The football season came to an abrupt end last Friday with a 0-49 loss against Martinsville in the opening round of Sectionals.

Woodmen football had somewhat of a down year with a 1-9 record (0-7 Mid-State) with the lone win being a 35-7 rout of Seymour in the season opener.

With the Sectional against Martinsville, the team honed into the ‘every team being 0-0 montra.’ Going 1-0 each week was the team’s motto for Sectional week.

“We really believed in the fact that when the playoffs got here, everyone’s record reset to 0-0,” junior Cooper Smith, linebacker, said. “We knew that they had a better regular season record, but at playoff time, they were one win away from moving on or going home just like we were.”
The Woodmen and Artesians first met in the third game of the season. The Artesians came out firing, moving the ball down the field through the ground game and some explosive passing plays in the first half scoring 21 points.

“They have a lot of really good athletes on offense and even defense too,” Smith said. “They came out against us guns blazing and running it down our throats and hit us with a couple big hitters down field. ”

Looking at game stats from the Week 3 game compared to the Sectional matchup, the Artesians threw the ball for nearly 230 yards in both meetings and rushed for about 200.

“They throw the ball very well,” junior Tanner Crouch, safety, said. “They did back in Week 3 and did again tonight. We needed to make adjustments at the half and they just kept hitting us with deep balls and big gains on the ground as well. They would hit us big in the air, and then we’d get caught up in getting back. Then, they would hit us on the ground and get some big gains that way.”

Woodmen football had a season of struggles and played tough teams. Being in the Mid-State since 1942, this is nothing new. The Top 5 teams in the conference are all above .500 in conference, and all but one are above .500 on the season.

“I think we play in a top 3-5 conference in the state,” senior Ethan Pringle, wideout, said. “After the MIC and HCC, we have a really tough slate. Mooresville and Whiteland, both top teams in 4A and 5A, Franklin, another dominant 5A team, Decatur has always been really good and Martinsville being Whiteland’s only loss. Every team is tough, and every team plays hard football. Our conference puts up a fight against top teams from around the state every year in the playoffs.”

Working as one unit has been a focal point for the squad all season.

“We really just need to come together this offseason and bond as a team,” junior Gabe Folco, lineman, said. “We don’t really know who our next head coach is or when it will be announced. All we know is we need to keep grinding and working hard, and no matter who may come in next year, we have to keep chasing our goals of winning the conference and winning in the playoffs.”