After routing Liberty to end the regular season last week, Sherando senior defensive tackle Andrew Taylor was already looking forward to the postseason.
“I’m excited to play at home, baby,” Taylor said. “James Wood, we’re coming. We’re ready.”
For the second straight year, James Wood (7-3) will travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on Sherando (7-3) in the playoffs.
Kickoff for the Region 4D quarterfinal is at 7 p.m. on Friday, with the Warriors carrying the No. 4 seed and James Wood seeded fifth. Both teams are coming off blowout wins, with Sherando beating Liberty 41-0 at home and James Wood defeating Fauquier 59-13 on the road.
The Warriors were certainly ready for James Wood last year when they were seeded second and seventh, respectively. After beating James Wood 35-0 in the regular season, the Warriors followed that up with a 48-7 playoff rout.
On Friday, James Wood will be tasked with trying to avenge its worst defeat of the year.
On Sept. 19, the Warriors won 49-20 at Kelican Stadium. Sherando led 35-14 at the half and scored the final two touchdowns of the game in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors outgained James Wood 454-292 and dominated with its rushing attack, recording 354 yards on 46 attempts. Running back Jaylen Tasco-Murray ran 17 times for 125 yards and four touchdowns. Senior quarterback Jacob Henry ran eight times for 112 yards and went 4 of 6 for 110 yards passing, including a shovel pass to Donavan Blackwell that went 71 yards for a TD and closed the scoring.
Sherando coach T.J. Rohrbaugh said both teams are different from last year and from their week 4 matchup this year. The Warriors are focused on taking advantage of the present.
“This time of the year, every team that you play is going to be a good football team,” he said. “We’ve seen James Wood, and they’ve got a very good football team. We’re going to have to play our best on Friday night, or that will be it for us. We’ll be turning in our equipment on Monday next week.
“I’m just looking forward to the opportunity. I think our guys are looking forward to the opportunity. Hopefully, we’ll play hard on Friday night and give ourselves an opportunity to win a football game, and possibly move on and play another week together.”
No one has scored more points against Sherando this year than James Wood, but the Colonels will need to be stronger on defense in the rematch to give their potent offense a chance.
James Wood coach Todd Wilson feels like his team has improved in all phases since the beginning of the season. Wilson said defensive alignment was one of the issues that James Wood had in the first game against Sherando. The Colonels haven’t been perfect, but they’ve improved in that area since.
“You can’t let really good teams have those types of opportunities,” said Wilson, who stressed that Sherando’s offensive success against them was due to more than just being aligned improperly. “We gave them more of those opportunities [because of alignment] than we gave some other teams.
“We’ve still had some missed alignments since then, but it’s been a lot better. Kids have done a better job of getting in their scouting reports and being more prepared going into the week, then improving throughout the week of practice.”
Sherando is averaging 235.5 rushing yards per game, and it’s putting up 334.2 yards and 29.1 points per game overall. For the season, Tasco-Murray has 128 carries for 880 yards (6.9 average) and 14 TDs, and Henry has 88 carries for 673 yards (7.6 average) and six TDs. He’s also completed 87 of 125 passes for 951 yards, 11 TDs and six interceptions.
“We’ve got to get better,” said Wilson when asked about defending Sherando’s rushing attack. “Obviously, the last time we faced them, we didn’t slow down their run game at all. They didn’t have any real need to have to throw the ball.”
James Wood’s defense features lineman Heston LaRue (58 tackles, three sacks), linebackers Jackson Ledford (90 tackles, seven for a loss) and Logan Lafollette (72 tackles, five for a loss) and defensive backs Kaden McCullough (77 tackles) and Xavier Price (four interceptions). The Colonels are allowing 277.3 yards and 20.9 points per game.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to run the ball effectively on Friday night,” Rohrbaugh said. “The games where we haven’t been able to effectively run the ball, we’ve struggled. It’s important for us to definitely get that ground game going.”
Sherando’s offense also includes wide receiver Sean Benton (19 catches, 254 yards, three TDs) and Blackwell, who has caught 34 passes for 310 yards and three TDs and ran for 144 yards and a TD on 18 carries.
Rohrbaugh wants to establish the run and limit a James Wood ground game led by quarterback Owen Neal, the Class 4 Northwestern District Offensive Player of the Year. Neal threw for 262 yards and a TD and ran for two TDs in the first meeting with Sherando, but he only managed 29 yards on 15 carries.
James Wood leads the area in points per game (42.1) and yards per game (440.4). The Colonels run the ball 64 percent of the time, with Neal recording 874 yards and 15 TDs on 132 carries. Neal has also passed for 2,281 yards, 23 TDs and four interceptions while completing 105 of 170 passes.
The Colonels also feature wide receivers Aidric Yurish (35 catches, 909 yards, six TDs), Price (29 catches, 656 yards, 13 TDs) and McCullough (23 catches, 491 yards, four TDs) and running back Jeremiah Hodel (80 carries, 584 yards, seven TDs).
Rohrbaugh said the key for Sherando on defense will be getting the weekly improvement it always seeks. Only James Wood has scored more than 15 points against Sherando, which is allowing 9.1 points and 205.2 yards per game (77.8 per game rushing).
“Discipline, being in the right spots, finishing tackles when you have the opportunity,” Rohrbaugh said.
Sherando’s defense features linebackers Pete Carter (77 tackles) and Chase Dibert (64 tackles), defensive linemen Taylor (43 tackles, four sacks) and Evan Combs (32 tackles, 11 sacks), and defensive backs Colt Crittenden (58 tackles, three pass breakups) and Blackwell (24 tackles, nine pass breakups, two interceptions).
“Our guys just play hard,” Rohrbaugh said. “They do a good job of supplying the effort, play in and play out, and I think we’ve gotten better at the discipline component defensively.”
Wilson noted the Colonels had a couple of deep drives into Sherando territory that didn’t produce points in the first matchup.
“We’ve got to be able to capitalize offensively once we get inside the red zone,” Wilson said.
Like Rohrbaugh, Wilson is pleased the Colonels have the chance to extend their season on Friday.
“Anytime you get to play extra football, it’s a great feeling,” Wilson said. “It’s a reward for these kids and the hard work they’ve been putting in. To finish the regular season at 7-3 two years in a row where we’ve had an opportunity for postseason play, it means a lot to the kids.
“This game should mean a lot to the community, especially with it being in-county. Nobody’s having to drive far to come watch a high school football game. It should be a good environment.”
The winner of Friday’s game will play the winner of No. 1 George Washington (Danville) and No. 8 Blacksburg in next week’s semifinals.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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