HS Football Playoffs: The Woodlands blanks Spring in 6A bi-district round win

SPRING, TX -- The Spring Lions came into Saturday’s bi-district matchup against The Woodlands with a top-10 offense and defense. That offense was nowhere to be found on Saturday as The Woodlands held the Lions scoreless in the 17-0 win, advancing to the Area Round of the UIL 6A-D1 football Playoffs.

The Highlander defense, who allowed just 187 yards of total offense, set the tone with a Carter Doucet interception on the first series of the game. The senior cornerback set up the offense inside the Spring 50-yard line.

Field position would be the story of the first quarter as The Woodlands played with a short field on offense throughout the quarter. The first possession would come up empty for The Woodlands, but the punt pinned the Lions inside their own 5-yard line. The Highlanders defense harassed Spring, nearly picking up a safety, and forcing a short punt to give their offense the ball back at Spring’s 11-yard line.

With even better field position on their second series, The Woodlands would cash in. On 4th and 1 from the two-yard line, Ben Mills powered his way into the end zone on a QB sneak for the first score of the game.

The Highlander defense continued their dominant start to the game on Spring’s next series. The defense chopped down Spring’s punter inches short of the first down marker to foil the Lions’ fake punt and gifted their offense with the third straight possession in Spring territory. 4th down conversions were the biggest factor in Saturday’s game. The Lions were just one for eight on the day, while The Woodlands converted both of their two attempts.

With under a minute left in the first quarter, Ben Mills threw up a jump ball for his receiver Cole Dodson. Dodson went up over two defenders and came down with the nine-yard TD reception. The Highlanders would ride the momentum of the 14-0 start in the first quarter into the locker room at halftime.

Neither offense stood out in the second half as both defenses continued to be stingy. Fabrizio Pinton would add a 35-yard field goal late in the third quarter to complete the scoring for the day.

Spring had an opportunity to attempt to start a late comeback midway through the final quarter. Spring QB Bishop Davenport ripped off a 69-yard run to set the Lions up inside Highlander territory. However, with four plays inside the 10, Spring was unable to unlock the talented Highlanders defense. A goal-line stand by The Woodlands was the exclamation point on a great performance in Round 1.

The Woodlands will meet Cypress Woods on November 22 at 7 p.m. at Cy-Fair FCU Stadium in the Area round.