James Wood (6-1, 3-1 Northwestern) at Liberty (3-3, 3-2)
James Wood and its dangerous offense will travel to Bealeton to take on Liberty this Friday.
The Colonels are coming off a 54-35 win over Millbrook, while Liberty defeated Brentsville District 29-20 last time out. This season, Liberty has averaged 22.7 points per game, but has scored under 10 points twice.
Outside of a 49-20 loss to Sherando, the Colonels have been red hot. They’re averaging 441.6 yards per game and have outscored opponents 312-133.
The heart of James Wood’s offense has been junior quarterback Owen Neal, who continues to punish teams in the air and on the ground. So far, he’s completed 65 of 101 passes for 1,468 yards, 17 touchdowns and three interceptions, while adding 586 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns.
He’s regularly connected with receivers Aidric Yurish and Xavier Price, who are the top two local receivers with 513 and 506 yards, respectively. Last week, Yurish caught three touchdowns and hauled in an interception, while Price added two touchdowns of his own. Price has 10 touchdowns and three interceptions this season.
Wide receiver and linebacker Kaden McCullough has also proven extremely versatile. On the year, he’s made 50 tackles, recorded a safety and scored two receiving touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and a kick return touchdown. He’s averaging 36.1 yards per return across 11 tries.
Additionally, James Wood’s defense is helmed by linebacker Jackson Ledford (61 tackles, 43 solo), linebacker Logan LaFollette (53 tackles, four sacks) and cornerback Xander Manzo (three interceptions). Manzo didn’t play last Friday due to injury, and head coach Todd Wilson said if Manzo doesn’t return this week, he’ll “definitely” be back after the upcoming bye week.
Liberty could challenge James Wood due to its offensive creativity. The Eagles utilize two quarterbacks, Gavin Cook and AP Hull, and both proved productive during the team’s past two wins over Brentsville District and Warren County.
In the win over Warren County, the Eagles lined Cook up at running back at times and had him take handoffs from Hull. However, Cook is also a dangerous passer, having finished the win over the Wildcats with 233 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in addition to a rushing score.
While Hull isn’t playing as much as he did earlier in the season, he accounted for the third touchdown pass of the game during the 51-8 win over Warren County.
Other players to watch for Liberty are wide receivers Owen Corbin and Ariyan Hull and running back and defensive back Alfonso Ramos.
With Liberty having suffered significant losses against Handley and Kettle Run earlier this season, it has yet to defeat an opponent of James Wood’s caliber.