Young Is the One

Junior QB Takes Complete Control as Woodson Tops Dunbar in the Turkey Bowl: H.D. Woodson 24, Dunbar 6

No matter his surroundings yesterday, H.D. Woodson quarterback Ricardo Young carried himself with confidence. When he stepped to the line and saw a Dunbar defensive alignment he didn't like, he called an audible. When Dunbar defenders raced his way, he still took time to either check off his receivers, or tuck away the ball and run.

And when reporters surrounded him after the Warriors' 24-6 victory in the Turkey Bowl and asked him how he did it, Young stuck out his chest and, wearing a broad grin, said it was his responsibility.

"In order for us to win, I had to take control," said the 6-foot-1 junior, who completed 10 of 17 passes for 139 yards and also ran for three short touchdowns. "I couldn't have done it last year."

As the capacity crowd of about 6,000 filed to the exits at Eastern High School, Young thought back to Woodson's 20-9 loss to Dunbar in last year's Turkey Bowl. He acknowledged being overwhelmed by the big stage. He threw three interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown to seal the Crimson Tide's victory.

Yesterday, though, Young was impressive from the outset, completing five of his first seven tosses for 94 yards and flashing a strong, accurate arm, both from the pocket and on the run. He led a Woodson offense that outgained Dunbar, 384-169, and held a 17-minute edge in time of possession.

"He did a great job engineering our offense," Woodson Coach Greg Fuller said. "He watches tape on his own. He's bought into what we're asking him to do."

Woodson (7-4) tied Dunbar's mark of nine Turkey Bowl wins, but this was the Warriors' first since 2002.

Woodson staked itself to a 12-0 lead as Young ended each of the Warriors' first two drives with a short sneak. Dunbar (6-6) could not sustain any offe nse; the Crimson Tide did not gain a first down until its fifth possession, five minutes before halftime. Four plays later, though, Woodson's Nigel Rios thwarted the drive with an interception at the goal line.

But Young maintained his cool. After a groin injury limited him in Woodson's first four games this season, all road losses to teams from Ohio and Pennsylvania, he took over the offense and showed he deserved more freedom than most high school quarterbacks. Fuller let Young call audibles, and Young seldom locked in on one receiver yesterday.

"In the long line of good quarterbacks at Woodson, he's part of it," Dunbar Coach Craig Jefferies said, referring to former Warriors Byron Leftwich (now playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers) and Eddie McGee (Illinois).

It also helped that Young had Kayvone Spriggs behind him in the backfield. Even though Spriggs had been sick the past two weeks with a fever and body aches, he still managed 129 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. Like Young, he also wanted to avenge last year's outcome.

"I couldn't miss this one," said Spriggs, who finished the season with 1,649 yards. "Even if I had a broken anything, I was still playing this game."

Dunbar pulled to 12-6 midway through the third quarter, moving 87 yards on 11 plays, capped by a one-yard sneak by quarterback Tyree White.

But Woodson answered right back. Young completed 5 of 7 passes for 45 yards on a 12-play, 80-yard drive. On fourth and five at the Dunbar 29, the last play of the third quarter, Spriggs gained six yards on the left side. He ran for 19 on the next play before punching it in from four yards out to make it 18-6.

After Deon Long returned the ensuing kickoff 79 yards to the Woodson 7, Dunbar couldn't convert. The Warriors took over and Young sealed the win with his last touchdown with 93 seconds left.

By then, Woodson's players had begun their plans to douse Fuller with the water bucket. As Donnell Ceasar turned the bucket over his coach's back, Fuller spun around and batted it away.

"I do not like getting dumped," he said.

It was the only time his players failed to execute all day.