WINCHESTER — In front of a packed Homecoming game crowd, Millbrook and visiting James Wood produced plenty of offensive fireworks Friday night.
One year after the Colonels’ 54-35 victory, the rivals combined for 112 points, 56 first downs, 1,143 yards from scrimmage, five ties and a lead change in an instant classic.
Ultimately, it was James Wood that emerged with a 63-49 victory, improving to 6-1 (3-1 Northwestern District) behind seven total touchdowns from quarterback Owen Neal and five total touchdowns by receiver Xavier Price. The Pioneers fell to 1-6 (1-3) despite an explosive performance in front of their home crowd.
“Just trusting what we do, what we do during practice, the game plan [is the key],” Neal said. “Trusting my teammates, like you saw with Xavier. When he’s hot, you’ve got to give him the ball.”
Price finished with eight catches for 241 yards and four touchdowns, along with two rushes for 11 yards and a score. After a 7-for-16 start, Neal completed 16 of 28 passes for 360 yards and four touchdowns to pair with 14 carries for 130 yards and three touchdowns.
Millbrook was led by quarterback Ben Furbee, who enjoyed a career day completing 19 of 28 throws for 376 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Nick Mckenney caught six passes for 225 yards and two scores, fellow wideout Rome Johnson hauled in seven receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown and running back Carter Kinley ran 22 times for 113 yards and three touchdowns while adding three catches for 44 yards.
With the game tied 42-42 late in the third quarter, Price returned the ball to midfield. Two plays after, Neal faked a handoff and ran 11 yards to the 35-yard line, but the Colonels soon faced a fourth-and-8 from 33 yards out.
With 1:44 left in the third, James Wood lined up with an empty backfield. Neal took a step back to avoid an incoming pass rusher and connected with Price on a contested end zone shot to give the Colonels a 49-42 advantage.
“I just saw busted coverage,” Price said. “The safety was supposed to be basically over top of me, but he wasn’t, and I just found an opening.”
“Millbrook did a great job of pressuring me all night, getting hits on me, but [my] line held up really well,” Neal said. “I saw my mismatch with Xavier, I was like, ‘Fourth-and-8, I’ll give him a chance,’ and that’s what happens.”
Millbrook returned the ensuing kick to the Colonels’ 48 and threw a near-interception that bounced off a James Wood player’s back. James Wood head coach Todd Wilson said his players dropped roughly five interceptions in the game.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Colonels forced a turnover on downs on fourth-and-4 at their 42.
Running back Dane Tews and Neal each ran for a first down to help move the ball to the 36 before a 9-yard first-down catch by Price placed the ball at the 20. After Neal ran left for a 20-yard touchdown, the score was called back due to a holding call. Facing a first-and-12 at the 22, Neal ran in the same direction on a similar play to score and put the visitors up 56-42 with 8:42 to spare.
Although Millbrook had already rallied from a 42-28 deficit earlier, this time it wasn’t able to come all the way back. The Pioneers did cut the lead to 56-49 16 seconds later when Furbee hit Mckenney 20 yards downfield for what became an 88-yard touchdown.
James Wood then muffed the kickoff, but linebacker Anthony Salvati forced a four-and-out with a pass deflection on an attempt from the Colonels’ 42.
James Wood took over and Tews ran three times for gains of 17, 9 and 16 to progress the ball to the Millbrook 16. Neal ran to the 4-yard line and was sacked a play later before pitching the ball to Price for an 8-yard touchdown run that completed the scoring with 3:17 remaining.
“They’ve seen this type of stuff, they’ve battled adversity before,” Wilson said of his team. “So they knew what we needed to keep going. Offense just needed to keep scoring, defense knew we just needed to get a stop or two here and there, and we were going to be able to stretch the lead out a little bit.”
James Wood drove downfield on the game’s opening possession, but Millbrook forced a turnover on downs at its 17. Furbee connected with Mckenney on a slant route on the Pioneers’ first play from scrimmage, and Mckenney sprinted away from defenders for an 83-yard touchdown that made it 7-0 at the 9:36 mark.
James Wood shook off its initial setback by putting together an eight-play, 67-yard that saw Aidric Yurish catch two passes for 35 yards to help set up a 4-yard Neal rushing score. This tied the game with 7:01 on the clock.
Mckenney made another big play by returning the ball to the James Wood 31 and an offsides penalty drew Millbrook another 5 yards closer. After Johnson caught two passes for 21 yards, Jude Cusick punched in a 1-yard rushing touchdown to put the Pioneers ahead 14-7 at the 4:30 mark.
