Wood piles up 667 yards, routs Liberty

WINCHESTER — A year ago, James Wood traveled to Bealeton for what amounted to a play-in game for the Region 4D football playoffs, and the Colonels came home after suffering a stinging overtime loss to Liberty. 

 

Rated seventh, the Colonels had no intention of taking a hit to their playoff chances for the eight-team Region 4D field against the Eagles this year. No matter how much went wrong — mostly as a result of an avalanche of yellow flags — James Wood kept battling to make sure any stretches of joy for Liberty did not last long on Friday. 

 

The Colonels piled up a remarkable 667 yards and 33 first downs to earn a 53-21 win over the winless Eagles in Class 4 Northwestern District high school football at Kelican Stadium. Senior running back Kobe Mason (19 carries for 220 yards and three touchdowns) and sophomore quarterback Owen Neal (23 carries for 179 yards and two TDs, 9 of 16 for 128 yards, one TD) led the way. 

 

James Wood (6-3, 1-2 district) was penalized 18 times for 194 yards, Neal threw two interceptions (one amounted to a punt), and the Colonels fumbled five times.

 

James Wood recovered every one of those fumbles, an example of how the Colonels weren't going to let adversity get the best of them. James Wood led by at least 25 points for the last 24 minutes and 43 seconds and answered every one of Liberty's touchdowns in the second half with one of its own to make sure the Eagles (0-10, 0-4) never had a chance of avoiding their first winless season in the school's 31-year history.

 

"We were just trying to come out here, whoop 'em, and show 'em why they can't come into the Colonel House and mess with us," said sophomore wide receiver and defensive back Xavier Price, who had 99 total yards and a 68-yard TD reception three plays after he made an interception to make it 18-0 with 6:35 left in the second quarter. 

 

That sequence halfway through the second quarter was Liberty's best chance to get within striking distance. The Colonels led 25-0 at halftime and outgained the Eagles 350-68 in building up a 32-0 lead by the 5:52 mark of the third quarter. James Wood had seven total tackles for a loss, and defensive lineman Jordyn Sweetser had two solo sacks by that point in the game to give him an area-high eight for the season.  

 

The Colonels clinched their first winning season since 2021 on Friday, and James Wood coach Todd Wilson liked the determination his team showed in pursuit of its first playoff berth since 2021. 

 

"We're trying to build that culture around here where the expectation is to try and compete for a playoff spot every year," Wilson said. 

 

James Wood's penalties forced it to work a little harder than it would have wanted. Of the Colonels' 18 infractions, only three were of the 5-yard variety. James Wood was penalized in all three phases of the game, but most of the violations came on offense.

 

"Offensively, we did what we wanted to do," Wilson said. "It just seemed like every time we were out there, we'd score, it'd get called back, we'd score again, it'd get called back, then we scored the third time, they counted that one."

 

James Wood was almost impossible for Liberty to stop, and the Eagles had fits trying to catch Mason and Neal in space. Mason's TDs went for 5 yards (to make it 25-0), 6 yards (32-0) and 21 yards (39-7), and Neal had TD runs of 3 yards (10-0) and 36 yards (to make it 46-14 with 11 seconds left in the third quarter). Overall, the Colonels had 61 carries for 533 yards, an average of 8.7 yards per attempt. James Wood scored on eight of its first 11 possessions, with two interceptions and a turnovers on downs — all in Liberty territory — the only empty possessions.

 

Mason has missed two games this year with injury, and noted that he hadn't reached 100 yards rushing in a game since Week 4 against Kettle Run.

 

"It feels great to do more," Mason said. "I just want to give all thanks to the offensive line and the receivers blocking for me."

 

Wilson echoed Mason's feelings about the offensive line. James Wood started a group of sophomore left tackle Lane Herring, freshman left guard Donny Ramirez, senior center Tyler Walter, sophomore right guard Timber Hough and junior right tackle Stewart Wiley. Wilson said the Colonels make some adjustments, moving Herring to left tackle after he had started at right tackle all year and moving Wiley and Ramirez into the starting lineup.

 

"They did phenomenal," Wilson said. "[Ramirez] is going to be a really good football player, and Tyler Walter had one of his better nights tonight as well." 

 

James Wood's defense also got the job done in shutting Liberty out for more than 30 minutes. Wilson thought his players did a good job of aligning themselves where they needed to be, and executed their assignments. Liberty quarterback Gavin Cook was 3 of 14 for 12 yards and one interception in the first half and finished the game with 24 yards on 14 carries.The Eagles had 17 carries for 41 yards in the first half. 

 

"Guys flew to the ball," Wilson said. "[Cook's] a good quarterback who's elusive. We knew we had to get guys on him and stay in our rush lanes. If he did get by somebody, somebody else was there to wrap him up. I thought our guys ran to the ball really well. I thought our defensive line did well."

 

Price's interception helped break the game open. On third-and-5 from the James Wood 25, Cook ran toward the right sideline, but then he decided to throw across his body to the middle of the field to a receiver at the 15.

 

"I was like, 'This is mine,'" Price said. "I caught it, it slipped out of my hand, and I just dove out for it."

 

Price secured the ball just before it hit the ground at the Wood 17. Neal then executed a perfect pump fake from the James Wood 32 and hit Price deep downfield for a 68-yard TD with 6:35 left in the first half. Kaden McCullough's 2-point run made it 18-0.    

 

"Off the start, I could have definitely got better to my landmark — where I was supposed to be," Price said. "But it was a good ball by Owen putting that out there for me." 

 

The play inspired roars from James Wood's fans. Those fans would continue to get fired up by the play of the Colonels, and they would voice displeasure over the flags.

 

Liberty was flagged nine times for 70 yards. Wilson said the Colonels made some mistakes, but felt some of the things they did were similar to Liberty's actions. 

 

"It's a little frustrating," Wilson said. "Some of it was on us, some of it isn't. At times, it's frustrating when you see the opponent doing the exact same things that we're doing, and it's not being called. I just want the games to be called both ways. If you're not going to call something for one side, don't call it for the other."   

 

James Wood's special teams also did well. Aidan Bell connected on a 33-yard field goal after Neal fumbled a snap on third down on the game's first drive to make it 3-0, and he would go on to connect on all six of his extra-point kicks and recover his own onside kick to start the second half. The Colonels also stopped Aden Peters at the Liberty 18 — 6 yards short of a first down — on a fourth-and-4 run out of punt formation. Neal ran the ball in from 3 yards out two plays later to make it 10-0.

 

Liberty finished with 314 yards. Cook finished 9 of 22 for 112 yards and a 56-yard passing TD to Damien Gonzalez, and also had a rushing TD. Landon Hirmer had 17 carries for 100 yards and Jonathan Knighting had an 80-yard TD run.  

 

Jeramiah Hodel had eight carries for 77 yards and a 1-yard TD to close the scoring for Wood, which will try and clinch a playoff berth at home against Millbrook next week.

 

"If we win, I think we get into the playoffs. If we lose, we're probably not in the playoffs," Wilson said. "Millbrook knows that as well, and we're going to get their best shot. They're a good team." 

 

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