WINCHESTER — Linebacker Logan Lafollette raced over to the James Wood sidelines after a fourth-down stop against Dominion in the second quarter on Friday.
As he leaped into the air, he yelled to his teammates, “They ain’t going nowhere.”
And for the most part, it was a pretty accurate statement about how the Dominion offense fared against the Colonels’ first-string defense.
James Wood’s top defensive unit held the Titans scoreless through three quarters and helped overcome two early turnovers in a 57-6 romp at Kelican Stadium on Friday. Quarterback Owen Neal ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more in a stellar first half that saw the Colonels (2-0) take a 43-0 lead at the break. Jeremiah Hodel added two rushing scores for the Colonels, who racked up 474 yards of total offense.
While the scoreboard numbers were whirling most of the game, James Wood’s defense set the tone early when the contest got off to a rocky start. After taking the opening kickoff, the Colonels fumbled on their first play from scrimmage, giving Dominion (0-2) the ball at the James Wood 36. The Titans were able to get one first down before Xavier Price picked off Jaden Walker’s pass on third-and-21.
After James Wood took a 7-0 lead, a fumbled punt once again gave the ball to the Titans in James Wood territory at the 49. And once again, the Colonels defense produced a turnover as Xander Manzo intercepted Walker.
The Colonels would go on to hold Dominion to just 43 total yards in the half and produce four turnovers, two interceptions each by Price and Manzo. The Titans had just 15 yards rushing on 17 carries at the half.
“Our defensive line, our linebackers and everybody, we were just locking them down,” said Lafollette. “That’s how we are supposed to play and that’s what we are supposed to do to teams like that. We’ve got to keep rolling and lock them down — no yards and no first downs.”
For the game, the Colonels allowed just 132 total yards, with 65 coming on Dominion’s final drive against the reserves. Through two games, James Wood’s first-string defense has allowed just three points.
What is the key?
“It’s the physicality definitely,” Lafollette said. “We have energy. We’re all playing together as a team, too. We’re all coming together and making gang tackles. It’s 11 players flying to the ball each play and they aren’t getting five yards after contact. We’re driving them back and they’re not getting any positive yards.”
With a strong defensive line, led Friday by Heston LaRue, the Colonels feel like they can stop anyone.
“That’s a big part of it is having the confidence,” James Wood coach Todd Wilson said. “We know there’s a lot of things we need to clean up, but the last two weeks we’ve felt good going into those two games. We did what we wanted to do. This is how we wanted to start the season.”
With the defense throttling Dominion’s attack, Neal and his teammates took control on offense. After the opening fumble, the Colonels scored on each drive until the clock ticked off to end their final possession.
Neal was stellar in the first half, completing all four of his passes for 188 yards and two scores. All four of his completions went for more than 40 yards. Three of his four carries also found the end zone as he scored on runs of 5, 15 and 5 yards.
In his third season as a starter, Neal now feels like a veteran.
“Those first two years with the experience and now the third year, I just feel way more comfortable,” he said. “I trust everybody out here. The line, I’ve been with them for another year. The trust all around is just way higher.”
Wilson said the Colonels were worried that they could lose Neal for a few games after an injury last week, but the junior was back at practice and looked great on Friday, finishing 5 for 8 for 202 yards passing and rushing five times for 55 yards.
“That’s a testament just to his hard work,” Wilson said of his quarterback’s play. “He’s dedicated himself to being the best athlete and person he can be.”
Neal’s first TD pass was only a short throw. Tailback Kaden McCullough took a swing pass, ran through a tackle and tip-toed down the left sidelines for a 42-yard score. Aidan Bell’s first of seven extra points made it 7-0 with 7:15 to go in the first quarter.
Neal capped a 74-yard march by stretching over the goal line on a 5-yard keeper and McCullough’s two-point conversion run made it 15-0 with 41 seconds left in the opening period.
The Colonels poured it on in the second quarter. Neal got the ball rolling as he left a pass rusher grasping at air before firing a 51-yard strike to Aidric Yurish to make it 22-0 on the second play of the period.
“In the moment it was just instinct,” Neal said of the play that drew gasps from the Colonels crowd. “I mean I saw him, but after that I just remember throwing a touchdown pass. It was just instinct.”
A 41-yard pass to Yurish set up Hodel’s 15-yard burst through a gaping hole that made it 29-0. A 54-yard bomb from Neal to Jackson Lang preceded Neal’s 15-yard keeper to make it 36-0 with 1:56 left before the half. Price’s second interception on the next Dominion play led to Neal’s 5-yard TD scamper before the half.
The Titans fumbled the second-half kickoff and Hodel later scampered 18 yards up the middle to make it 50-0. Lafollette’s three-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter pushed the margin to 57-0. Dominion avoided the shutout on Walker’s 19-yard slant to Rico Jones with 4:16 left.
Led by Hodel’s 105 yards on eight carries, James Wood amassed 272 yards on 31 rushes. A total of 11 Colonels toted the ball and just one play went for negative yardage. Neal was not sacked.
James Wood, which have outscored their first two opponents 101-9, next faces Culpeper County (2-0), a 15-14 winner over Eastern View on Friday.
“We know we have a much tougher test week in Culpeper,” Wilson said. “We’ve already looked at them a little bit. They’re really big up front and kind of match up well with us as far as size. We know we have our hands full next week, but we’re really excited about our program that we think is headed in the right direction. The guys are really working hard and we’re excited where we’re at right now.”
Note: James Wood celebrated the induction of five members to its P. Wendell Dick Hall of Fame during ceremonies at halftime. Beth Schiable (track, volleyball, basketball), Brian Scott (wrestling), Katie Houser (volleyball), Ashley Hillyard (tennis, volleyball) and Craig Woshner (coach, athletic director) were honored.