WINCHESTER — After not giving up three offensive touchdowns in a single game all year, the Handley High School football team found itself trailing at the half on Friday night against James Wood as a result of surrendering two rushing touchdowns and one passing score.
Not only that, a Judges offense that ran for nearly 200 yards last week against Sherando twice found itself unable to move the chains on fourth-and-1 running plays in its own territory in the second quarter.
Those first 24 minutes did not sit well with Handley, and the Judges sure rectified the situation over the last 24.
Handley outscored James Wood 22-2 after halftime and finished with a 35-23 win at Kelican Stadium to take home the Barr-Lindon Crimson Apple, which is awarded by The Winchester Star to the team that fares best in Winchester-Frederick County games. The Judges won it for the third time in five years, also doing so in 2021 and 2023. Since Handley holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Sherando, a win over Millbrook on Nov. 8 isn’t required for the Judges to win the “Apple Cup.”
“It means a lot,” said senior Handley wide receiver and safety Will Yoder. “We lost it last year to Sherando, and it means everything to get it back. I love battling with my guys.”
On offense, Jamir Washington had 244 yards and four touchdowns on 34 carries, and Yoder hauled in seven passes for 128 yards and one touchdown. He had a two-point conversion catch immediately after his TD.
On defense, Handley stopped James Wood four times on possessions inside the Judges’ 35-yard line in the second half. One of those possessions involved a fourth-down stop at the 11 when the Colonels thought they advanced the ball to the 10 for a first down, and Handley responded with an 89-yard touchdown drive for the game’s final score with 3:01 left.
“We were just slow at first,” said Washington when asked about Handley’s feelings of its performance at halftime. “We just had to come out and work.”
Handley knew its last three games of the season would be a whirlwind of emotions given that all of them would be against Frederick County teams. Smith felt like the Judges still hadn’t moved on from beating the Warriors in the game’s early stages on Friday.
“I thought we played a really poor first half,” Smith said. “I thought we came out lackadaisical. I thought we had a hangover from last week early on in the game. That was something we were trying to avoid and were working on all week.”
In the second half, the Judges had a 210-127 yard edge and only surrendered a safety on a snap that went through the end zone.
“We did a great job,” Smith said. “The defense didn’t let up a score, which was outstanding to see. We moved the ball offensively. We hit some shot plays in the passing game and really kind of opened it up in the second half.”
Trailing 21-13, the Judges received the ball to start the second half at their own 32. Handley quarterback Duncan Hensler and Yoder didn’t waste time making their presence felt.
Hensler ran for 9 yards on first down, connected with Christian Dinges for 14 yards on third-and-4 to the James Wood 48, then ran for 17 yards to the James Wood 31. After an 8-yard run by Washington, Yoder burned his defender on a hitch-and-go, and Hensler hit Yoder in stride in the end zone on a throw to the right.
Hensler was looking toward the middle of the field when he shifted the ball down with the ball in his hands. When he looked Yoder’s way, Yoder knew a score was coming.
“I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m going to go score this touchdown,'” Yoder said. “It was a perfect ball from Duncan, and I ran under it for the touchdown. I knew that was the momentum we needed.”
Yoder made a beautiful leaping catch just inside the right sideline of the end zone for a 2-point conversion that made it 21-21 with 8:41 left in the third quarter.
Handley then forced a three-and-out and took over at its own 23 after a 34-yard punt by Aidan Bell and a 15-yard penalty tacked on at the end for a late hit after the ball went out of bounds.
After advancing to the James Wood 44, the Judges put themselves behind the chains with a holding penalty that made it first-and-20 at their own 46. But then Hensler and Yoder connected for the game’s deepest pass play, a 46-yard strike down the right sideline to the James Wood 8.
Two plays later, Washington leaped into the end zone from 1 yard out for Handley’s first lead of the game with 3:13 left in the third quarter. The second of Josh Newcome’s three extra-point kicks made it 28-21 Judges.
After going 3 of 7 for 51 yards in the first half — 37 of those yards came on a jump-ball pass to Yoder from the Handey 31 on the final play — Hensler (45 yards on eight carries overall) was 7 of 7 for 110 yards in the second half, completing five passes to Yoder for 84 yards.
“The timing of the stuff we do with those two guys in the passing game is good,” Smith said. “Will’s a great one-on-one guy. We trust him anytime we’re in a one-on-one situation to make a play, and he made a bunch of plays out here for us tonight.”
James Wood came right back at the Judges.
