October 8, 2010

By Robert Niedzwiecki

The Winchester Star

Anything goes when James Wood and Sherando get together

STEPHENS CITY- Fans pretty much know what they're going to get when rivals James Wood and Sherando collide - physical, gritty games that are essentially determined by which team wins the battle at the line of scrimmage.

Their respective styles have produced some memorable games, as four of their last six meetings have been decided in the last 10 seconds, including two in the playoffs that weren't decided until the final play as time expired.

But James Wood's 2008 win was its only victory since winning this series' initial matchup in 1993.

And if the Colonels (3-2) want to make tonight's Northwestern District opener against Sherando (5-0) at 7 at Arrowhead Stadium more memorable from their perspective, they might have to add more finesse.

"We like to think we're a power team at times," James Wood coach Mike Bolin said. "But we try to be as versatile as we can, as versatile as our system allows. Sherando, first district game, the whole playbook's open."

The Colonels' passing attack is a crucial part of their versatility, and it will be needed against a Sherando team that's giving up more yards in the air (134.2) than on the ground (116.6). With quarterback Matt Copley missing James Wood's 19-0 loss to Warren County, the Colonels struggled in all phases and gained just 125 yards. With Copley back under center last week, James Wood ran for 188 yards and passed for 144 in a solid 40-7 win against Brentsville that snapped a two-game losing streak.

Copley's passing total included a 79-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Bruce, who's tied for the area lead with 12 receptions and has 171 yards. The Colonels' Chad Potter is third in the area with 11 catches for 167 yards and a touchdown, and tight end David Alaniz has added seven catches for 53 yards.

"Matt's playing as well as we ever hoped he could have," Bolin said. "And the receivers are making a huge difference. You watch our film from the last couple of years, we dropped the ball a lot.

"We're not dropping the ball this year. We've got three real solid receivers, and we throw [running back] Chris Skinner in there, and we feel pretty good about our receivers. Last year, we dropped some critical passes in key situations against Sherando."

Of course, if the Colonels can't handle Sherando's defensive line, James Wood's timing will be off on any plays it runs. Getting consistent blocking up front still remains a concern for the Colonels at the halfway point of the year.

"Their defensive line is by far the best we've seen this year," said Bolin, who went on to praise the rest of Sherando's defense.

Warriors coach Bill Hall said it's evident the Colonels are more comfortable throwing the ball then even a couple of years ago, and his defense just has to stick to its assignments in defending the Colonels.

"It's not that they can't throw wrinkles at us that we haven't seen," Hall said. "But their base passing game has things that we've seen, and we just have to execute and make sure we do a good job with our reads.

"One thing that sometimes happen with James Wood is that you get lulled to sleep with run, run, run. Next thing you know you get play-action and they go over the top, or you get out of position in the flat or something. So it's important to be fundamental with our defense."

For the second straight year, Sherando will enter this game following a bye week, so the Warriors have recently spent extra time working on their fundamentals.

The Warriors also emphasized maintaining the focus that's helped them deliver the district's only unbeaten record to this point. That would be easy to lose, considering how much Sherando's football program has been pumped up since its last game.

The first Associated Press prep poll came out three days after Sherando's 59-20 win over Jefferson (W.Va.) on Sept. 24, and it currently has the Warriors ranked seventh in Group AA. (They're ranked second in the Region II Division 4 playoff ratings entering this week.)

"It doesn't matter if we're 5-0 or we're 0-5," said Sherando middle linebacker and fullback Kevin Vallejos, who is second on the team with 30 tackles. "We just want to come out and compete every day. It's a rivalry game, so we want to come out and give our best effort. We know we're going to get their best effort, and we just want to come out and match it."

Sherando's offensive line has proven it can match up with anyone, and a Colonels defense that is yielding 208 yards per game will face its biggest challenge.

Though James Wood is healthier than it was when it gave up 229 rushing yards against Warren County two weeks ago, the Colonels will be in for a world of hurt if they repeat that performance. Led by Joseph Ojo (880 yards, 8.5 per carry, 13 touchdowns) Sherando is averaging 294 rushing yards per game.

"We don't know what they're going to bring to us, but all we know is what we can do," Ojo said. "We're looking pretty sharp, physically and mentally. We know what we have to do, and we just have to step up to the challenge and deliver."

Bolin said he couldn't be more impressed with the Warriors' blocking or with Ojo. But that running game is one of many things the Colonels' defense will have to deal with. There's also quarterbacks Lucas Tunison and Jalen Brisco, and a receiving corps featuring Dominique Porter and J.J. Worker, who hasn't played since Week One because of injury but returned to practice this week.

Bolin said the Colonels need to execute as best they can out of their base 4-4, and the players have gotten the message.

"We've just got to wrap up and tackle, contain, and get to the football," senior linebacker Cote Funkhouser said.

The Colonels feel they should be where Sherando is, and they can't wait to see if they can take a step ahead of the Warriors in the district standings.

"We feel like we should be 5-0 right now," Copley said. "We made a lot of key mistakes in the two losses that cost us the games, and we feel like we're evenly matched with Sherando.

"Everyone's probably going to pick us to lose, but we have confidence in ourselves, and I have confidence in my teammates, that we're going to come out and give them their best game of the year."