Through three games this season, the Woodford County High School team is averaging 19 goals a game. Their latest win came in an 18-5 dominant performance over Ballard Friday, March 14 at Community Stadium.
After a scare last week at Sayre, when they trailed late in the third quarter, the Jackets approached the game against Ballard with renewed energy and attacked the Bruins on both sides of the ball. The Jackets were physical, fast and accurate in their ball movement.
Brayden Humston scored the game’s first goal off an assist from Aidan McMahon in the first 20 seconds of regulation. The scoring stalled for a few moments, but the Jackets remained physical with a handful of big hits that fired up the large WCHS student section. Greyson Hodge scored with five minutes remaining in the first quarter to give Woodford a 2-0 lead. Bryaden Humston then added his second goal of the game, assisted by his brother Cole. Hodge and Brayden Humston scored again, giving Woodford a 5-0 lead after one quarter.
Cole Humston scored early in the second quarter as Woodford increased its lead to 6-0. McMahon then scored to push the lead to 7-0 off an assist from Andrew Spellman before the Bruins finally got on the scoreboard after Woodford was shorthanded from a penalty. Woodford allowed one more goal in the half, but Hodge, Brayden Humston and Drew Sumner scored, giving the Jackets a 10-2 lead at halftime.
“We’ve been focusing on our offensive movements and ensuring all of our goals are assisted,” said McMahon. “We wanted to come into this game with bigger expectations than we did at Sayre and made sure we left no doubt of what we are capable of doing as a unit.”
Ballard scored first in the second half, which was quickly answered with a goal from Woodford’s Will Seitz. As Woodford’s lead grew to 13-3, Cole Humston and Hodge added goals. Charlie Twehues assisted on Brayden Humston’s goal and McMahon added one more goal before the end of the quarter as the Jackets led 15-4.
Ballard began the fourth quarter with a goal to cut the lead to 10, but Henry Smith and Nolan Sutterlin scored goals for Woodford, while Ballard put one in their own net.
“We came out with a ton of energy today, and that is how our team can overpower our opponents,” said Spellman. “We play our best when the team brings all the intensity, and we learned that at Sayre last week. We can’t wait until mid-game to play our best, and we did that tonight. If we play like this, we can play with anyone.”
The Jackets will travel to Frederick Douglass for a showdown with the Broncos Saturday, Feb 22 with a 2 p.m. start time.