Woods scores four touchdowns for Reeltown in the quarterfinals

Alijah Woods had himself a day in the AHSAA Class 2A quarterfinals for Reeltown. 

Reeltown advanced to the semifinals after they pulled away against Cottonwood in the fourth quarter, 42-20. 

Woods made his presence known with 30 seconds left on the clock before halftime, when he leaped into the air coming down with a beautiful catch over Cottonwood defenders. Then followed it up with a 73-yard kick return touchdown to open the half. However, the biggest play came in the fourth quarter. 

Reeltown led 26-20 with Cottonwood driving down the field to possibly tie or secure the lead. Running back King Campbell bounced a carry to the outside and was met face-to-face with Woods, who ripped the ball out of Campbell’s hand en route to a 70-yard return for a score. 

It did not stop there for Woods. 

On the next offensive drive, he took his lone carry of the night 48 yards to the house, cementing the victory for the Rebels. 

“There's not anybody on any level that's supposed to catch that ball right there before halftime, unbelievable catch,” Reeltown coach Matt Johnson said. “No idea how he came in with that ball. Just a remarkable, phenomenal catch. Then he picked right back up where he left off in the second half, opening kickoff. So I can't say enough about him, other than he's a sophomore, thank goodness.” 

In addition to the night Woods had, another Reeltown sophomore finished with multiple touchdowns. Running back Traylen Roberts ended with 17 carries for 108 yards and two scores, both of which came in the first half. 

Defensively, Reeltown was able to slow down a Cottonwood offense that averaged 305 rushing yards per game. For a consecutive week, Reeltown won the turnover margin, snagging five turnovers in the game. Woods accounted for two of the turnovers, Rell Lockhart snatched two takeaways and Tae Martin also came away with an interception. 

“I think once in my career we've had plus 20 in turnovers and that was last year,” Johnson said. “I've never been a part of a team that did that. We were plus 20 coming in tonight's game, and I think this puts us at plus 23. The ball skills in our secondary, being able to fit the run as well as cover the pass and that's what happened.” 

Although there were many positives to take away from the game against Cottonwood, one thing remained the same — the penalties. At times, Reeltown shot themselves in the foot due to untimely penalties which either extended drives for Cottonwood or shortened its own offensive drives. 

“That's a really good football team, but most of the time tonight, we were just our own worst enemy with penalties,” Johnson said. “The penalty on the third and long first half,  two dead ball penalties gave them a first down. They ended up scoring that drive, that right there's a 14-point swing just the first half.” 

Despite the penalties, Reeltown made plays when it needed to and will advance to the semifinals for a consecutive year with the next opponent set to be Highland Home, which took down Ariton 44-13.