Maroon and Gold Spring Football Game was a Big Winner

By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer
garrett@thewoodrufftimes.com

The annual maroon and gold spring football game was a longstanding tradition of Woodruff High School football, held at the end of spring practice every year. The Wolverines’ new head coach, Brett Sloan, revived the tradition in May as the Wolverines took to the field under the Friday Night Lights for the first time in 2023 on May 19.

From local food trucks, games, and inflatable slides for the kids, and the action on the gridiron, the night was a huge success and brought out hundreds of fans from the community to get their first look at this year’s Wolverines.

“Having the community out here was a huge part of the night,” said Sloan. “That was one of the main goals, to get the community excited and let them know they are a part of this thing. And I think we were pretty successful at doing that. That is really important in a place like Woodruff. That’s important here.”
On the field, the Wolverines took on a new look from what fans have seen over the previous five years. Coach Sloan’s wide-open offense took center stage, featuring lots of downfield passes, RPO plays for the quarterbacks, and a run game that looks as if it could be stout once again.

Overall, Sloan said he was pleased with what he saw during the Wolverines’ first dry run on the field.
“I thought our kids played really hard, and their effort was outstanding,” he said. “We were physical, and that’s something I was concerned about; how physical we would be. I loved our tempo, and I thought we got lined up pretty quickly for the most part. There are some things we have to clean up from an assignment standpoint, but I was happy with the overall effort.”

For the players, the two weeks of spring practice were spent learning a new offense and defense, and Coach Sloan added that he feels like his players have taken to the new system very well. With two months left before the start of fall practice, things appear to be falling into place for Woodruff.

“We threw a pretty good bit at them (this spring), and they were able to handle that well. Some days were better than others, but we really pulled it together the last few days of spring practice, and I thought we really put it together (during the spring game) for our first time out.”

Up next, the Wolverines have a busy June before the July dead period that precedes the start of fall practice. Woodruff will compete in two prominent seven-on-seven passing tournaments, including a major tournament in Georgia. Coach Sloan has also lined up passing competitions locally against several competitive programs. Sloan said he is looking forward to a productive summer.

“We have to have a great summer,” he added. “We have to really attack the weight room and get bigger and stronger and faster. Those are the main goals, and we are on our way. We have to continue the upward trend in the weight room with our strength and conditioning program. We are going to the University of Georgia for a seven-on-seven tournament in June, then to Wingate. Those are the two main tournaments. Then we are going to go throw with Laurens and Dorman, so we have a pretty full schedule.”