By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

The Winchester Star

“It doesn’t get any better than this.”

McHale’s message inspired more roars, and the Colonels had every right to scream themselves hoarse after a thrilling 21-20 comeback victory over Frederick County and Northwestern District rival Millbrook Friday night.

The Colonels (4-5, 1-2 Northwestern) trailed 14-0 at the half in part because of three interceptions. But James Wood scored on each of its three second-half possessions to take a 21-14 lead, then stopped Millbrook sophomore P.K. Kier inches short of the goal line on a two-point conversion run after Kier’s 3-yard touchdown run gave Millbrook a chance to win with 59 seconds left.

In losing by a combined 86-21 over the last two weeks to Sherando and Skyline, James Wood looked a lot like the Colonel teams that went a combined 2-18 the last two years. But on Friday, the Colonels reminded everyone that this is a different team.

“I think people start to get the image that when we lose, it’s just like a snowball effect,” said Hepner, who guided a James Wood attack that gained 171 of its 298 yards after halftime and finished with 69 yards passing, 68 rushing and the game-winning touchdown. “I feel like this year, it’s not that way, and we’re opening a bunch of people’s eyes.

“Even though we’ve only won four games, that’s a lot better than the last two years. After two big losses the past two games, we bounced back against a pretty decent team, and I think it really shows our character.”

Despite being down 14-0 at the half, James Wood wasn’t in a dire situation. The Pioneers (3-5, 0-2) only had 28 more yards, and Millbrook quarterback Chris Oates (7 of 13 for 76 yards) had thrown two interceptions of his own.

But Millbrook senior linebacker Jakob Albert made two interceptions that had the potential to be game-defining. His first one at the Millbrook 10 after James Wood had driven to the Pioneers’ 15 kept the Pioneers up 7-0, and his second that he returned 28 yards to the Colonel 7 just before the half allowed Kier (28 carries for 125 yards and three TDs after missing three of the previous four games) the chance to run the ball in from 1 yard out and put Millbrook up 14-0 with 12 seconds left in the first half.

“We knew we needed to have more intensity and step up on defense, and offensively, we just had to get more of a push,” said senior Landon Rutherford (40 yards and one TD on 11 carries).

James Wood proceeded to go out and get that push in the second half, and the Colonels didn’t stop until they reached the end zone.

To start the half, Tyler Bishop (11 carries, 50 yards) capped a nine-play, 80-yard drive that took four minutes and 39 seconds off the clock, with Rutherford running in the two-point conversion to cut the Pioneers’ lead to 14-8.

After forcing a punt, James Wood — which no longer had the services of its leading rusher Bishop at that point because of an inured shoulder — had four different players carry the ball on a 14-play, 88-yard drive that took 6:31 off the clock. Hepner completed James Wood’s only pass attempt in the middle of it, a 29-yard pass on third-and-8 to Rutherford from the Colonels 25, and Hepner also had a 13-yard run on fourth-and-3 from the Millbrook 20.

Rutherford capped the drive with a 1-yard run and Brady Burner kicked the extra point to make it 15-14 Colonels with 9:05 left.

Millbrook then made two huge mistakes, as a blocking penalty negated a potential 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Nazeeh Johnson (73 total yards, including 51 rushing and an interception), and a fumbled shotgun snap by the Pioneers that was recovered by Asa Brewer gave James Wood the ball at the Millbrook 5.

Hepner ran the ball in two plays later to make it 21-14, but a holding call wiped out Hepner’s two-point conversion run, and Burner’s 31-yard extra-point kick barely missed to the right.

To Millbrook’s credit, the Pioneers came up with a clutch drive in response after taking over at its own 24. The Pioneers used 15 plays to cap a drive that lasted 6:50.

Down 21-20, Millbrook coach Josh Haymore decided to try for the win and go for two points — not a bad strategy given the Pioneers’ lack of defensive success. The decision looked even better after an encroachment penalty moved the ball to the one-and-a-half yard line.

The Pioneers went to Kier, who frequently was able to gut the Colonels up the middle. But on this play James Wood stood strong. Kier’s head came down past the goal line, but after the officials sorted out the pile they ruled the ball did not. A couple screams of “he got in!” came from the Millbrook side, but the only really noticeable sounds came from the frenzied James Wood sideline and fans.

“That was gi-normous,” said Hepner. “They moved the ball on us the entire field, and one play decided it. We stonewalled them, and stopping them was electrifying.”

James Wood then recovered the onside kick and took a couple knees to run out the clock.

Haymore gave credit to James Wood for executing at a high level in the second half, and gave credit to his players for showing the same determination James Wood did when it mattered most.

“[James Wood does] a good job with their scheme,” he said. “They do have some big linemen who were pretty physical up front.

“Our guys care. Our guys care about football, they care about Millbrook, and they lined up there on the last series and they believed.”

James Wood — which finished with just 29 more yards than Millbrook and was even in turnovers — just proved to be a little better on the scoreboard. And McHale couldn’t be prouder.

“This is football,” McHale said. “We’ve won [with routs], but you don’t get half as good of a feeling from that as you do when you win a game. This is the best feeling. This is a great experience for these kids, and they deserve it.”

James Wood also received 52 yards rushing from Brandon Davis, and Nick Manuel had his seventh interception of the year.

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