Seldom does the outcome of a game hinge on its first play, but that rarity may have occurred Friday night in Edgewater's victory.
When Edgewater's Deandre Smith intercepted a pass by Oak Ridge's Jerrell Antoine on the game's first play, it seemed to start the Pioneers backpedaling and they never really got going forward as Edgewater stunned the No. 4 team in the Sentinel Super 16.
This was the situation. The game was 15 minutes late starting because of a heavy downpour. Wet field conditions didn't seem to suit a passing attack.
On the game's first play, Antoine threw toward a receiver who had three defenders surrounding him. It almost looked as though the ball slipped from Antoine's hand and floated skyward. When it came down, Smith had the interception at the 38.
Despite the conditions, Edgewater's JB Woodman had what may have been his best night of the season. And, it started on the first play. Edgewater opened the game in a Wildcat formation with Woodman in the slot as a receiver and Waynedriko Smith at quarterback in the shotgun.
Waynedriko took the snap, pitched to Woodman who was rolling to his right and Woodman hit Jon Altman for a 36-yard gain to the 2. Woodman later scored on a sneak.
"It really helped us to get out to the lead," Woodman said. "We haven't been able to do that in our first three games."
Edgewater won for the first time this season, Oak Ridge lost for the first time this season. The game was the Class 7A, District 3 opener for both.
"We have played some pretty good teams so far. I felt like we have been on the cusp of getting a victory, but we have made some mistakes," Edgewater coach David Wensyel said. "I always thought we have the ability to turn this around.''
Joe Williams is a senior sports writer for the Orlando sentinel. You can contact him at jwilliams@orlandosentinel.com
