Regional Rivalry

Posted: November 14, 2014
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

STEPHENS CITY — If there’s anyone that went to Arrowhead Stadium on the night of Oct. 10 who came away thinking that the James Wood and Sherando football teams would definitely meet each other again in the playoffs, they should start playing the lottery on a daily basis.

The Warriors established their powerful running game from the start by feeding LeeQuan Johnson the ball for all nine plays on a 58-yard touchdown drive, and Sherando kept pouring it on from there.

The Warriors scored four touchdowns in a span of six minutes and 21 seconds to take a 28-0 lead after one quarter. They went into halftime up 42-0 while only surrendering 15 yards. And when it was all over, Sherando had a 44-7 win and had outgained James Wood 391-118.

It wasn’t a night to remember for the Colonels. But they’ve had a couple since that they’ll never forget, which is why James Wood (5-5) — the No. 11 seed in the 4A North Region playoffs — has the full attention of No. 6 Sherando (8-2) heading into today’s 7 p.m. first-round matchup at Arrowhead Stadium.

While the Warriors are obviously using the previous game to help them to prepare for tonight, Sherando senior defensive end/tight end Brogan McPartland — who feels the Warriors’ game against James Wood was probably their best performance of the year — said they’re leaving the scoreboard factor of Oct. 10 out of it.

“We’ve been focusing this whole week on putting that behind us,” said McPartland, who recorded 60 tackles and eight sacks in earning Northwestern District Defensive Player of the Year honors. “It’s the playoffs. Any team can beat anyone. We’re going to go out as hard as possible and forget about that first performance.”

Besides, James Wood coaches and players know they’re not the same team that took the field against Northwestern District champion Sherando at Arrowhead back in October.

Not after two heart-stopping wins over Millbrook (21-20 as a result of stopping the Pioneers on a two-point conversion with 59 seconds left) and Handley (27-21 in overtime). The latter gave James Wood two wins over Winchester-Frederick County teams in the same season for only the second time in school history (2008, when the Colonels beat Sherando and Millbrook, was the other instance).

“We weren’t real confident going into the first game with Sherando, I don’t think,” said James Wood coach Mark McHale of a Colonels team that was outscored 91-20 by Sherando in defeats in 2012 and 2013. “But these last two games have been big for us, and we’re executing better than we were then.”

Tonight marks the third playoff meeting in eight seasons between these two Frederick County rivals, with the previous two games taking place in the semifinals in the old Region II format.

Both of those meetings were decided on the last play of the game. Sherando — which leads the all-time series 22-2 — stopped James Wood a foot short of the goal line on a pass play from the 8-yard line to preserve a 21-14 win in 2007, and in 2009 they made an interception in the end zone on a pass from the 20 to preserve a 13-7 win.

If the Colonels want to be in a position to win the game at the end this year, it’s imperative they get off to a better start against a Sherando team that has won 12 straight games against Winchester-Frederick County schools after last week’s 49-7 win over Millbrook.

James Wood senior defensive linemen Devin Moncrief said the Warriors quick start put the Colonels on their heels, and they couldn’t figure out a way to stop their momentum.

“They came out there and just punched us, and we didn’t know what to do,” said Moncrief (53 tackles, including 10 for loss). “But we’ve been doing better at starting off with a better attitude and execution at the beginning of the games.”

Johnson — who rushed for 1,325 yards and 21 touchdowns this year to earn Northwestern District Offensive Player of the year honors — and his blockers have given teams fits all year, and Johnson picked up 175 yards and three TDs against the Colonels.

“I think we did a good job dominating the line of scrimmage [in the first game]. That was a big part of our game, both offensively and defensively,” said Sherando senior Trent McCarty, a first-team all-district guard who played for James Wood last year. “It all starts up front. L.J.’s a great running back, and he can make great plays himself, but it’s our goal to help him make plays. Our goal in that game was to come together as an offensive line, and I think we accomplished that.”

Naturally, James Wood will have to do a better job of shedding blocks this time around to slow Johnson down. But McHale said the Colonels can’t ignore their pass responsibilities either — he noted that while Sherando quarterback Pat Minteer (83 for 141 for 1,447 yards, 19 TDs and 3 INTs) only completed four passes against them, they went for 57, 37, 32 and 27 yards.

“I call [big plays like that] ‘bubble-bursters,’” said McHale, who also emphasized the importance of special teams given that Sherando’s Adam Whitacre had an 84-yard punt return TD in the first game (Josh Ojo also two kickoff return TDs this year for the Warriors). “We didn’t give up those to Handley except for the [pass] at the end to [Justin] Washington for 45 yards.”

A big factor in James Wood’s two-game winning streak has been time-consuming drives on offense, and that will be vital tonight.

Against Millbrook, the Colonels’ first two touchdown drives took 11 minutes and 10 seconds off the clock, covered 168 yards, and needed 23 plays, with all but one of them rushing. Against Handley, James Wood opened with a TD drive that took 6:39, and its last two drives were a combined 18 plays for 150 yards.

Sherando coach Bill Hall said the Warriors will have be to sound in their recognition and execution to prevent James Wood from getting into a groove. The Colonels are led by first-team district running back Tyler Bishop (137 carries, 874 yards, nine TDs), who rushed for 236 yards and 3 TDs vs. Handley last week but only had seven yards on six carries against Sherando this year.

“[James Wood] still runs the same plays they were running before, but their point of emphasis in terms of plays that they’re running has changed a little bit,” Hall said. “But their schemes haven’t changed. They do a lot of window dressing, but the scheme is what it is. You just have to read your keys and play football.”

The players can’t wait.

“We haven’t been in the playoffs since 2011,” Moncrief said. “Going through two years of 1-9, it’s pretty nice to have this chance.”

The playoffs are a new experience for McCarty too, and he wants to give his former team his all.

“I don’t know if I really play different [against James Wood], but I play with more heart,” McCarty said. “This is a big game, and I hope we can advance forward [with a win].”

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