Draft’s season breaks even

LEXINGTON — D.J. Hines and Darius Woodson each had three touchdowns for Stuarts Draft in a 41-21 drubbing over Rockbridge on Friday night to close out the regular season.

The Cougars won three straight games to close out the season, finishing with a record of 5-5, good enough to make it to the Region III playoffs.

“Three years in a row now these kids have been able to go to the postseason. It says a lot about the kids and the assistant coaches we have here,” said Draft coach Rod Bowers. “In 17 years I have never been a part of a team that has been through so many injuries and illnesses. We wont complain or whine about it, we will just plug kids into different spots because that is Cougar football.”

Things seemed to go the way of the Cougars all night long and it started on the first play from scrimmage of the night’s contest. Draft stripped Rockbridge of the ball and a diving Ben Cook landed on it giving the Cougars good field position inside Wildcat territory.

A few plays later Hines finished off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown scamper to give Draft the early 7-0 lead. The Wildcats responded on their next possession and tied things up 7-7 on a 19-yard TD run by Ling Zheng.

The Cougars went on a roll scoring 21 straight points before the half on another Hines touchdown run and a 1-yard TD run from Woodson put Draft up by 14. Woodson scored again in the second quarter on another 1-yard TD run set up by a huge passing play from quarterback Tyler Knicely to Tyler Brydge, where he was eventually dragged down at the 1-yard line.

Draft stopped a late drive by the Wildcats when Zac Glass sacked the Wildcats QB on a fourth down play. Draft took the lead into halftime 28-7.

In the second half the Cougars came out and continued to give a heavy dose of the handoffs to Hines and eventually marched down field where Hines scored from two yards out to give Draft a 35-7 advantage.

“I give all the credit to my offensive line. Cole [Beyeler], Zac [Glass] they all make the holes for me and I just follow them down field,” said Hines. “This was a big win for us. It means a lot to be going to the playoffs with such a great group of guys.”

Woodson added his third score of the night late in the third quarter on a 15-yard touchdown run to give the Cougars a commanding 41-7 lead. The Wildcats added two late touchdowns, but they came a little too late as the Cougars ran out the clock late to take the win leaving the Wildcats with an 0-10 record on the season.