H.S. Football: Woodland Park upsets Falcon

WOODLAND PARK • Woodland Park jumped out to an early lead and dominated the game on both sides of the line of scrimmage to earn a 20-7 upset victory over 2007 state 3A runner up Falcon at home Friday night.

"It's a great win," Woodland Park coach Brent Cottrell said. "You get a potent offense and they don't get very many snaps it's hard to get in a rhythm. We were able to control the football because of our offensive line."

The Panthers (2-2, 2-1 3A Southern) scored first, capping a 58-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from junior Lee Stunkard to senior Jared Giambalvo with 79 seconds remaining in the first quarter, then caught Falcon off guard to setup a second score just two minutes, 35 seconds later.

Woodland Park kicker Cameron Arias surprised the Falcons with a squib kick and the Panthers recovered the ball at the Falcon 30 after several Falcons failed to field the kick.

With 10:38 left in the second quarter Stunkard hit junior Jason Hambrick for a 19-yard touchdown.

"Our line was getting off really well," Stunkard said. "Both sides of the line were just dominating and that's what took us. It's always a good win to come off on a good team.

The Panthers controlled the ball throughout the first half, holding it for 16:04 and racking up 189 yards of offense. Junior running back Jordan Buss did most of the dirty work for the Panthers running for 103 yards on 23 carries in the game.

"We knew we had a big matchup and this would be a tough game," Buss said. "We've got great lineman, led by David Greenstreet. I'm just following him"

Falcon finally got on the board with 6:19 remaining in the second on a 1-yard plunge by sophomore tailback Desmond Phillips, polishing off a 64-yard drive.

The Panthers answered with a 63-yard drive that ate up 5:56, ending with a 22-yard field goal by Cameron Arias for a 17-7 lead.

Arias connected on a 30-yarder with 8:35 remaining for the final margin.

"We've just got to fix the mistakes," Falcon coach Jason Catron said. "They didn't do a dang thing that we were not ready for."