Local rivals will collide Friday night when Millbrook football hosts James Wood at 7 p.m. in its Homecoming game.
The 5-1 Colonels (2-1 Northwestern District) will enter this game coming off a 55-10 win over Meridian last week. Outside of a 35-28 loss to Sherando on Sept. 18, James Wood has scored at least 48 points in all of its games.
The 1-5 Pioneers (1-2 district) are coming off their own loss to the Warriors, 41-13. Prior to that defeat, Millbrook narrowly lost to Kettle Run 24-20 on Sept. 25, defeated Meridian 29-6 on Sept. 18 and lost 13-0 to Loudoun County on Sept. 10.
Millbrook trailed 21-0 at halftime against Sherando, and James Wood scored 48 points in the first half against the Mustangs. Pioneers head coach Nick Manuel said preventing the Colonels from starting fast will be crucial.
“The thing is, just don’t let up big plays,” Manuel said. “They thrive off of deep passes. Their quarterback [Owen Neal] does a good job when you drop into coverage. He makes you pay with his legs, and those are things we’ve got to practice this week. You’ve got to kind of bend, don’t break.”
Last year’s matchup between the two proved explosive, as James Wood won 54-35 after outgaining Millbrook 551-382. The Pioneers were competitive, trailing 28-21 at halftime and 41-35 late in the third quarter before James Wood scored 13 unanswered in the final 12 minutes and 23 seconds.
Neal accounted for seven total touchdowns in that contest, throwing three passing touchdowns to receiver Aidric Yurish and another two to wideout Xavier Price.
That trio has continued excelling this season, as Neal has completed 79 of 109 passes for 1,749 yards, 17 touchdowns and two interceptions while relying on Yurish (33 receptions, 715 yards, four touchdowns) and Price (20 receptions, 412 yards, nine touchdowns).
Neal has remained a dangerous runner, leading the Colonels with 51 carries for 597 yards and 16 scores. However, James Wood has also gotten a combined 768 rushing yards from running backs Jackson Ledford and Dane Tews.
Ledford ran for three of his seven touchdowns this season against the Mustangs, and Tews has made three trips to the end zone through six games. James Wood head coach Todd Wilson said the duo has helped ease Neal’s offensive burden.
“Not only has Jackson Ledford been able to establish himself as a really good running back for us, he’s also helped minimize the wear and tear on Owen,” Wilson said. “And you can’t overlook Dane Tews. Those are two really good running backs who complement one another. They’ve taken some of those carries off of Owen Neal this year. He ran a little bit more last year than he has so far this year.”
The run game is also something Manuel is hoping his team finds consistency with down the stretch.
In every game the Pioneers have scored at least 20 points this season, they’ve rushed for an average of 190.3 yards per game. In the three games they’ve scored under 20, they’ve averaged 54.3 rushing yards per game and ran for 33 or less in two of those contests.
“When we can run the ball, we are successful,” Manuel said. “When we haven’t been able to run the ball, we haven’t been too successful. So we’ve got to figure out ways to be a little bit more creative to get some of those things going. I’ve definitely got to put our quarterback in some better situations, not force things, and be patient. Ben [Furbee] executes when that’s the case, but I can’t force things when things aren’t there.”
Furbee, who’s in his first season as Millbrook’s starting quarterback, ranks second behind Neal in the area with 884 passing yards. Although Furbee has struggled with turnovers, tossing six interceptions compared to two touchdowns, he’s thrown for over 200 yards in each of the past two weeks and has thrown zero interceptions in four of the Pioneers’ games.
He’s built chemistry with No. 1 receiver Rome Johnson (25 catches, 296 yards, 16 carries, 93 yards, touchdown in five games) and wideout Nick Mckenney (16 catches, 220 yards, touchdown) in recent weeks, helping Millbrook generate 275.3 yards from scrimmage per game.
“They just keep getting better and better every week, and that’s obviously what you want to do as a program,” Wilson said of Millbrook. “They run the ball really well, but the last couple of games they’ve played, they’ve thrown the ball a good bit as well.
“For us, we’ve just got to continue with our fundamentals. The biggest thing every week is linemen assignment on defense. We’ve got to know how to get aligned right to different formations that they run, and then execute. We’ve got to tackle in space. All 11 pieces have to work in unison; you can’t do somebody else’s job and do your job at the same time. So we’ve just got to get aligned correctly, and then execute after that and get the ball back to our offense.”
This season, James Wood’s defense has allowed 195.2 yards per game and has forced five turnovers. Linebackers Logan Lafollette (39 tackles, 3.5 sacks, fumble recovery, pass breakup), Anthony Salvati (51 tackles) and Ledford (55 tackles, interception) have played a key role, while defensive lineman Heston LaRue has made plays up front with 24 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
Millbrook’s defense is giving up 328.3 yards per game and is led by defensive end Karl Moutemy’s 39 tackles and five sacks, defensive tackle JT Wagner’s 24 tackles and two sacks, linebacker Jude Cusick’s area-leading 75 tackles and defensive back Carson Williams’ 40 tackles and two interceptions.
Manuel said he’d love for his team to build upon its zero-penalty performance against Sherando.
“That’s huge, and I think that goes to the way we structured practice,” Manuel said. “We had [practices] getting back to the basics of periods where we’re watching the ball, change of snap counts and things that you do a lot during camp. We kind of brought it back out last week, and I think we’re going to do it again this week. And those things matter; they add up in close games.”
— Contact Joe Tuman at jtuman@winchesterstar.com
Follow him on X @jtuman21