Woodlands Goes 2-0 in Trip to Heartland

02.19.2024

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The Woodland HS Club returns to Texas with a two-game sweep of Kansas City-area opposition this weekend.

On Saturday, Woodlands defeated the Kansas City Jr. Blues 46-7.

This was a very early runout for the Junior Blues and they are still putting their team together. Woodlands, having played more games, looked like it. Center Zane Smith continued his solid form with three tries, while prop Grant Devos, flanker Thaddeus Carroll, No. 8 Skylawn Feletoa, and loose forward Brooks Maldonado also touched down. Flyhalf Ilen Menon added three conversions.

Woodlands ran into some discipline problems, going down a player twice in the first half. Still Woodlands led 36-0 at the break.

KC Head Coach Casey Cummings was pleased with how his team made some adjustments and held Woodlands to just a 10-7 scoreline in the second half.

“This was partly due to the inclusion of the bench players from Woodlands but also the grit our boys showed to never quit and hold the defensive line despite the relentless pressure from Woodlands,” said Cummings. “Again our new players were met with a different caliber of tactic and skill from the Woodlands side which exposed us, allowing for some easy walk-in tries that would not be of occurrence with a few more games under our belt. The experience gained for our team was tremendous the past two weekends and going into some regional scrimmages at Drury University this upcoming weekend I believe will allow us to fine-tune those areas of weakness.”

On Sunday, Woodlands defeated St. Thomas Aquinas 38-19.

The Texans started strong and led 31-7 at one point. But they seemed to think they had the game in hand and even a small dropoff of intensity opened the door for Aquinas.

The teams traded tries early but tries from midfielders Zane Smith and Junior Alatini pulled Woodlands ahead 19-7 at the break. Early in the second half lock Erben Birkhoff and Smith (again) made it 31-7 with a Menon conversion. Woodlands wing Sebastian Infante, like Smith, scored two tries.

For STA Head Coach Tim Kluempers, this was a chance for his players to see a different style.

“It was a good first hit-out for us and we don’t see a lot of kicking usually so Wo0dlands’ kicking game was useful experience,” said Kluempers. “They are very big and very physical and our guys had to learn how to front-up to that. That’s the kind of stuff you can’t simulate in training. So I am very proud of them for how they got stuck in. Clearly the Woodlands guys were appreciative of the match.”

It was a good showing for Aquinas as Woodlands has logged a series of solid results. Woodlands selected Max Doefler (forwards) and Owen Charlton (backs) as the top STA players on the day, while Menon was picked by STA as the top Woodlands player. Menon’s kicking in open play did indeed cause Aquinas problem.

“Mission accomplished today,” said Kleumpers. “It was well worth it. The kids were a little disappointed and we felt we left at least seven points on the field. But this is a road map for how we can approach this year and we can see what to fix now, instead of in May.”

Woodlands Goes 2-0 in Trip to Heartland

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