It’s youth football night … and a pink out … any maybe one last warm-weather Friday.

Oh yes, and the Will C. Wood High School football team is looking for another big win in what it hopes will be a huge season.

The Wildcats certainly have a lot going on, not the least of which is tonight’s Monticello Empire League opener against Vintage.

Wood will recognize youth football night, with any youngster wearing a local youth football jersey admitted free if they are accompanied by an adult.

The school also will hold a “Pink Out,” with all fans encouraged to wear pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month.

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Carlos Meraz has said repeatedly that this Will C. Wood High School football team is “special.”

Halfway through the regular season, the numbers are saying, “very special.”

Meraz and the Wildcats cruised into their bye week with another big-time performance in last Friday’s 55-31 victory over Freedom of Oakley.

The win lifted Wood’s record to 5-0, only the third time in school history the Wildcats have begun the season with five straight victories.

Others have taken notice. Wood jumped to No. 7 in this week’s Maxpreps.com’s Sac-Joaquin Section top 25 rankings, the highest placement ever for the Wildcats.

Meraz is unfazed by the notoriety.

“What’s most important is improving every week,” he said. “We don’t want to get caught up in records. We want to get better as a team each time we play.”

The Wildcats don’t have a chance to play this week after competing a “zero week” game on Aug. 28.

No matter. The break may give their offensive standouts — and area scoreboard operators — a much-needed rest.

Wood is averaging almost exactly 55 points a game, with both the passing and rushing games playing crucial parts.

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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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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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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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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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