Goal Line Fumble Seals Dramatic Woburn Football Win

It wasn’t pretty. But the Tanners will take it.

The Woburn High School football team escaped by the skin of its teeth on Friday night, holding on for a 27-21 victory against rival Winchester in a game that featured plenty of drama in the final minutes.

Winchester found itself with the ball on the Tanner one-yard-line with four seconds to play. Hoping to push home the potentially game-winning score, the Sachems instead fumbled the quarterback exchange and dove on the ball. Time, however, had expired and Woburn improved to 3-0 on the season.

“We were very fortunate to get out of there with a win,” said head coach Rocky Nelson. “I hope it’s a learning experience. Coming off of a big win (versus Burlington), there can be such a thing as a trap game or a letdown game. As much as you talk to the players about it, sometimes it doesn’t sink in. You have to respect everyone on your scheduled and bring your ‘A’ game. We didn’t.”

Marvin Jean busted free for two long touchdown runs to help Woburn build its lead in the second half. In addition, Nelson said quarterback Robert Voci had his best passing game of the season to date.

Nelson said games like Friday’s can help a team in the long run because close contests are likely to keep coming as the season goes on. 

“It certainly helps, because it’s probably going to happen again,” said Nelson. “We’re not going to blow everyone out. There’s going to be a lot of close games.”

Woburn next hits the field on Friday night against Lexington in the Tanners’ final scheduled home game of the year. Following the tilt, Woburn will finish the season with four straight road contests.

But against Winchester, all the talk was about the fumble that sealed a rivalry win.

“It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t pretty,” said Nelson. “But we came out with a win.”