Woodland Christian wins to open prep football playoffs after game was almost canceled
It was quite the 24 hours for the Woodland Christian football program.
On Wednesday, the team’s Division VII playoff contest against Gustine — a school south of Modesto — was canceled over a paperwork oversight tied to 11 freshman players. On Thursday, Yolo County Superior Court Judge Samuel T. McAdam ruled in favor of Woodland Christian over the CIF, allowing Thursday’s game to go on.
“It was a total roller coaster,” Cardinals coach Michael Paschke told The Sacramento Bee. “It went from the lowest of the low, figuring we had no chance in the world ... (and) it was just an amazing day. We just had to keep believing and believing and it just happened today.”
The day was capped with a resounding 45-8 win for Woodland Christian, the No. 3 seed, to continue a stellar season. The Cardinals are 9-1 overall and went 4-0 in conference play to win the Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League. Their victory Thursday in the opening round of the playoffs included going up 42-0 in the first half, leading to a running clock for the remainder of a cold night in Woodland. The temperature dropped to 44 degrees when the game concluded.
Paschke, his players and most of the school watched the judge’s announcement in the campus amphitheater earlier in the afternoon. The cheerleaders and drumline participated in what likely felt more like a celebratory rally after they found out they would be allowed to participate in the postseason.
“It was an exciting day,” Paschke said. “And to cap it off with a 45-8 win in the playoffs? It shows that we’re a good team and we deserve to be here.
“It was an unfortunate error by our administration, but it feels right. It feels like we earned it. It feels good for the kids.”
Better yet for the Cardinals, they were able to celebrate their senior night after Thursday’s game because their last home contest of the regular season was forfeited by their opponent.
The star of Thursday’s game was senior receiver and defensive back Billy Hinkle, who scored five first-half touchdowns, including rushing scores of 25, 38, 32 and 12 yards, before catching a short receiving touchdown from quarterback Caden Pascoe just before the break. Hinkle coming into Thursday’s contest scored 22 total touchdowns (17 rushing, five receiving) with 1,680 yards from scrimmage in 11 games.
“Billy Hinkle these last few weeks is just really jumped off last year,” Paschke said. He was our MVP. He’s playing his best football I’ve ever seen him play the last few weeks, so it’s exciting.”
Junior running back and defensive end Khai Brown added a short rushing touchdown and kicker Cristian Morales added a 26-yard field goal in the second half. The Cardinals defense was stout, preventing Gustine from getting any consistent production from its offense.
Gustine’s only score was a 3-yard touchdown to tight end Julian Nessi late in the game. Quarterback Alejandro Lugo scrambled across the goal line to convert the 2-point conversion, preventing the home team from getting the shutout. Gustine, the No. 6 seed in the Division VII bracket, finished the season 4-7 and finished sixth in the Southern League.
Next up for Woodland Christian is a game Nov. 18 against the winner of Friday’s game between No. 2 seed Le Grand and No. 7 Delta. Paschke said the focus of his team is to remain disciplined and clean up self-inflicted mistakes.
“I would say penalties, our Achilles heel tonight,” Paschke said. “We had to clean up, just not be selfish. Like every opportunity in life, you have to take advantage of it. And you can’t think about yourself.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 11:32 PM.
