STEPHENS CITY — It took less than 13 minutes for James Wood to score 21 points, one more than Sherando had given up in any of its 10 regular-season football games.
The Warriors’ 14-point deficit at that point was larger than any deficit they had faced all year — not a good sign for a team that never trailed in any of its seven regular-season wins.
But for a squad facing a mountain of uncharted territory, Sherando sure looked like seasoned pros in navigating a path to plant a flag at the summit.
The No. 4 seed Warriors erupted for 49 points and had three takeaways and a turnover on downs in the last 30 minutes to emerge with a 56-35 Region 4D quarterfinal win over the No. 5 Colonels on Friday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
Sherando center and defensive tackle Jarrett See pointed out the Warriors’ lack of comeback wins this season after the game. In overcoming a 21-7 deficit, Sherando has now led in all 11 of its contests.
“This right here, we showed we could come back,” See said. “We showed we can keep working. That’s what Sherando football is.”
Sherando (8-3) will now travel to No. 1 George Washington (10-1) for a 7 p.m. semifinal next Friday in Danville. The Eagles beat No. 8 Blacksburg 44-7 on Friday.
Quarterback Jacob Henry (8 of 11 for 167 yards, 12 carries for 110 yards) had a hand in six touchdowns (four rushing, two passing) to lead the Warriors in a 91-point game that broke the record for the most points in the series’ 38-game history by 20. Sherando’s 65-6 win in 2018 featured the previous high point total of 71, and the Warriors’ 49-20 win earlier this season ranks as the No. 3 game for total points in the series.
No losing team in the series had ever scored more than 22 points until Friday. The Colonels (7-4) were still within striking distance at 42-35 when Owen Neal (25 of 32 for 297 yards, one interception and one rushing TD) threw his fourth touchdown pass with 10:31 left. But the next four possessions featured two Sherando touchdowns and two Warrior takeaways.
The Warriors punted on their first and third possessions, but they were unstoppable in lighting up the scoreboard with seven straight touchdown drives after that. With Jaylen Tasco-Murray recording 174 yards and two TDs on 27 carries, Sherando finished with a whopping 520 yards, nearly 200 more than James Wood’s 333.
With the Warriors having posted three shutouts and allowing 9.1 points per game coming into the playoffs, Henry figured Sherando’s offense owed the defense.
“There was no doubt in my mind that we weren’t going to stop going [to get the lead back],” Henry said. “Everybody kept going on offense. The defense has been taking care of us this whole year, so it was good to give back and help them out this game.”
Both coaches and Henry were impressed by the work put in by Sherando’s offensive line to fuel Friday’s rushing frenzy, which in addition to See also includes left tackle Tate Martin, left guard Evan Combs, right guard Cal Sommerfeld and right tackle Jesse Robinson. The Warriors rushed for 353 yards on 45 carries after compiling 354 yards on 46 attempts in the first meeting.
But after three possessions, Sherando only had 71 yards from scrimmage and two punts.
“Our coaches prepare us for absolutely everything,” See said. “But sometimes [a defense] just throws something random [at us]. We just need to talk about it up front, just communicate more, and get our heads right.
“[The offensive line], we thrive off of Coach [Mike] Combs and Coach [T.J.] Rohrbaugh powering us and talking about physicality up front. I’ve got to take some charge there and clear up some of the communication parts there, and make sure everyone’s on the same page. And then, it’s just teamwork.”
Sherando’s offense kicked into high gear after one of its offensive linemen (Combs) made a play from his defensive end spot to get the Warriors the ball.
With less than nine minutes left in the second quarter, James Wood looked like it might open the game with a fourth straight TD drive after two plays netted 17 yards and a first down at it own 49. But the Colonels then had the roughest three-play stretch that either offense had all game.
Defensive end Gabe Vallejos dropped Neal for a 6-yard sack, then a hold moved the ball back to the James Wood 32. On second-and-27, Combs blasted into Neal from behind for his area-best 12th sack, and Vallejos recovered Neal’s fumble at the James Wood 26 with 7:59 left in the second quarter.
“I think if we could have gone up three scores on them, that probably changes a little bit of what they do,” James Wood coach Todd Wilson said. “There’s still a lot of game left, but I like our chances three scores ahead. But penalties and turnovers are the name of the game, and that’s kind of what got us tonight.”
Someone on the Sherando sideline screamed, “That’s what we needed!”, and the Warriors did not let the opportunity go to waste. Five plays later, Henry had a 2-yard rushing TD that made it 21-14 after the second of Chase Dibert’s eight extra point kicks with 5:32 left in the second quarter.
After Neal couldn’t connect with Aidric Yurish (11 catches, 154 yards, two TDs) on a short fourth-and-4 pass from the Wood 49 on the next possession, Sherando again took advantage of a short field. Henry rolled right and connected downfield with Treyvonne Washington (16-yard TD catch for the Warriors) for 21 yards to the James Wood 10. Henry ran the ball in on the following play to tie the the score 21-21 with 1:17 left in the second quarter.
