A little urgency delivers Woodbridge a win

Hurry-up offense tops Gar-Field to cap undefeated regular season

With the Woodbridge offense stuck in neutral late in the first half of Friday's game against Gar-Field, Interim Coach Kevin Smith decided to try something new: He shifted his players into a hurry-up offense, a rarity at the high school level.

After sophomore running back Michael Ford started what was 12th-ranked Woodbridge's fifth possession of the game with a four-yard run, the team hurried back to the line of scrimmage and ran another play. And then another. And so on.

The fast-paced approach sparked the Vikings' offense, and that possession ended with a 31-yard touchdown run from freshman Jaylen Avent, who was responsible for 236 yards and three touchdowns during the Vikings' 35-16 win.

Gar-Field "couldn't get set," said Avent, who entered Friday's game with 96 carries for 548 yards and three touchdowns this season. "They didn't know what to do, so we just kept running it."

After Avent's second-quarter score, Woodbridge stayed with the up-tempo attack in the third quarter, opening the second half with another run from the freshman phenom -- this one from 66 yards. An onside kick followed, and that was recovered by Collin Frazer.

With the ball back, Woodbridge again kept pushing the issue and scored again on Frazer's three-yard pass to Michael Herrity for a 28-10 lead.

"We had to get the tempo up," Smith said. "They weren't able to get all of their signals in, and sometimes we were able to catch the off guard, and it goes to our advantage, definitely."

Gar-Field quarterback Aaron Jackson completed eight passes for 180 yards and a touchdown while also running for a one-yard touchdown, but even that wasn't enough as the Indians finished their season at 6-4.

By inking the win over Gar-Field, Woodbridge (10-0) wrapped up its second straight unbeaten regular season. Last year, though, an unbeaten season didn't mean much; the Vikings were upset in the Northwest Region final by Osbourn, 24-20.

But this year the Vikings appear even deeper, with key returners such as defensive back Demetrius Quarles, quarterback Frank Buckley and linebacker Darryl Haley. Plus, the Vikings have seemingly addressed the running back situation caused by the graduation of De'Antwan Williams.

The Vikings have leaned on Avent and Ford several times this year, and Avent delivered a superb performance against Gar-Field that assuredly conjured memories of the back simply known as "Rocket."

"He just reads it well and gets into the end zone," Frazer said of Avent. "He's a freshman. Look at him. He's good. I don't know about the next Rocket, but he's up there."

"Since the first day I saw him with two-a-days, I knew he was going to be something special," Haley added. "I didn't know how special he was going to be, but he proved [Friday] how special he could be."