Earl Woods again showed why he’s one of the state’s most dangerous playmakers.

Woods took a shotgun snap, faked a handoff to running back Jakheal Rowser and raced up the middle for a 65-yard touchdown with 9:11 remaining to give Hueytown the lead for good in Friday’s 32-27 comeback victory over McAdory.

“I had been setting that play up the whole game,” Woods said, “and one that play, I knew I was going to keep it because they kept biting on the running back. I just pulled it and ran with it.”

Woods, who committed to Jacksonville State less than a week ago, finished with 17 carries for 170 yards, including 140 in the second half, and three touchdowns. His TD runs of 1, 1 and 65 yards all came in the fourth quarter.

Hueytown (4-3 overall, 4-1 in Class 6A, Region 4) has now won three straight games, while McAdory has dropped two straight.

Stat sheet: Rowser ran for 130 yards and a TD on 22 carries for Hueytown, and Woods added 101 yards passing and a TD. … For McAdory, Rod Thomas ran for 121 yards and three TDs on 14 carries. Tavaris Coles caught eight passes for 118 yards and a touchdown.

By the numbers: Hueytown finished with 401 yards of total offense – 300 on 40 carries and 101 through the air. … McAdory had 407 yards of total offense – 249 on 30 carries and 158 through the air. … Both teams threw one interception.

Coachspeak: “Earl made a really good read and pulled the ball and was able to run for a long TD. Great players make plays for you, and he did that tonight. I think our defense really stepped it up in the second half.” – Hueytown coach Greg Patterson

“They made a couple more plays than we made. They did a good job of executing plays, and we held Woods as long as we could. But he is such a playmaker, and he made plays when he had to. We played hard. We just have to find a way to close games out.” – McAdory coach Aryvia Holmes

Scoring summary: The two teams swapped scores in the first half, as Hueytown’s Rowser scored on a 5-yard run and Diego Valencia-Torres’ extra point made it 7-0. McAdory answered with Thomas’ 59-yard touchdown run and Rosales Homberto’s extra point to tie the game at 7-all with 3:20 to go in the first quarter.

Hueytown then drove 76 yards in seven plays in the second quarter, capped by Dacorian Thomas’ 37-yard touchdown reception from Earl Woods. The Golden Gophers missed the extra point and led 13-7.

McAdory then went 69 yards in 11 plays, and Thomas capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:08 to play before halftime. Homberto’s extra point gave the Yellow Jackets at 14-13 halftime lead.

Thomas’s 23-yard run extended McAdory’s lead early in the third quarter, but Woods then scored three straight TDs for a 32-21 lead. McAdory’s Coles caught a 27-yard TD pass from Jacob Clayton with 2:14 to go, but the 2-point pass failed.

He said it: “My O-line did a great job blocking in the second half. We just had to keep chipping away, because McAdory is a good team.” – Woods

What’s next?: Hueytown plays at Northridge, while McAdory (4-3, 3-2) is at Brookwood.