Woodlawn slowed the high-powered Sherwood offense for much of last night's Class 4A state quarterfinal playoff game. But the Warriors just couldn't stop Sherwood's big plays.
Dylan Judah returned the second-half kickoff for an 82-yard touchdown and Romeje Richards scored twice after that as Sherwood scored 27 second-half points and pulled away for a 30-6 victory over No. 12 Woodlawn at CCBC-Catonsville.
Sherwood moves on to face Gaithersburg in the semifinals.
Sherwood (9-1) runs a basic offense, and Woodlawn (8-3) kept it under wraps during the first half. Sherwood had just 98 yards total offense in the first half and held only a 3-0 halftime lead.
"We had them scouted and we knew what was coming," Woodlawn coach Leonard Hart said. "It was just the big plays that killed us."
Judah's kickoff return was the critical blow. The Sherwood junior picked up the ball near the right sideline, cut back through a huge hole and was gone. Some of the Woodlawn coaches argued that Judah's knee touched the ground when he fielded the ball, but the officials ruled that he was bobbling the ball, did not have possession and, therefore, wasn't down.
"We always turn it on in the second half," said Sherwood quarterback Bob Sheahin. "The kickoff return was big [for us]. It got us going on offense."
Woodlawn hurt itself again on the next series. A bad snap sailed over punter Ronald Bias' head and gave Sherwood the ball on the 14-yard line. Richards then ran for a 14-yard touchdown on the next play to make it 17-0 with 8:50 left in the third quarter.
Two more mistakes helped Sherwood in the final quarter. Woodlawn gambled, going for it on fourth-and-six from its own 24. Quarterback Justin Ross then threw an incomplete pass.
Richards then ran for 23 yards to the Woodlawn 1-yard line and Josh Twyman scored on the following play. A 4-yard punt gave Sherwood the ball at the Woodlawn 6-yard line midway through the quarter and Richards scored on a 1-yard run four plays later to make it 30-0.
Richards and Twyman each ran for 78 yards as Richards reached 1,001 yards for the season. Sherwood kept grinding out short to mid-range runs against Woodlawn's defense.
Woodlawn avoided the shutout when Ross threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Lance Fuller in the final minute.