Woodford erupts to send Northeast to GHSA semifinals with 48-39 win over No. 1 Fannin County

There are a few things in the world folks can be certain of. You’ve heard the saying — death, taxes and so on.

Georgia high school football defenses and fans everywhere can add Nick Woodford to the list, if they haven’t already.

Woodford had an otherworldly second half for No. 8 Northeast, breaking off multiple huge touchdown runs in a back-and-forth affair against No. 1 Fannin County to help give the Raiders their first-ever trip to the GHSA A-Division I state semifinals with a 48-39 win over the Rebels in Blue Ridge Friday night.

Though Woodford typically teams with quarterback Reginald Glover to make up Northeast’s potent rushing attack, the running back handled almost all the work himself to get the Raiders a program-best 11th win of the season. 

The contest on the road in North Georgia in 32-degree weather was only the second quarterfinal performance in Northeast history, the other being a loss against Swainsboro in the 2A tournament in 2021.

Even with a two-score lead late, the Raiders did not dominate. They were down by margins of 14-0 and 24-8 early and escaped an even worse deficit when Fannin scored only three points off two first-half Northeast turnovers. It took Woodford really taking off in the second half to give the Raiders the shootout victory.

After Northeast stifled Fannin County on the opening drive, the Raiders built a little momentum with some nice runs before a third-down interception by Glover ended the drive and gave the Rebels good field position.

With the good starting spot on the field, Fannin County found the end zone quickly with a pass from Rebels quarterback Lawson Sullivan to receiver Cannon Holloway, a freshman playing in the slot, to take a 7-0 lead.

After another empty Raiders possession, the Rebels dealt a tough blow on a drive that started inside their own 10-yardline. Using the last five minutes or so of the first quarter, Fannin County methodically moved into Northeast territory before a slick 40-yard run from Sullivan extended their lead to 14-0.

A nice kick return from Northeast’s Kortnei Williams helped them bounce back, though, and even a false start couldn’t keep Woodford out of the endzone. A two-point conversion made it 14-8 early in the second quarter.

The Rebels stayed relentless, however. Sullivan had a few more nice throws on a sequence that ended in a 20-yard scoring scamper by the quarterback to make it a 21-8 Fannin County lead with about seven-and-a-half minutes left in the opening half.

The Rebels smelled blood from there, as a squib kick by Fannin County ricocheted off an unaware Northeast player to give possession right back to the Rebels. After a field goal drive made it 24-8 Fannin County, Glover coughed up the ball on the subsequent drive to give the Rebels a chance to deliver a death blow.

The Raiders defense stepped up, though, shutting down the Rebel offense for the first time since their first drive to get the ball back and begin a nice drive. 

Northeast worked slowly and overcame some pre-snap penalties, as a crucial catch by Zahkie Denson and some more runs by Glover set up a short-yardage touchdown by Woodford yet again. The senior’s second score of the game made it 24-15 with less than a minute remaining in the half.

Fannin County flirted with a last-second score but ultimately could not move quick enough. Brayden Taylor — a standout for the Rebels on both sides of the ball all night — made a brilliant, toe-tapping catch on the sidelines, but it was all for naught as time expired following the grab. The Rebels nonetheless took a 24-15 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Northeast looked regrouped after the break, taking a consistent drive across midfield to start the third quarter. Glover connected with Denson again to convert a key third-down play before the quarterback pulled a read option and took the ball to the end zone himself for a touchdown to tighten the game to 24-21.

After another stop by the Raiders’ defense, one of the game’s first truly explosive plays arrived when Woodford did it all himself on a massive 70-yard touchdown jaunt to give the Northeast its first lead of the night, a 28-24 margin after the PAT, with about seven minutes left in the third.

The momentum was short-lived. Sullivan single-handedly fueled the Rebels again, streaking up the middle and breaking tackles before slithering to the outside and running almost 70 yards for a touchdown himself — Fannin County was up 31-28 in no time.

Northeast tried to answer with another long drive of Woodford rushes, but a fourth-and-long inside the Fannin County 30-yardline ended with a communication issue between Glover and his receivers, giving the ball back to the Rebels.

After some empty possessions for both squads, the Raiders overcame some more penalties before a screen pass to Micaiah Howard went for a full-blown jailbreak play. Howard found paydirt after going more than 40 yards to put Northeast up 35-31 with about 10:30 to play.

The Raider defense got perhaps its biggest stop of the night next, holding Fannin County with ease to get the ball right back and drive against an exhausted Rebels defensive unit. After yet another long Woodford jaunt for about 50 yards put them in the red zone, two Tailen Sampson carries got Northeast across the goalline to make it a two-score, 42-31 game.

Fannin County would not go down easy. The Raiders, after letting two would-be interceptions slip through their fingertips, missed a third pick when a defender overran a rainbow throw from Sullivan. The pass instead sailed into the hands of Taylor, who had nothing but green grass between him and the end zone from the 10-yardline to cut Northeast’s lead to 42-37.

Nick Woodford would have none of it. The senior back, as he had much of the season, rumbled his way to a season-defining score, running from about 60 yards out for his fourth huge gain of the night to make it a two-score game again.

From there, Northeast wrapped up the game with a great defensive stand, intercepting a Fannin County pass inside the red zone to make it all but a done deal. A bad snap for a safety was a momentary setback, but the Raiders wrapped up the win.

Now Northeast gets the luxury of hosting the semifinal game, as they’ll face No. 12 Fitzgerald — the Purple Hurricane have been a powerhouse team in recent seasons, appearing in multiple state title games — next week in Macon.