James Wood's rally falls short

September 10, 2011

By Mark Sawyer

Special to The Winchester Star

The Colonels were punched solidly in the mouth not once, not twice, but three times and kept coming back. They watched one of their teammates taken from the field early in the fourth quarter on a stretcher with what is believed to be a broken leg, but the Colonels still kept coming back.

Midway through the third quarter, the Colonels found themselves trailing homestanding Musselman (W.Va.) by 17 points but they rallied.

Unfortunately for Wood, it came up one big play short and Musselman star running back Josh Ferguson had another huge night to lead the Applemen to a 23-20 non-district victory Friday night. They handed the Colonels their first loss of the young season at Waldeck Field in Bunker Hill.

Ferguson broke the Colonels' backs with two long third quarter-touchdown runs (he had a third of 65 yards called back because of a penalty) that put Wood in a hole it just couldn't climb out of. Ferguson finished the night with 161 yards rushing on 24 carries and two touchdowns.

"He's a special kid with a lot of talent," Musselman coach Denny Price said of Ferguson. "This is the first year he's run the ball. His first two years he was a receiver. He's got a bright future.

"It's been awhile since we've been able to go against a good team and beat 'em and Wood's a good team. They're well-coached, tough, and our kids had to go out and find a way to win."

Through the first two games of the season, Wood had its way with the ground game, rushing for 447 yards. However on Friday, the Colonels found the going much tougher against a stingy Applemen defense. The Colonels were only able to pick up 105 yards on 37 carries.

Musselman (2-1) didn't fare a whole lot better, rushing for yards on 37 carries but they had three big scoring plays that were the difference.

James Wood (2-1) had an opportunity to take control of the contest early but was unable to punch it into the end zone.

On their second possession of the game, the Colonels put together an impressive 15-play, 51-yard drive, but it stalled at the Musselman 15-yard line and the Colonels had to settle for a 32-yard Chandler DeHaven field goal.

The Colonels got an enormous break on the ensuing kick and were right back in business when Musselman fumbled on the return and Wood's Bradley Skillman recovered at the Applemen 38. Wood was able to get as far as the 20 but after a pair of penalties it again had to settle for a DeHaven field goal, this time from 37 yards out for 6-0 lead just into the second quarter.

Musselman followed that up with a nice drive of its own, a 13-play, 61-yard drive down to the Colonels 10. The Wood defense stiffened and forced a field goal attempt that Skillman blocked to preserve the lead.

However, the Colonels took over on their own 15, and three plays later, Malcolm Lee sacked Wood quarterback Jake Lewin in the end zone for a safety to cut the deficit to 6-2.

Following the free kick, Musselman took over at the Wood 45 and drove the short field for the first touchdown of the game. Once again it appeared the Wood defense had held, but on fourth-and-8 from the Wood 28 the Applemen got their first big play of the game when quarterback Caleb Dembeck found Maverick Keller in the end zone for a 28-yard scoring pass and a 9-6 lead.

Musselman came out of the locker room in the second half on a mission. The Applemen scored on long touchdown runs on each of their first three possessions of the second half (the third one was called back because of a holding penalty) and looked as if they were going to blow the game wide open.

On the first possession of the second, Ferguson broke free and raced 57 yards for a score, and following a James Wood punt, Ferguson capped another drive from a short field with a 31-yard score to make it 23-6 with 5:59 left in the third quarter.

Wood drove down to the the Applemen 35 on their next possession but turned the ball over on downs. On the first play from scrimmage, Ferguson again broke free and raced 65 yards to the end zone in what would have been a devastating blow but the Colonels caught a break and it was called back.

That break seemed to light a fire for the Colonels because they forced a punt and took then drove right down the field to get back into the game.

Following a nice punt return by Chad Potter, the Colonels took over at their own 49 and put together a six-play, 51-yard drive that Aaron Clark capped by scoring from three yards out. Lewin hit Mel Savarese for the two-point conversion, pulling Wood to within 23-14 with just seconds remaining in the third.

Seemingly inspired for the first time since early in the game, the Colonels' defense got tough and again forced a Musselman punt that set the Colonels up on their own 41 with new life.

During the return however, Wood junior Joey Eubank was injured and was down on the field for several minutes. He was eventually taken from the field on a stretcher and transported to the hospital with what was believed to be a broken leg.

Now with inspiration and motivation, the Colonels' offense went right back to work. Nine plays and 59 yards later, Clark scored again from three yards out. The extra point was blocked but Wood was now within striking distance at 23-20 with 6:49 left in the game.

That would be as close as the Colonels could get however. They did have two more possessions but just couldn't get close enough to give DeHaven a shot at tying the game.

"We've got to play better," Wood coach Mike Bolin said. "We've got to get back to fundamentals. We've got to block better and that falls directly on me.

"These kids aren't going to quit. Never question the heart of these kids. Sometimes they're going to drive down and score the winning touchdown and sometimes they're going to throw an interception. That's just the way it goes."