High school football: Woods Cross rolls over East

Coming off a tough, down-to-the-wire loss against Bountiful, Woods Cross bounced back and made quick work of the host East Leopards on Friday night in Region 6 football action.

The Wildcats got all the points they would need in the first 15 seconds of the game when Aaron Markish took the opening kickoff back 95 yards for a touchdown. Michael Clark added the extra point to make it 7-0, and Woods Cross proceeded to amass more than 250 yards on the ground on its way to a 46-6 blowout of East.

"Last week … we came up a little bit short," said Woods Cross coach Fred Fernandes. "But one thing we did learn is that we're a real good team. … I think we can play with anyone in the state."

Senior rushers CJ Corry and Parker Rose led the ground attack for the Wildcats. Corry carried the ball 13 times for 91 yards and three touchdowns, while Rose racked up 119 yards and a score on 10 carries.

"I was talking to one of the coaches who played (East) last week from Olympus, and he said, 'I don't think you can run on (East). You might as well not even try,' " Fernandes said.

Woods Cross apparently chose not to heed that advice.

"We blocked well. … We rushed it really well," Fernandes said. "Our offensive line, you really gotta give them credit."

The Wildcats kept their foot on the gas from the early going, taking a drive from their own 32 that Corry capped with his first score of the night, a 27-yard TD run.

Markish snuffed out East's next drive with an interception at the Wildcat 20. Then Rose delivered a backbreaker, as he took a handoff 68 yards to the end zone to make it 19-6 Wildcats.

Corry added a 7-yard score late in the second quarter, as well as a 2-yard touchdown early in the third. He also recorded an interception.

"Rose and Corry, they bring it every week," Fernandes said.

But the way the Wildcats' offensive line was playing — with Lee Peterson, Mitch Snyder, Jordan O'Toole, Robbie Thompson and Chris Lynn leading the way — it didn't seem to matter who was carrying the ball. Junior running back Anthony Kendrick got some touches in the second half and ran for 40 yards and a 6-yard touchdown.

Kelvin Mariner capped off the scoring for Woods Cross with a 6-yard score of his own.

East's lone score came late in the first half. Leopard quarterback Tanner Curtis used his legs and arm to march East deep into Woods Cross territory. The junior had a 13-yard run and later hit Damir Zulcic with a 29-yard pass to put the Leopards in the red zone.

Then on fourth-and-5 from the 10, Curtis rolled to his left away from the Wildcat rush and found Angel Castellanos in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

Curtis injured his right arm after being knocked down by Kendrick in the third quarter. He didn't return.

e-mail: rtrishman@desnews.com