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Woodfork had amazing night against Tallulah
Vidalia High School has always been known for its running backs.
But one name that does not get mentioned much is one of a player who had one of the most amazing nights of any Viking back in history.
On the night of October 12, 1990, Vidalia senior running back Roger Woodfork chewed up 192 more yards in total offense (530) than the entire Tallulah High offense and also accounted for 24 more points than the entire Trojan team.
Vidalia defeated Tallulah 52-20 as Woodfork rushed for 301 yards on 16 carries and scored five touchdowns and one two-point conversion.
"That was my best moment in sports," said Woodfork, who now resides in Houston. "Even now it's kind of hard to believe that."
Woodfork scored on runs of 62, 2, 25, 99 and 54 yards. He also passed to Ryan Smither on a 54-yard pass play in the third period and caught an 85-yard TD pass from Ronnie Morales
"My philosophy was always give it to the guy who is hot," said Vidalia coach Dee Faircloth. "When you see a running back with a lot of yards there's usually long runs involved. The score really didn't indicate how the game went. We didn't dominate the way the score seems to say. We gave up too many yards on the ground (228)."
But Faircloth had Woodfork on his side.
"It seemed like a 300-pound lineman could have run through the holes our offensive line was giving me," Woodfork said
The 99-yard run came in the third quarter. District Attorney and then-Viking guard Brad Burget remembers it well.
"We stopped them on our half-yard line on fourth down," Burget said. "Our first play, my feet were in the end zone. The play was a kick-out to the right side. Roger took it to the right side, stumbled a bit, re-gained his balance and cut back to the left. It was like he was shot out of a cannon."
"I remember getting hit in our own end zone, but I put my hand on the ground and maintained my balance" Woodfork said. "I looked up and saw it was wide open to the outside. So I hit the left corner and just took off."
Vidalia lost to two-time defending state champion Jonesboro-Hodge in the second round of the playoffs. Jonesboro-Hodge lost to Buras in the state championship game that year.
The Vikings also lost to Jonesboro-Hodge in 1989 in the second round.
"My junior year was one of our better teams," Burget said.
Vidalia actually defeated Tallulah 48-0 in 1989.
The Vikings lost to Jonesboro-Hodge in the first round of the playoffs that season.
Woodfork rushed for 137 yards against Tallulah in 1989, giving him 438 rushing yards against Tallulah in two games.
"Roger was one heckuva back," Burget said. "He also shared the backfield with some good players such as Lawrence Chatman, Terrence Williams, Ronnie Morales, Doug Yates and Kale Davis. Roger was also a really good receiver and threw the halfback pass extremely well."
Woodfork said he talks about the 1990 Tallulah game with his son, Eric, who is a junior at a high school in Dallas where he plays football and runs track.
"That was a great night and I never had another one like that," he said. "Those were great times -- just being around Coach Faircloth. He taught me a lot on and off the field."
Pick A Game is a series of articles focusing on one sporting event from the past. |
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