By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer | garrett@thewoodrufftimes.com
After two straight home games, the Woodruff Wolverines take to the road for their longest trip away from home during the regular season as they travel to Greenwood to face the Emerald Vikings. Woodruff has won the last nine games in the series and 12 of the past 13 matchups with the Vikings. This week’s game will be the 17th all-time meeting between the two teams. Here is everything you need to know about this week’s matchup.
Woodruff- Brett Sloan (3rd season)
Emerald- Tad DuBose (6th season)
2025 Records:
Woodruff- 2-0, Emerald 2-0
Last week:
Woodruff defeated Fountain Inn 46-27
Emerald defeated Travelers Rest 28-7
By the numbers:
2025 Points scored- Woodruff 67 (33.5), Emerald 56 (28.0)
2025 Points allowed- Woodruff 40 (20.0), Emerald 7 (3.5)
Series History:
-Woodruff leads the all-time series 12-4
-First meeting- Emerald won 29-16 in 1996
-Last meeting- Woodruff won 62-35 in 2024
About the Wolverines:
Woodruff comes into this week’s game battle-tested. Following the season-opening win against Clinton, the Wolverines received all they could handle from a good Fountain Inn team last week before eventually pulling away in the fourth quarter. Connor Davis passed for three touchdowns, and Aiden Gibson scored four times, with three coming on the ground, as the Woodruff offense line, led by Paul Davis, Ian Jones, Dawson Clevenger, Jayden Hunter, and Grayson Patterson, began to open up running lanes in the second half. Kori Moates scored his first receiving touchdown of the season, and Woodruff is looking to get tight end Kam Taylor, a Liberty commit, more involved in the offense. Defensively, Woodruff was led up front on Friday by senior Adrian Hill, who had a monster game on the defensive line. Shaun ‘War Daddy’ Graybill added two sacks from his middle linebacker spot as well. The Wolverines will need to be on their toes up front this week against Emerald’s run-heavy, misdirection offense, which head coach Tad DuBose brought with him from Abbeville.
About the Vikings:
Emerald comes into this week’s game with a 2-0 record after victories over Ninety-Six and Travelers Rest, but the Wolverines will be by far their toughest task so far in the young season. Still, the Vikings are a much-improved team from previous seasons. Sophomore Beau Hite returns for this second season as the starting quarterback, and he has a pair of capable running backs in Emerald’s ground-heavy offense in junior speedster Christopher Dean and two-way player Christian Foster. At receiver, Camelle Hill is a tall, athletic target. The Vikings’ offensive line is big and physical, led by juniors Peyton Duffie and Derrick Pinkney. On defense, the front line for Emerald is also an imposing unit anchored by junior Tyrell Cloud and 6’1” 270-pound sophomore Ricky Cleveland. A duo of juniors leads the secondary in Zarrio Chambers and Markevious Coleman. Emerald is a very young team, with few senior starters, and will command the Wolverines’ full attention and respect.
Players to watch:
Woodruff-
#14 QB Connor Davis- Jr (6’2” 210)
#32 RB Aiden Gibson- Jr (6’2” 205)
#4 WR/DB Dre Jenkins- Sr (6’1” 170)
#64 OL Ian Jones- Soph (6’4” 280)
#40 DL Adrian Hill- Sr (5’11” 220)
Emerald-
#4 QB Beau Hite- Soph (6’0” 155)
#0 RB Christopher Dean- Jr (5’6” 146)
#17 WR Camelle Hill- Jr (6’2” 175)
#3 LB/RB Christian Foster- Sr (5’11” 185)
#32 DL Tyrell Cloud- Jr (6’2” 262)
Coach’s Corner with Brett Sloan:
Key to sustaining drives is “Fundamentals…we have to block better on the perimeter…we have to block better in the box.”
“It is really just a lack of execution. We need to spread the ball around more, and we know that. There have been things called to do that. We have just had breakdowns at one position or another that have prevented them from happening. We are trying to involve more play action and quick game to hopefully spread the ball around some.”
“(Emerald) is a very good and athletic football team. They have dynamic playmakers at the offensive skilled positions. They have a talented young quarterback. Their defensive box is fast and strong. Coach Dubose and his staff do a great job. We will have to play well on Friday night to be successful.”
Author: gmitchell85
