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Will C. Wood and Vacaville high schools battle to 1-1 boys soccer draw

Will C. Wood High School’s boys soccer team broke a six-game losing streak against Vacaville dating back to October of 2012.

Vacaville ended a scoreless drought that lasted more than four-and-a-half games.

So why wasn’t anyone smiling after Wednesday’s crosstown showdown at Wood?

“That’s kind of the way it is with ties,” Vacaville head coach Nick Omand said after the Wildcats and Bulldogs fought to a 1-1 draw.

“We had plenty of opportunities. We just couldn’t put it in the back of the net,” Wood senior Omar Montano added. “They’re a good team. We just didn’t bring it today.”

Montano had several near-misses, and was credited … depending on who you ask … with the Wildcats’ only goal just 15 minutes into the contest.

Wood’s Keshav Clay took a corner kick from the right side, but the ball went untouched all the way through to the left side of the box. Montano stopped the ball and rifled a shot back through to the right side of the net. The ball appeared to deflect off at least one Vacaville defender and into the net for an own goal … or a Montano goal.

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Will C. Wood High School football team routs Freedom 55-31 on homecoming night

Maybe batting 1.000 isn’t just a baseball statistic.

Will C. Wood High School’s football team wasn’t perfect on Friday night, but the Wildcats came pretty close, at least on offense.

Wood scored on all five of its offensive possessions in the first half and rolled to a 55-31 victory over visiting Freedom of Oakley at Tom Zunino Stadium.

“We’ve got great receivers, a good running game, and the offensive line is coming together. It’s a pretty special group,” Wood head coach Carlos Meraz said. “We’ve got a lot of speed, and a lot of experience.”

Quarterback Marcus Howard had another big night, throwing for 292 yards and four touchdowns. He threw just 17 passes, but completed 13.

Tayvian Cunningham caught six passes for 156 yards, including scoring plays of 44 and 75 yards. On the second TD, he took a swing pass from Howard in the left flat, made one defender miss and then outraced the rest of the Falcons’ secondary.

“I just juked him and took off … plain and simple,” Cunningham said. “Our offense just can’t be stopped right now.”

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Rushing to victory

Big games, and big scores.

Offense was the order of the night on Friday as local high schools tried the keep pace with their opponents. Most succeeded.

At the top of the list was Will C. Wood, which scored touchdowns on eight of its first nine possessions and improved to 5-0 with a 55-31 homecoming victory over Freedom of Oakley.

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Prep kickoff: Will C. Wood plays homecoming football game tonight

Homecoming floats and league openers … the next few weeks will feature plenty of both.

The Sac-Joaquin Section’s current football playoff system put more weight on nonleague results than ever before, but most high school coaches still take matters a lot more seriously once league play begins.

Most coaches struggle to deal with the extra pressure of homecoming night as well. And this week, Dixon coach Wes Besseghini has to deal with both as the Rams host Mesa Verde of Sacramento on homecoming night, which also will double as their Golden Empire League opener.

Dixon carries a solid 3-1 mark into the game, including three straight wins.

Will C. Wood is 4-0, and the Wildcats will try to extend their unbeaten record while watching floats and queens and princesses. Freedom of Oakley is the opponent for Wood’s 26th homecoming game.

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Record-setting first half lifts Will C. Wood High School football team in rout

American Canyon High School running back Bruce Crowder scored four touchdowns in the first half.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, Crowder was not even close to being the story on Friday night.

The Will C. Wood football team scored a school-record 63 points by halftime en route to a 70-33 rout of the Wolves at Wolf Den Stadium.

American Canyon (0-4) was within 35-27 with 4:37 in the second quarter but the Wildcats (4-0) scored four touchdowns to finish the first half, the first one a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Tayvian Cunningham on the ensuing kickoff.

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Will C. Wood and Vacaville high schools remain unbeaten in girls golf

The Monticello Empire League season is less than two weeks old, but the cream of the area’s girls golf talent already has risen to the top … in Vacaville.

Will C. Wood and Vacaville high schools will square off for the first time this season on Thursday at Cypress Lakes, and the outcome probably will put the winner in the MEL driver’s seat.

Both teams improved to 3-0 in MEL matches with convincing wins on Thursday.

Wood cruised to a 245-309 win over Napa at Cypress Lakes. Vacaville downed Armijo 243-281 at Paradise Valley.

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Will C. Wood High School rallies for 49-45 football win over Bishop O’Dowd

If Will C. Wood and Bishop O’Dowd high schools are going to continue squaring off on the football field, they might want to consider raising ticket prices.

The two teams played their second classic in as many years on Friday night. Wood got the upper hand again, as Marcus Howard hit Arthur Jackson with a 1-yard touchdown pass with six seconds remaining to lift the Wildcats to a 49-45 win.

Wood won 21-17 in the final seconds last year.

“We did it again,” said Howard, who threw for 371 yards and five TDs, with Jackson catching a school-record four.

Howard drove the Wildcats 66 yards in 11 plays over the final 2:39.

He had a key 19-yard completion to Jackson on a fourth-and-2 play from the Bishop O’Dowd 45-yard line. He also hit running back Damon Lewis over the middle with a 21-yard completion to the Dragons’ 2-yard line with 26 seconds left.

After a timeout, Germaine Lewis was stopped just short of the goal-line on first-and-goal.

Wood had one timeout left but kept the clock running, and Howard lobbed a pass to Jackson in the right corner of the end zone.

“It was his play call … I was going to call the same thing, but he beat me to it,” Wood head coach Carlos Meraz said. “Arthur just does such a good job of catching the ball. He’s just really hard to defend 1-on-1.”

The play gave Wood a 47-45 lead, and Howard added a 2-point conversion pass to Jackson for the final total.

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