By Tim Mastro

WILMINGTON — Marvin Dooley knew he was inheriting a talented roster when he accepted the Woodbridge High football job.

So he knew the Blue Raiders would be competing for titles. He didn’t expect all this, though.

Woodbridge clinched an unbeaten regular season with a 22-6 victory at Abessinio Stadium in Wilmington against Howard Vo-Tech on Friday night. The Blue Raiders finished with a 10-0 record and earned a first-round bye in the Class 2A state tournament.

“I knew we had a nice roster and we would had a good chance if we could develop but I’d never imagined we would be 10-0,” Dooley said. “Did I want to be 10-0? Yeah, but in football so many things can go wrong. I did expect us to be in the hunt. I’m happy for Woodbridge for the opportunity and I hope they’re happy I’m here.”

Tournament brackets will be announced on Sunday.

Seth Smart and Kenny Newton led the Blue Raiders on Friday night. Smart threw for a pair of touchdowns while Newton ran for one score and was on the receiving end of one of Smart’s touchdown throws.

Woodbridge needed to overcome a small slip-up early on as Howard took a 6-0 lead on a R.J. Matthews QB keeper. But the Blue Raider defense held the Wildcats off the scoreboard for the final 46 minutes.

Woodbridge took the lead for good with 7:00 left in the first quarter on a 41-yard touchdown from Smart to Lextyn Wescott. Smart said it was a broken play because of a blitz and Wescott was able to adjust his route to get into the right place in the end zone at the right time.

“Me and Lex have that connection where I know he’s going to be,” Smart said.

Newton added a two-point conversion for an 8-6 Woodbridge advantage.

He scored on a six-yard rushing touchdown a few drives later in the second quarter. Newton then rounded out the scoring with a 48-yard catch from Smart on a wheel route with eight seconds left before halftime.

Smart set up that touchdown with an interception. He ended up returning it for what looked like a touchdown but it was called back due to a block in the back penalty.

It just meant Woodbridge needed two wait two more plays to find the end zone. Both teams were held scoreless in the second half.

“This gives us good momentum going into the playoffs, especially that first-round bye so we can rest our bodies,” Smart said. “It feels great to give Coach Dooley a 10-0 season in his first year to show him what Woodbridge is about.”

“The first goal was to win the conference, we did that and then the second goal was to get the highest seed we could in the tournament,” Dooley said. “We’ve done all we could do. We put ourselves in the highest position we could. We’ll see how the points shake out.”