuing kickoff for a 70-yard touchdown, putting Roseville up 29-22.

Woodbury’s offense sputtered on its next possession, putting the team in a fourth-and-seven situation on its own 25 yard line with just over four minutes remaining.

Hill opted to go for it, however. The play resulted in a turnover on downs after Moon’s pass fell incomplete.

Roseville, playing with momentum off the kickoff return and the ensuing fourth-down stop – combined with the fortuitous field position – capitalized on its possession, which was capped with an 11-yard touchdown run by running back Sebastian Yang.

Woodbury now finds itself with a 2-4 record (2-4 Suburban East Conference) and a schedule that doesn’t get any easier next week. The Royals face the 4-2 Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders, who have won their past two games by a total of 97-14.

Hill remained undaunted by the match-up.

“If Woodbury High School plays a complete football game with passion and execution, we can win against anyone in our conference,” he said after the Roseville loss. “If we don’t, we can be beat by anyone in our conference.”

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