EDINBURG — Edinburg High Bobcats running back Shandon Woodard loves to score touchdowns.
He leads District 31-6A in rushing with 875 yards and 10 touchdowns this season.
“I love making people miss me, running over people and I love being the running back,” Woodard said. “I love to hear the roar of the crowd as I run in for a touchdown.”
From the time Woodard began playing organized football, he played the running back position, scoring touchdowns for his team and making it look easy.
“I don’t go down easy when I get the ball in my hands,” Woodard said. “I want to score all the time.”
But that all changed in high school when Woodward was moved to linebacker from running back his freshman season.
“I liked being linebacker because I loved the feeling of hitting the opponents and taking down the running backs head on,” Woodard said.
Woodard recalled being at practicing with the linebackers going into this season when head coach J.J. Leija sent him to work out with the running backs.
“That is when they started teaching me the running plays,” Woodard said. “I was the next man up; the coaches liked what they saw and kept me there.”
Going into the season, the Bobcats were looking for a new running back to emerge for the team. Early on the Bobcats rotated between A.J. Treviño and Woodard.
After Trevino was sidelined with an injury, Woodard took over for the Bobcats fulltime.
This week, the Bobcats (3-4, 1-2) will meet up with the Weslaco High Panthers (6-1, 3-0). The Panthers are on a six-game winning streak.
The Bobcats are coming off two straight district losses. The first was in a 28-0 loss against Weslaco East and a 35-28 loss to Edinburg North.
Against the Cougars, Woodard shot out of the backfield on a handoff and picked up a 71-yard touchdown to bring the Bobcats within one score.
“We were down and I had to do something,” Woodard said about his long touchdown.
Against Weslaco East, Woodard was stopped from scoring and rushed for just 36 yards.
“We really learned a lot from that Weslaco East game,” Woodard said. “I didn’t like my performance in that game and I felt I could have done better for the team.”
Going into this week’s game against Weslaco High, Woodard said he is focused and believes any team is beatable.
“It will be a good opportunity to show how good I can play,” Woodard said. “If I can run against that team, I can run against any team.”