Java wordsearch Char arrays

Here is an example of searching a grid for words in different direction. I have implemented three of them, and left three of them for you to finish. In my personal preference, I would have used an array of strings instead of a jagged array for the wordList, but I went with the OP's choice for the implementation. I made a simple version using a 4 x 4 grid, and a list of 3 words. Note that I call fillWithSpaces() on the output board. This is critical for formatting.

I have a text file called "board.txt"

dcat
aoiq
eigk
snur

and a text file "words.txt"

dog
cat
runs

Here is output of the program:

DCAT
-O--
--G-
SNUR

My strategy is to search the board for the first letter of a word. Once I find it, I update the static fields foundRow and foundColumn. When I use a different word, I update the static field currentWord. When I find a letter that matches, I have six different methods, checkForwards() checkBackwards() and so on. (There are other ways to do this but I am trying to make the example as clear as possible.

Here is the check backwards method. Since I already know the first letter matches, I start with the second (index 1). For each new char, I check that it will be on the board before I compare the values. (There is a better way to do this as well). If anything fails, I return. If all the chars match, I copy each char one at a time.

static void checkBackwards()
{
    for(int i = 1; i < wordList[currentWord].length; i++)
    {
        if(foundColumn - i < 0) return;
        if(wordList[currentWord][i] != board[foundRow][foundColumn - i]) return;
    }
    //if we got to here, update the output
    for(int i = 0; i < wordList[currentWord].length; i++)
    {
        output[foundRow][foundColumn - i] = wordList[currentWord][i];
    }
    return;
}

And here is the source code:

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.util.Scanner;

public class Wordsearch 
{
    static Scanner input;
    static char[][] wordList;
    static char[][] board;
    static char[][] output;

    static int foundRow;
    static int foundColumn;
    static int currentWord;

    public static void main(String[] args) throws FileNotFoundException
    {
        File wordInput = new File("words.txt");
        File boardInput = new File("board.txt");
        if(!wordInput.exists() || !boardInput.exists())
        {
            System.out.println("Files do not exist.");
            System.exit(1);
        }

        wordList = new char[3][];   //word list matrix 
        board = new char[4][4]; //board or grid matrix
        output= new char[4][4]; //solved puzzle 

        fillWithSpaces(output);

        input = new Scanner(wordInput);
        for(int i = 0; i < wordList.length; i++)
        {
            wordList[i] = input.nextLine().toUpperCase().toCharArray();
        }

        input = new Scanner(boardInput);
        for(int i = 0; i < board[0].length; i++)
        {
            board[i] = input.nextLine().toUpperCase().toCharArray();
        }

        for(int i = 0; i < wordList.length; i++)
        {
            currentWord = i;
            if(findFirstLetter())
            {
                checkEachDirection();
            }
        }

        print(output);
    }

    static boolean findFirstLetter()
    {
        for(int r = 0; r < board.length; r++)
        {
            for(int c = 0; c < board.length; c++)
            {
                if(wordList[currentWord][0] == board[r][c])
                {
                    foundRow = r;
                    foundColumn = c;
                    return true;
                }
            }
        }
        return false;
    }

    static void checkEachDirection()
    {
        checkForwards();
        checkBackwards();
        //checkUp();
        //checkDown();
        checkDiagonalDown();
        //checkDiagonalUp();
    }

    static void checkForwards()
    {
        for(int i = 1; i < wordList[currentWord].length; i++)
        {
            if(foundColumn + i > board.length - 1) return;
            if(wordList[currentWord][i] != board[foundRow][foundColumn + i]) return;
        }
        //if we got to here, update the output
        for(int i = 0; i < wordList[currentWord].length; i++)
        {
            output[foundRow][foundColumn + i] = wordList[currentWord][i];
        }
        return;
    }

    static void checkBackwards()
    {
        for(int i = 1; i < wordList[currentWord].length; i++)
        {
            if(foundColumn - i < 0) return;
            if(wordList[currentWord][i] != board[foundRow][foundColumn - i]) return;
        }
        //if we got to here, update the output
        for(int i = 0; i < wordList[currentWord].length; i++)
        {
            output[foundRow][foundColumn - i] = wordList[currentWord][i];
        }
        return;
    }

    static void checkDiagonalDown()
    {
        for(int i = 1; i < wordList[currentWord].length; i++)
        {
            if(foundColumn + i > board.length - 1) return;
            if(foundRow + i > board.length - 1) return;
            if(wordList[currentWord][i] != board[foundRow + i][foundColumn + i]) return;
        }
        //if we got to here, update the output
        for(int i = 0; i < wordList[currentWord].length; i++)
        {
            output[foundRow + i][foundColumn + i] = wordList[currentWord][i];
        }
        return;
    }

    static void print(char[][] board)
    {
        for(int i = 0; i < board.length; i++)
        {
            for(int j = 0; j < board.length; j++)
            {
                System.out.print(board[i][j]);
            }
            System.out.println();
        }
        System.out.println();
    }

    static void fillWithSpaces(char[][] board)
    {
        for(int i = 0; i < board.length; i++)
        {
            for(int j = 0; j < board.length; j++)
            {
                board[i][j] = '-';
            }
        }
    }
}