Since arriving at James Wood High School, junior quarterback Owen Neal has consistently helped the Colonels improve. After a standout 2025, Neal’s linear progression has culminated in him being named The Winchester Star Offensive Player of the Year.
After James Wood’s 2-8 finish in 2022, it improved to 4-6 during Neal’s freshman year before jumping up to 7-4 in 2024.
This past season, the Colonels posted a similar 7-4 record, but fared much better against local rivals, improving their points per game against Frederick County teams from 16.5 to 33.0. The Colonels also qualified for the postseason in both 2024 and 2025.
Neal’s improvement has mirrored his team’s, as he put forth a career season by completing 64.3% of his 199 passes for 2,633 yards, 27 touchdowns and five interceptions, while also carrying the ball 139 times for 912 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns.
This production helped Neal earn significant recognition, being named Region 4D Offensive Player of the Year and Class 4 Northwestern District Offensive Player of the Year.
Neal’s season was historic on numerous levels.
Neal’s passing yardage broke Carson’s Hoberg’s school record of 1,996 in 2019 and is the area’s most since Millbrook’s Kaden Buza had 2,705 that same season. His TD passing total broke his brother Jared’s school record of 17 in 2021 and is the most in the area since Sherando’s Hunter Entsminger had 33 in 2017.
Neal’s 3,545 combined passing and rushing yards are the area’s most since Handley’s J.J. Dorsey had 3,760 in 2005. And Neal’s 43 combined passing and rushing TDs are the area’s most since Handley’s Brian Partlow had 47 in 1994.
Neal’s dominance allowed James Wood to put up strong scoring numbers, averaging 41.5 points per game. He said his offseason work focusing on his “health and conditioning” allowed him to get stronger and become a better dual-threat force.
“Coming into the year, all I really wanted to do was get stronger,” Neal said. “I feel like coming [into the weight room] in the morning during baseball season, during the offseason, actually helped me a lot. It was the first year that I actually did it, and it helped me reach my speed goals, my strength goals and it just gave me the confidence overall to be able to lead the team better [compared to] the first two seasons.”
Neal’s dedication, even while playing another sport, was pivotal in allowing him to become a player that Colonels’ head coach Todd Wilson said “might be the strongest kid in our program.”
Wilson said Neal’s commitment to adding muscle allowed him to become a more consistent threat as a runner.
“A lot of the yardage he got on the ground is not just scrambling … they’re designed runs,” Wilson said. “We didn’t do that his first couple of years as much, just [because of Neal’s] size. He wasn’t a big kid … looking back at pictures that pop up on the James Wood Touchdown [Club] page, you can see he was a smaller kid his freshman year. Now, he’s 6-foot-1, almost 200 pounds.
“We try not to put him in jeopardy, and we don’t want to run him 20 or 30 times a game. But we know, and he knows, if that’s what it takes, if teams want to take away our passing game and are going to lighten the box and give us opportunities for him to run, he’s going to take advantage of it.”
Wilson also complimented Neal’s improved ball security, calling it his “number one biggest improvement area.” After throwing 16 touchdowns and 22 interceptions across his first two seasons, Neal dramatically flipped that dynamic in his third season.
Neal certainly improved on the field, but said he felt his off-field growth was the key to his season. Not only was Neal proud of his efforts in the weight room, but he also said he took a step forward by becoming more comfortable as a leader.
“Just having confidence in myself and just knowing that my teammates, they respect me, they respect my work ethic, [was key],” Neal said. “Not only that, I used to lead by example. I didn’t like to be somebody who would call you out in front of the whole team and make you feel bad. And I feel like I started to grasp that vocal leadership a little bit better without calling people out. And I feel like my teammates saw that as well, and it just led to better communication throughout the whole team.”
Wilson agreed on Neal’s assessment and recalled a key conversation they had during the quarterback’s second season that set him on a trajectory toward improving as a leader.
“About halfway through his sophomore season, he and I spoke and I told him that’s kind of the next step of what he needs to do,” Wilson said. “And he did a great job with that as a sophomore, and it just carried over to his junior year. When you’re doing the things that he’s doing on the field, and the way he carries himself off the field, kids just gravitate towards him. He’s not a yell-and-scream kind of kid. He’s very calm. That probably is what makes him a really good quarterback. He doesn’t get flustered.”
Neal’s comfort level under center was something he learned from his family. His father, Jared Sr., is a former Shenandoah offensive lineman and the current offensive and defensive line coach for the Colonels, while Jared was James Wood’s starting quarterback in 2021 and 2022.
Owen said his dad’s presence helped him this past season, saying that “having a coach who’s always accessible is a huge benefit” that helps “clarify” anything that might come up outside of practice and game time.
With a strong support system surrounding him, Neal is poised for another productive season during his senior year next fall. With productive junior wideouts Aidric Yurish and Xavier Price set to return, the Colonels’ offense could continue lighting up scoreboards.
One goal the team has going into 2026 is to become more competitive in Frederick County games. Though James Wood narrowed the scoring gap, it still went 0-3 against Handley and Sherando this past fall.
Wilson said finding ways to beat the Judges and Warriors is a “program standard” for the whole roster, and said he anticipates Neal continuing to “do what he does” going forward.
“He’s going to continue to show up and work hard,” Wilson said. “So the next step is … being able to handle some of the pressure that comes with starting to get some of the accolades. So just being able to handle all the pressure that comes with getting a little bit more notoriety of being Offensive Player the Year of our region and the district. But none of that fazes him. He couldn’t care less. He’s just a real grounded kid.”
Neal said postseason success is all that’s on his mind ahead of his final high school campaign.
“I don’t really put too much into the individual stuff,” Neal said. “I want to have a good year, but ultimately I want James Wood to get a playoff win. It’s been a while since that happened, and I think this senior group we’re going to have has the talent to do it.”
— Contact Joe Tuman at jtuman@winchesterstar.com
Follow him on X @jtuman21