For the Daily Journal
MOORESVILLE
Brandon Rosado needed to lean on someone to hold himself up. He was that beat.
“Both my legs are cramping, but I just kept going,” Rosado said. “I couldn’t stop.”
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Rosado scored two touchdowns and then added a two-point conversion in overtime to lift the visiting Woodmen to a 22-14 victory against Mooresville on Friday night.
Mooresville’s Zeke O’Dell caught a 15-yard TD from Eli Bunch as the regulation clock ran out, and the PAT tied it at 14-14.
“That jump ball play, they made a play on it and we didn’t,” Greenwood coach Mike Campbell said. “I was thrilled with how our kids responded in overtime.”
The Woodmen (4-0, 2-0) got the ball first in OT and scored on Isaiah Borjas’ 1-yard TD run. After Mooresville (0-4, 0-2) was offsides, Campbell decided to go for two. Rosado barely got in.
“I was a little surprised (coach) went for two, but I wasn’t going to let anyone else get it,” Rosado said. “I wanted that one.”
Campbell said the two-point play put pressure on the Woodmen.
“We knew we could defend four plays and possibly a two-point play,” Campbell said. “I was confident we get that stop.”
The Woodmen then held the Pioneers from scoring, sealing it with a fourth-down interception by Isaiah Drew.
Rosado’s 31-yard TD catch from Seth Gallman tied it at 7-7 early in the third quarter. Rosado’s 25-yard TD run put the Woodmen ahead 14-7 with 2:34 left in the period.
“The offensive line in the second half, we pulled it through,” said Rosado, who finished with 135 rushing yards. “We kept pushing them back and they gave me some space. I tried to put some moves on them.”
Greenwood looked poised to run out the clock in regulation but got stopped, and a 14-yard punt gave Mooresville the ball at the Greenwood 31.
“Credit to their kids, they didn’t give up,” Campbell said. “They played hard. We know they were physical and we know they came after us. They hit us in the mouth and we didn’t respond very well early. I thought our defense battled the whole game and was sound and solid.”
The Pioneers scored on their opening possession, taking a 7-0 lead on Hawkins’ 4-yard touchdown run with 7:15 left in the first quarter.
After Rosado fumbled, Mooresville drove into field goal range before the drive stalled. The Pioneers missed a 45-yard field goal attempt at the start of the second quarter.
Greenwood also stopped Mooresville on four downs from the 1-yard line in the second half.
“We needed a game like this, and we needed to be tested,” Campbell said. “We talked at halftime about our resolve and character, and I think we showed that.”
