Colonels Looking To Bounce Back Under McHale

Posted: August 29, 2013

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

WINCHESTER — Little by little last Thursday, James Wood football players exited the Kelican Stadium locker room solo or in groups of two or three, then made right turns toward the field level parking lot.

Well, at least they started to go that way. Practice might have been over for the day, but they weren’t going to make that walk without having football on their minds.

“What are you going to do tomorrow night?”

“[Dustin] Feathers, what do you got to do tomorrow night to win?”

“Devin [Moncrief], what’s the biggest thing you’ve got to do tomorrow night?”

As he sat on a bench and looked at the Kelican Stadium grass one day before that field would serve host to Musselman (W.Va.) in a scrimmage last Friday, James Wood first-year head coach Mark McHale continued to pepper players with questions such as those, and those players were more than ready to give him a response.

Yes, one year after a 1-9 season had James Wood’s players down in the dumps, their spirits have been renewed.

“It was hard to stay positive,” said James Wood senior wide receiver and defensive back Dakota Orndorff. “By the end of the year, we didn’t really have any drive to do better.”

To say the Colonels struggled last year would be an understatement. After winning its season opener against Heritage 30-27, James Wood never surrendered fewer than 27 points again.

The Colonels (0-4 Northwestern District) ranked last among area schools in total offense (241.1 yards per game) and defense (384.8 yards per game) and scoring offense (13.0) and defense (38.4).

Wood experienced great success in former coach Mike Bolin’s first four years as coach — a 25-20 record, four playoff berths, the school’s first playoff win since 1970 — and now McHale will try to get James Wood back on the winning track.

“After last year, we know we can’t give up,” Orndorff said. “You’ve got to stay positive.”

McHale’s been trying to get James Wood — which has four returning starters on both sides of the ball — there by stressing fundamental physical play throughout training camp.

“The big thing we want to see is if we can block, sustain our blocks, finish our blocks,” McHale said. “And make sure we tackle well. We’ve been working on a lot of form tackling. We work on tackling every day, and it’s like anything else — you keep reppin’, you keep reppin’, you keep reppin’ ’til they perfect that skill.”

James Wood junior tight end and defensive end Colin Benner said McHale definitely gives him the motivation to do those things.

“He makes me want to go out there and work even harder,” Benner said.

With last year’s starting quarterback Cam Butler (1,163 yards, eight touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 46 percent completion percentage), a senior, not yet cleared for contact because of the mononucleosis he was diagnosed with on Aug. 4, McHale said James Wood will definitely be leaning on its running attack. McHale said Butler will not play in Friday’s season opener at home against Heritage, but the Colonels hope to get him back next week.

McHale said the Colonels’ grinding style was evident in its scrimmage against Park View.

“We did a little bit of moving the ball the way that I wanted to [on one drive], except we ran out of plays. We were only allowed 10,” said McHale with a smile. “We’re not a two-play-and-score team. We’re a methodical team.”

Junior Brady Hepner has assumed the quarterback responsibilities in Butler’s absence.

When not at quarterback, Hepner (eight catches for 93 yards and a touchdown) makes up part of a strong group of Colonels’ receiving options. Fellow wide receiver Orndorff ranked third in the area last year in receptions (32), fifth in receiving yards (453) and also had four touchdown grabs. James Wood also features Benner (15 catches for 169 yards) at tight end. Sophomore Jacob Potter will also factor in at wide receiver.

McHale said he’s enthused about what the 6-foot-3, 192-pound Benner can do.

“He made some good catches against Park View, and his blocking’s really come on this week.” McHale said.

At running back, James Wood will turn to sophomore Tyler Bishop.

“He’s pretty tough, and has been running the ball hard,” said McHale of Bishop.

Senior fullback Daniel Funkhouser will join Hepner and Bishop in the backfield.

The offensive line will feature junior right tackle Cody Feltner (6-0, 339), senior right guard Hayden Bridges (5-7, 331), senior center Marcus Lemley (5-11, 210), junior left guard Jesus Correa (6-0, 222) and senior left tackle Nick Floyd (6-0, 262).

On defense, the front line of James Wood’s 4-3 defense will feature sophomore Adam Vadell, Correa and Jake Jenkins at the defensive tackle spots and senior Christian Marchelewski and junior Branson Ratlief at defensive end.

The linebacking corps will feature Lemley, Funkhouser (20 tackles), and Bishop.

At cornerback, James Wood will play Orndorff (29 tackles) and Hepner (21 tackles). Senior Barrett Davis will play, and junior Nick Manuel and junior Landon Rutherford will provide secondary depth.

“Landon has really caught my eye on defense,” McHale said. “He’ll just come up and strike you.”

James Wood’s special teams is highlighted by Willi Spears, who was a second-team all-district punter last season. Spears averaged 35.4 yards on 28 punts, with his longest attempt going for 63 yards. Spears will also handle placekicking duties.

The Colonels remain a relatively inexperienced team, but they’re ready to start putting strong efforts together consistently.

“After the first game last year, we felt we could win, but after our third loss, we all got down,” Benner said. “We’ve got to recover from last year.”

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. on Twitter @WinStarSports1