Rockdale faced an opponent which allowed more than 40 points per game a season ago, but didn't need nearly that many in a squaker of a win at W. Clair Harris Stadium on Friday night.

Rockdale edged Winder-Barrow 6-3 on Friday night, relying on a long punt return for its lone points.
Winder-Barrow had a chance to tie it late in the game, but a 46-yard field goal to tie fell just short with 10 seconds left in head coach David Wagner's debut.

"I'm proud of them," Wagner said. "I don't believe in moral victories in any sense, but this is a team that gave up 40 points a game last season, and we held them without an offensive touchdown."

Rockdale's lone score came off of a 55-yard punt return by Micah Reed in the first quarter. Winder-Barrow blocked the extra point, and later in the game special teams would come up big again when Cole Dunagan got his hands on a punt deep in Rockdale territory.

Winder-Barrow recovered the ball but turned it over on downs just 17 yards short of the end zone and an upset.

Rockdale seemed destined to win as Cesar Saucedo's kick came up just a few feet short, but the Wagner found a special teams' weapon for the rest of the Region 8-AAAA season.

"Cesar kicked a great ball that was just a few yards short," Wagner said. "He's going to be a weapon for us this season."

It was also a game in which the defense was finally able to flex their muscles after a tough 2009, and the team as a whole could feel competitive no matter the opponent.

"I tell them, ‘I want you to compete and fight for me, and if you do that then we'll do well," Wagner said. "I feel like the mindset here is beginning to change."

After the early punt-return for a touchdown, the new-look Winder-Barrow defense held Rockdale out of the end zone the rest of the night, leaving Coach Wagner and his staff to find a way to score after being held to just two first downs in the first half.

So the coaching staff got creative.

"My philosophy is, ‘what are we saving it for, we're to win, if we've got it we use it," Wagner said.
What Wagner had in his back pocket were not one but two different fake punt plays that successfully resulted in first downs.

"We'd been practicing them," said Winder-Barrow senior running back/linebacker Kendrick Davis. "We knew we were going to do it and we were pretty sure it would work."

The first fake punt occurred during Winder-Barrow's first possession of the second half.

After holding Rockdale to a three-and-out, a punt went out of bounds at the Winder-Barrow 45-yard line.
Rockdale stymied the home team offense once again to force a punt on fourth down and four yards to go on the Bulldogs 49. Only the ball never reached the punter, and a pass along the left side was caught by wide receiver BJ Worley who took it to the 26-yard-line.

Winder-Barrow inched forward into the red zone, but Rockdale held firm and forced a 29-yard field goal by Saucedo which split the uprights and cut the lead to three points with 3:56 left in the third quarter.
Neither team reached the end zone after that as Rockdale was able to kneel for the win after the missed field goal.

This Article courtesy of Zac Taylor of "The Rockdale News"