Vallejos sacked Neal again on the first play of the next possession to all but sink any chance of James Wood getting points before the half. The Warriors went into the break with 14 unanswered points.
“That was definitely a big momentum boost,” said Rohrbaugh of the last eight minutes of the first half. “We had to get something defensively going in on our favor, because they were up and down on the field on us there early. So getting some stops before the half and have our offense be able to tie it up, and knowing we were going to get the ball after halftime, that was a huge boost for us.”
James Wood tried to turn the tide back in its favor with an onside kick to start the second half, but Caleb Pont recovered the ball for the Warriors at their own 46. Five plays later, Henry ran through a big hole on the left side for a 15-yard TD that made it 28-21 Sherando at the 9:20 mark of the third quarter.
A holding call and an illegal procedure sunk James Wood’s next drive and ended with Aidan Bell’s only punt of the game, a 32-yarder. The Warriors answered with a 30-yard TD pass from Henry after he stepped forward into space after surveying the field and hit a wide-open Donovan Blackwell near the goal line for a 35-21 edge with 5:14 left in the third quarter.
Jackson Ledford returned the kickoff 29 yards to the Sherando 46, and 15 yards was tackled on for a personal foul. Five plays later, Neal had a 1-yard TD run to make it 35-28 Sherando at the 3:29 mark.
With a chance to force a Sherando punt, James Wood’s fans roared to try and disrupt the Warriors on third-and-4 from the Sherando 36 on the next possession.
Henry scrambled and ran toward the line of scrimmage, which drew the James Wood secondary up. Sean Benton was let go in the process, and Henry noticed. He connected with him, and Benton wasn’t tackled until he reached the James Wood 1-yard line. Two plays later, Tasco-Murray ran the ball in from 6 yards out after taking a direct snap to make it 42-28 Warriors with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
“I was kind of struggling a little bit in the pocket, and I was about to scramble and get what I could get,” Henry said. “I looked up. I don’t know what Sean was doing, but he was running to the end zone, and I found him. I just gave him something to work with.”
Neal connected with Yurish for a 10-yard TD with 10:31 left for a 42-35 score, and Henry responded with a 35-yard TD run and a 49-35 Sherando lead with 8:10 left.
James Wood needed a score and a stop. It wouldn’t get another score. Dibert intercepted Neal on a pass over the middle for the game’s only interception to give Sherando the ball at the James Wood 35, and Tasco-Murray’s 18-yard TD run with 4:17 left capped the scoring.
Dibert said he made a lot of mistakes early in the game. Ultimately, the Warriors regrouped well on defense. Though Neal passed for nearly 300 yards, Sherando’s four sacks contributed to a rushing effort of just 36 yards for James Wood.
“As a defense, we settled in, and we were able to get it done,” he said. “[On the interception], I saw it was a pass, I just dropped back, I saw it in the air, and I caught it. … It was awesome.”
The Colonels had a better chance of winning against Sherando than it did in the regular season, but ultimately they went 0-2 against the Warriors for the second straight year. Neal had Wood smoking early with TD passes of 9 yards to Kaden McCullough, 26 yards to Yurish and 37 yards to Xavier Price (four catches, 80 yards).
“We just kept it simple, executed the game plan very well, and it showed,” Neal said. “Let the athletes get the ball, let them play in space.”
Wilson said he liked the Colonels’ game plan and explosiveness early. In addition to the miscues, he noted Sherando’s size, talent and execution on the offensive line made a big difference.
James Wood’s coaches and players spent a lot time after the game talking with each other, and they made sure to appreciate their last time on the field together with hugs and pictures.
“They’re all like sons to me,” Wilson said. “We work year round. I’m with these kids as much as my own family. You just wish the best for [the seniors]. We told them if they need anything from us in the future, if something comes up, they need a letter of recommendation, we’ll do anything we can to help them.”
The Colonels’ senior class — which numbers 16 on their roster — exits with its second straight seven-win season and playoff appearance.
“They’re my brothers,” said the junior Neal. “I’ve been with them forever. Kaden McCullough has been such a leader for me. He’s taken me under his wing. Everybody has taken me under their wing since I was a freshman on varsity. They’ve led me and showed me the ropes. I’m going to miss them.”
Sherando will get at least one more week together.
“I was proud of our guys,” Rohrbaugh said. “Playoff football, you’re going to have games where things aren’t going to go as scripted against really good football teams, and James Wood is a really good football team. I was just happy our guys were able to bear down when things weren’t going our way, and found a way to get things done.”
Pete Carter added 64 yards on three carries and Blackwell had 59 total yards for Sherando.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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