“He’s doing his job,” Millbrook head coach Nick Manuel said of Mckenney. “He’s just being a good teammate, playing his role to the best of his ability and then making the most of his opportunities. I think every time we threw him the ball tonight, for the most part he came down with it, and that’s what we talk about is having good production.”
James Wood immediately answered when Neal found Price on a go route for a 53-yard touchdown, tying the game with 3:41 left in the opening quarter.
Millbrook’s ensuing drive lasted for three plays and 71 yards, as Furbee connected with Johnson over the middle for a 38-yard score that put the home team up 21-14 with 2:52 on the clock.
With 56 seconds left in the first, Neal ran in a 1-yard score that was set up by a 47-yard reception by Parker Kerns.
“We have a lot of weapons,” Wilson said. “Owen can run the ball. He’s got a strong arm. We’re blessed that we don’t just have one or two receivers. We’ve got a lot of guys that can run and get open. Coach [Joey] Yurish does a good job figuring out the matchups, how we need to get guys in motion and in space and singling those guys up.”
Early in the second quarter, James Wood linebacker Logan Lafollette seemingly made a key stop on a tackle for loss that brought up fourth-and-12. The Pioneers called timeout, leading to Furbee finding Mckenney for a 14-yard gain to the James Wood 27. After a 16-yard Johnson catch and a 5-yard penalty, Kinley scored his first touchdown from 6 yards out to give Millbrook a 28-21 lead with 8:13 left before the break.
James Wood’s next drive saw Neal connect with Price downfield for a 43-yard touchdown pass on third-and-15. The action was tied once again with 6:06 remaining in the half.
Millbrook took over at its 34, but Kinley eventually coughed up the ball at James Wood’s 33 to end a streak of eight straight scoring drives. After a 4-yard gain by Jackson Ledford, Neal launched the ball to Price for a 61-yard score that gave James Wood its first lead (35-28) with 1:49 left in the half.
Price later broke up an end zone shot by Furbee on fourth-and-9 shortly before the opponents headed to the locker room.
Millbrook punted on the second half’s opening possession, leading to Ledford scoring a 10-yard rushing touchdown to cap off an eight-play, 67-yard drive. It was now 42-28 at the 8:13 mark.
Kinley shrugged off his fumble on the next drive by scoring on a 14-yard run to cut the deficit to seven with 5:46 on the clock. Kinley also ran for 14 yards on fourth-and-1 at the Millbrook 40, and a 15-yard catch by Isaiah Charles combined with a 15-yard penalty moved the Pioneers from their 49 to James Wood’s 21.
Manuel said Johnson and Mckenney’s receiving success caused James Wood to move a player out of the box, providing more running lanes for Kinley after a slow start on the ground.
Millbrook had a successful onside kick after Kinley’s end zone trip, getting the ball right back at its 49. Manuel said last year’s loss to James Wood inspired him to be more aggressive this time around.
“We’ve been prepping onside kicks all year for this football game,” Manuel said. “We knew that James Wood would have the firepower, and I left last year’s game and said the only thing I would change is I would probably have onside kicked it [more] just to give us a chance, because if they got the ball at the 20-yard line or if they got the ball at the 50-yard line, they were hard to stop. So that’s where the game plan came from.”
After Johnson hauled in a 24-yard pass to the 27, Kinley ran 7 yards before sprinting through the gap on third-and-3 for a 20-yard touchdown, giving him a hat trick. Millbrook had now scored 14 points in four minutes and 17 seconds, tying the game at 42.
After prior losses of two, 13 and four points, the Pioneers lost another heartbreaker on Friday. Even though the results haven’t been ideal, Manuel said he’s impressed with his players’ growth and believes Millbrook is moving in the right direction.
“I think Ben Furbee’s playing good football, and we’re getting the ball into our athletes’ hands, and we’re making explosive plays,” Manuel said. “I just had a heart-to-heart with the guys of just [saying], ‘Hey, trust me, we’re doing some really good things, and I just need you guys to come back Monday ready to work.’
“I had a lot of guys look at me straight in the eyes, and I have a good feeling about it. We’re getting better as a program, and it’s a process. Our kids are bought into it, and Monday we just want to get better than we were today.”
Following its win, James Wood will return to action Friday against Liberty at home. Millbrook will visit Skyline the same day.
— Contact Joe Tuman at jtuman@winchesterstar.com
Follow him on X @jtuman21