In 2025, James Wood was the only team to score more than 15 points in a game in the regular season against Sherando with 20, and then the Colonels improved on that total with a 35-point effort in the Region 4D quarterfinals against the Warriors.
In both cases, Sherando had more points on the scoreboard at the end of the night. As prolific as James Wood is on offense (62.7 points and 534.7 yards per game this season), the performance of its defense will likely be the most important factor if the Colonels are to snap a six-game losing streak to their Frederick County rivals.
It will be another high-stakes matchup when James Wood (3-0) visits Sherando (3-0) in the first Northwestern District game of the season for both squads at 7 p.m. on Friday at Arrowhead Stadium. In a series that dates back to Sherando’s creation in 1993, this is the latest point in the season that both teams enter with undefeated records.
“The biggest thing right now is we’re 3-0,” James Wood coach Todd Wilson said. “We’ve put together some pretty good offensive drives, and the defense has gotten some stops when we’ve needed to.”
Both teams are coming off their closest games of the year. The Colonels beat Culpeper 48-7 at home and the Warriors went to West Virginia for a 36-14 victory over Jefferson.
“I think we’ve played with a great deal of effort week in and week out,” said Sherando coach T.J. Rohrbaugh, whose team will have its Homecoming contest on Friday. “I think effort’s the great equalizer at the end of the day. So we just need to keep supplying effort on a consistent basis. If we do that, I think we can give ourselves a chance to be successful.”
The Warriors lead the series 34-4, including a 6-0 mark since the beginning of the 2022 season that includes Region 4D quarterfinal wins in both 2024 and 2025. The Warriors have scored at least 35 points in all six victories and have won by at least 21 points in each matchup.
Last year, Sherando won 49-20 in the regular season and 56-35 in the Region 4D quarterfinals. Those were the two highest-scoring games against James Wood all season.
A year ago, the Colonels came into their regular-season matchup with Sherando allowing 5.0 points and 144.7 yards per game, including 114.0 on the ground. The Warriors ran for 342 yards — the total the Colonels allowed in their first three games combined — and gained 452 yards total.
Rohrbaugh knows Sherando can’t expect history to repeat itself.
“[The Colonels are] an improved version of what they were last year, and they were a really good football team last year,” Rohrbaugh said. “They do a lot of things well on both sides of the ball.”
James Wood returns eight defensive starters from last year, including three of its four All-District selections, and the Colonels are playing exceptionally on that side of the ball this season. James Wood’s 14 points allowed through three games is one fewer than at this point in 2025, and the Colonels are giving up 120.3 yards per game.
James Wood is led by linebackers Jackson Ledford (35 tackles), Anthony Salvati (25 tackles) and Logan Lafollette (22 tackles, two sacks) and defensive lineman Heston LaRue (17 tackles, 8.5 for a loss).
Sherando’s rushing attack gave the Colonels fits in both matchups last year. Jaylen Tasco-Murray ran for 125 yards and four TDs in the regular season and 174 yards and two TDs on 27 attempts in the postseason in last year’s matchups. The Warriors had 520 yards (353 rushing) in that playoff game.
Led by Tasco-Murray (53 carries for 507 yards and eight TDs), the Warriors are averaging 288 rushing yards per game and 424.4 yards per game overall. The last two weeks, Tasco-Murray has topped 200 yards and the Warriors have run for more than 300 yards on the ground.
“If we’re not successful establishing the run, then we’re going to struggle on Friday night,” Rohrbaugh said.
Quarterbacks Noah Taylor (22 carries for 125 yards, four TDs; 9-of-10 passing for 229 yards; one TD and no interceptions) and Duncan Hensler (eight carries for 70 yards; 180 yards, three TDs and one interception) are two of five players with 70 yards or more on the ground for Sherando.
“In their run game, they do a lot of different things formationally,” Wilson said. “They try to get you misaligned. Their guys up front, they’re big and strong offensive linemen. And Tasco-Murray, he’s a heck of a running back. The more film I watch on him, the more I like that kid. He runs hard and gives a lot of effort and energy.”
Wilson notes committing too much to the run opens defenses to a Sherando passing attack that has packed a punch in the 24 times they’ve thrown it this year. Reth Puller has 10 catches for 293 yards and three TDs. The Warriors also have wide receiver Colt Crittenden (187 combined receiving yards and three TDs), who didn’t play against Jefferson.
“If you start paying too much attention to the run game, they’ll hit you with an explosive pass play over the top,” Wilson said. “We’ve definitely got our hands full with being able to stop both dynamics, their passing game and their run game, and that’s what we’re going to try to do on Friday night.”
On offense, James Wood had its highest scoring season for total points and scoring average last year, and the Colonels have been even better this year with eight returning starters. James Wood has yet to punt and has just two turnovers, matching the total it has forced.
The Colonels’ offense features senior quarterback Owen Neal (35 of 50 for 810 yards, nine TDs and two interceptions; 24 carries for 230 yards and eight TDs); running backs Ledford (21 carries, 341 yards, four TDs) and Dane Tews (19 carries, 225 yards, two TDs); and wide receivers Xavier Price (nine catches, 250 yards, four TDs); Jackson Lang (11 catches, 223 yards, one TD) and Aidric Yurish (nine catches, 221 yards, three TDs).
Both James Wood and Culpeper County had a player ejected during the fourth quarter last week, and ejected players have to miss the following game as a result. The Colonels will have their player available for their offensive line after an appeal was granted.
Last week, Neal ran for four touchdowns and tossed a 70-yard touchdown strike to Jackson Lang. He had 309 total yards (233 passing). Tews ran for 97 yards and a TD on 12 carries and Ledford had 105 yards and a TD on 11 attempts.
James Wood will take on a Sherando defense that’s allowing 16.3 points and 226.3 yards per game and has seven takeaways (the Warriors have two turnovers). Against Jefferson, Sherando played without the safety Crittenden and linebacker Chase Dibert (team-high 11 tackles coming into game) and struggled at times on defense, but Jefferson still only managed 234 yards.
Rohrbaugh said Sherando needed to be better with its assignments and discipline on defense last week, as it committed 10 penalties for 70 yards. On defense, it had four encroachments and a roughing the passer penalty that wiped out an interception.
“[This week], we need everybody checking in and doing what they’re supposed to do on every single snap,” Rohrbaugh said. “We’ve lacked that at times. Against James Wood, if you’re not disciplined man for man, all 11 guys on the field, then they’re going to make you pay.”
The Warriors are led by linebackers Pete Carter (23 tackles, including 13 against Jefferson) and Wyatt Grimm (20.5 tackles; 11 last week), defensive lineman Evan Combs (eight tackles, four for a loss) and defensive backs Puller (10 tackles, one interception) and Gavin Even, who had two interceptions last week.
“Time of possession will be key,” said Wilson, whose team took a 14-7 lead with 2:36 left in the second quarter against Culpeper before breaking away in the second half. “It showed [against Culpeper]. If our offense isn’t on the field, our offense can’t score. If [Sherando] controls the clock and limits us to a couple possessions in the first half, that’s a key to the game. And if our defense can get some stops and force some turnovers, get the ball back in the hands of our offense, we have a better chance of scoring.
“Really, the keys to the game are being clean on all three phases. And not committing penalties, not committing turnovers, and getting the stops when we need to get the stops to let our offense get to work.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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