By Tim Mastro

GREENWOOD — The Woodbridge High football players gathered in a circle around midfield and started to dance.

That’s when the chant broke out — “We’re going to the ‘chip, we’re going to the ‘chip.”

Their home stadium has seen this celebration often over the last few years as the Blue Raiders have made it a habit to play for championships recently.

Woodbridge celebrated a return to the state title game with a 24-14 victory over Wilmington Friends on Friday night in the semifinals of the Class 2A classification tournament. While it is the first year of the new classification system after realignment, Woodbridge recently played for a state title in the old Division II format in 2016, 2018 and 2019, claiming a pair of state titles.

The Blue Raiders, seeded second in the tournament, will play for the championship at the University of Delaware next Saturday at 11 a.m. against the winner of today’s contest between top seed Archmere and No. 5 seed Delaware Military Academy.

Woodbridge, who stretched its unbeaten record to 12-0, has not lost since last year’s Division II semifinals to Archmere, which has motivated the Blue Raiders all season.

“They hurt my soul so we already knew what our goals was going into the season,” said running back Kenny Newton. “We knew were planning to go to the state championship. We weren’t playing for anything else.”

Newton provided a bulk of the offense for Woodbridge on Friday.

He scored twice in the first quarter, first on a 16-yard rush before a 32-yard touchdown on the next possession. Jordan Evans added a 30-yard rushing touchdown before halftime for a 24-0 advantage as Woodbridge went a perfect three-for-three on its two-point conversion attempts.

Newton’s two touchdowns were each set up by interceptions from Ci-Atrick Stones. Stones picked off two Wilmington Friends passes on back-to-back attempts. Newton scored less than three plays after each one.

“My team was hyping me up after that first one and coach told me to go get another one,” Stones said. “I got another and gave us momentum and changed the game with the two scores after it. I thought it was big but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates setting me up.”

“He always does something big in the game for us whether it’s a punt return or an interception,” said Woodbridge coach Marvin Dooley on Stones’ big day.

Wilmington Friends did deal the Blue Raiders a brief scare in the fourth quarter thanks to some mishaps on special teams by Woodbridge.

The Blue Raiders mistakenly ran a fake punt after several players misheard the playcall. The fake failed and gave the Quakers a short field which they cashed in on with a Osi Chukwuocha 15-yard touchdown reception from Robby Tattersall.

Chukwuocha then blocked a Woodbridge punt a few plays later. Chukwuocha then scored on a rushing touchdown to make it a 10-point game with 6:52 left.

But the Blue Raiders forced a Quaker punt on their next possession before Lextyn Wescott intercepted the Woodbridge defense’s third pass of the night in the final two minutes to seal it for the Blue Raiders.

“I thought we played great other than five minutes,” Dooley said. “Our defense was great and our offense has come a long way. I’m happy for the kids and it’s going to be a great game next week. We’re looking forward to the opportunity.”

Staff writer Tim Mastro can be reached at tmastro@iniusa.org.

Follow @TimMastroDSN on Twitter.