Not since 2010 have all four Winchester-Frederick County football teams qualified for the Virginia High School League playoffs.
The four local schools are going to continue to beat each other up over the next five weeks, but there’s a chance they could all find themselves dancing come November. For the second straight week since the Region 4D football ratings were first released publicly, not only are they each in top-eight playoff position, but each are rated among the top six teams in the 15-team region.
At 7 p.m. on Friday night, the third and final Frederick County regular-season football matchup will take place when No. 6 Millbrook (3-3 overall, 2-1 Northwestern District) travels to Kelican Stadium to play No. 5 James Wood (5-1, 2-1).
It’s hard to say how things will play out over the rest of the season, but there’s no question it’s an exciting time for football in the area.
“I think it’s great,” said James Wood coach Todd Wilson of the success of the local schools. “I tell a lot of recruiters who come into the area that this is a great place for high school football. We have four schools that pride themselves on working really hard and putting the best product out on the field.
“To get four schools that are doing that, it makes it exciting for the community. It makes it exciting for the high school students, not only just the athletes, but the student body. That’s what people want. I expect a good crowd out here on Friday night. Hopefully, both teams will go out there and put a good product on the field, and it will be fun for everybody.”
Millbrook first-year head coach Nick Manuel hopes to have the fun of beating one of his former schools this year.
Sherando’s former defensive coordinator saw his team fall 35-14 to the Warriors last week after being within 21-14 halfway through the fourth quarter. A star defensive back and wide receiver in high school, Manuel graduated in 2015 from James Wood and served as the Colonels’ JV head coach in 2018-19. Wilson and Manuel’s coaching careers at James Wood overlapped in 2019, with Manuel beginning a four-year stint as an offensive line coach for the Colonels that season.
“There’s a little bit extra there for me of wanting to get this one,” Manuel said. “Our players have a little bit of familiarity with the kids over there, and our kids are excited.”
Millbrook leads the all-time series 12-10. A year ago, James Wood clinched its first playoff berth since 2021 with a 43-27 home win over the Pioneers in the regular-season finale. Colonels quarterback Owen Neal had 116 rushing yards and three TDs — all of which came in the third quarter — on 23 carries. He was also 7-for-13 passing for 112 yards and one TD. The graduated Kobe Mason had 152 yards and two TDs on 17 carries.
James Wood’s only loss is to Sherando (49-20 in Week 4). The Colonels have followed that up with a 72-12 win over Warren County and a 41-22 victory last week over Meridian.
Wilson said one thing that’s improved since the Sherando defeat is the team’s alignment on plays.
“We had a couple key breakdowns defensively in our alignments against Sherando,” Wilson said. “Sherando’s a good football team, but when we don’t have guys in the right spots, that definitely helps other teams out no matter who it is.
“I think we’ve done a little bit better job in our scouting report. Our players have gotten a little bit better of studying the stuff that we’re telling them to study and execute. It wasn’t that they weren’t doing that before. I just think they’re doing it a little bit higher level now. I think they realize the severity of it if they don’t take it serious and make sure we line up and execute. Otherwise, it’s not going to be an easy night on defense.”
Both defenses on Friday will have their work cut out for them because of the quarterbacks they have to face.
A junior, Neal has completed 45 of 79 passes for 1,121 yards, 12 touchdowns and three interceptions and ran 70 times for 445 yards and nine TDs. Last week, Neal was 6 of 9 for 88 yards, a TD and an interception and had 23 carries for 171 yards and two TDs.
“He’s very good at throwing and running the football,” Manuel said. “I think he’s one of their best and hardest runners. He’s difficult to take down. In the passing game, he’s very accurate with a very strong arm. He seems to be very smart and makes good decisions. He has the ability to scramble. His receivers are well-coached [when Neal has to improvise]. They continue to get open, and he’s able to find them.”
James Wood is also led on offense by receivers Xavier Price (13 catches for 405 yards and eight TDs) and Aidric Yurish (13 catches for 337 yards and two TDs) as well as running back Jeremiah Hodel (55 carries, 402 yards, four TDs).
“It will be interesting to see how we go against a spread team,” Manuel said. “We haven’t really went against something like this so far. We’ve made a couple of adjustments that puts us in a decent situation to be able to do it. Each and each every week, we’ve got to limit big plays and find a way to create some turnovers to give ourselves a chance.”
The Pioneers held Kettle Run to 266 yards and seven points while turning them over three times two weeks ago, but Sherando ran for 392 yards as part of a 415-yard, no-turnover game last week. Manuel said the run defense must be better this week.
“We’re just going to feel the game out,” Wilson said. “We don’t go into a game saying we’re going to run the ball 80 percent or throw the ball 80 percent or anything like that.”
Millbrook’s defense is led by linebacker Chris Bradford (64 tackles), defensive back Jude Cusick (63 tackles) and defensive end Parker Edwards (47 tackles, 4.5 sacks). Manuel said linebacker Chase Jones (39 tackles) — who missed the Sherando game — could possibly return this week.
On offense, Pioneers junior quarterback Keon Lewis is coming off a game in which he completed 24 of 41 passes for 330 yards, one TD and one interception. He’s completed 78 of 124 passes for 979 yards, six TDs and seven interceptions for the season.
“We need to align, know what they do out of certain formations, and execute,” Wilson said. “They’ve got a really good quarterback. He can throw the ball around, and he’s accurate.”
The Pioneers are led by wide receivers Rome Johnson (21 catches, 310 yards, three TDs) and Cam Clark (16 catches, 295 yards, three TDs) and running backs Carter Kinley (79 carries, 298 yards, two TDs) and Rylee Baker (team-high 38 points). Manuel wants to see more production in the run game after rushing for 9 yards last week.
James Wood’s defense features linebackers Jackson Ledford (54 tackles) and Logan Lafollette (45 tackles, four sacks), defensive lineman Heston LaRue (36 tackles) and defensive back Kaden McCullough (36 tackles). Cornerback Xander Manzo (three interceptions) left last week’s game with an injury.
“[James Wood] comes up and they play tight to the football,” Manuel said. “They get after you with blitzing, and they like to kind of smother your run game. We’re going to have to be able to get the ball on the perimeter and take shots to be succesful.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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