Owen Neal (29 carries for 127 yards, 9 of 22 for 128 yards and a TD) eluded and broke tackle attempts on a 38-yard run to the Handley 34. The Judges would then make their first big stop of the second half, with Zy’Air Ford smashing into Neal after he pulled the ball down while looking to pass for a 9-yard sack on third-and-8 at the 32.
Bell then pinned Handley inside the 1 with a 40-yard punt that bounced and rolled for about 10 yards before being downed. After a delay of game moved the ball back a few inches, a shotgun snap zipped past Hensler out of the back of the end zone for a safety to make it 28-23 Handley with 43 seconds left in the third quarter.
James Wood took over at its own 49 after Kaden McCullogh returned the free kick 18 yards. The Colonels moved the ball to the Handey 34, but on a fourth-and-7 run the ball was popped out of a falling Neal’s hands 3 yards downfield. Handley took over at the James Wood 33 after the Colonels recovered the loose ball.
James Wood got the ball one play later at the Handley 20 when Washington fumbled the ball 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage after running all over the backfield in his attempt to escape the Colonel defense.
On fourth-and-4 from the 14, it initially looked like Neal’s completion to Duncan Stanton by the right sideline was enough for a first down. Instead, the refs marked the ball at the 11, less than a foot short.
James Wood coach Todd Wilson said the video the Colonels looked at showed that the call wasn’t correct.
“We’ve got HUDL Sideline, and it was a first down,” Wilson said. “[Stanton] knows it was a first down. We know it was a first down.”
With 7:41 left, there was still plenty of time for James Wood to make a stop and get the ball back. The Colonels made those two huge stops on fourth down in the second quarter, but in the fourth quarter, the Judges exerted their will on offense when they needed to the most.
Hensler connected with Yoder for 5 yards on third-and-4 to the 22. After that, it was the Washington show.
He started left and cut diagonally to the right for a 39-yard gain. He had runs of 6 yards and 3 yards, then powered ahead for 4 yards on third-and-1. After a 2-yard run, he was both elusive and powerful on a 24-yard TD run, dragging some Colonels with him near the goal line into the end zone.
“It was definitely frustrating,” said Washington of James Wood’s fourth-down stops in the second quarter. “But we just had to control what we control. I give [credit] to my linemen. I just followed their holes, and they did an amazing job.”
Handley’s offensive line features sophomore left tackle Tyler Davis, senior left guard Jaiquan Offutt, senior center Jamar Thomas, senior right guard Carson Green and senior right tackle Jude Lindsey. Jo-Jo Johnson and ZeQuon Williams are the tight ends. They paved the way for Washington to run for 1 and 4 yards in the first half. Washington had all four carries on an 80-yard drive that tied the game at 7, with his first carry going for 60 yards.
Neal and Aidric Yurish (five catches for 101 yards) moved the Colonels to the Handley 14 on the ensuing drive, but four straight incompletions gave the ball to the Judges with 1:59 left.
That stop capped an impressive second half for Handley’s defense. Neal ran for 82 yards on 18 carries in the first half despite losing 11 yards on James Wood’s first possession. Outside of his 38-yard run, he only had 7 yards on the 10 plays that ended with the ball in his hands in the second half. Yoder said moving an outside linebacker closer to the box, and pressuring while playing cover zero helped with limiting Neal as a runner.
Wilson couldn’t have asked for more effort from his players. The Colonels never trailed in the first half thanks to TD runs by McCullough (7 yards) and Xavier Price (2 yards) and Price’s leaping 17-yard TD reception off a Neal pass that closed the scoring in the first half.
“Our guys played extremely hard tonight,” Wilson said. “Special teams did what they needed to. Defense did what they needed to do at times. We did what we needed to do offensively. We just didn’t always capitalize when we needed to.
“[Handley’s] a really good football team. We had a good game plan. I thought it was a very tightly contested game that could have gone either way. Losing sucks, but we’re extremely proud of the way the guys played. That might be the hardest we’ve played in a couple of seasons.”
Handley had Brenda Titus accept the Barr-Lindon Crimson Apple during the trophy presentation after the game. Titus has served as a bus driver for Handley athletics for 20 years.
“She had a tough week this week, so we thought it would be a special moment to bring her out and recognize her,” Smith said.
“She’s the core of our team,” Johnson said. “She means a lot to us. She takes us everywhere, and she does it with a smile on her face.”
Titus looks forward to taking Handley athletes anywhere they need to go.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” she said. “The kids love me and I love them. It’s a great thrill to be out here on the field with that football team.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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