WINCHESTER — After a record-setting scoring season, it’s going to be interesting to see what the James Wood High School football team’s offense does for an encore in 2026.
Thursday marked the first official day of Virginia High School League football practice for 2026, and the Colonels trotted out eight returning starters from an offense that that scored 456 points in 2025 — 116 more than they’ve ever scored in a season before. James Wood averaged 41.5 points per game, its highest average for a season in school history.
With so much experience, talent and depth, James Wood’s offensive players feel comfortable with what they’re required to do, and confident in their ability to execute those tasks.
“[Offensive coordinator Joey] Yurish has planned a beautiful offense, [head] coach [Todd] Wilson as well,” said senior quarterback Owen Neal. “We’re just running it smoothly. A lot of us ran it the last four years. We know the offense in and out. There’s not much we’ve got to go over. Just simplifying things, making sure we’re back fluid like we were at the end of last season. Comfort level is really high.”
The Colonels’ spread attack had defenses covering practically every inch of the field repeatedly. James Wood scored a single-game 72 points in a victory against Warren County. In a 7-4 season that ended with a Region 4D quartefinal loss, the Colonels recorded at least 20 points in every game and at least 40 points in six contests. James Wood’s area-best 438.2 yards per game was almost 90 more per game than any other team.
Neal headlines the offense as a four-year starting quarterback. He earned Winchester Star, Region 4D and Class 4 Northwestern District Offensive Player of the Year honors last year, completing 64.3% of his 199 passes for 2,633 yards, 27 touchdowns and five interceptions, while also carrying the ball 139 times for 912 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. Neal broke school records for passing yardage and passing touchdowns.
James Wood also features senior wide receivers and First Team All-Region 4D selections Aidric Yurish (led area in receiving yards with 1,077, tied for area lead in receptions with 46, third with eight receiving TDs) and Xavier Price (third in area with 32 receptions for 756 yards, led area in yards per catch at 23.4 and receiving TDs with 14). Wilson is also excited about a few players at receiver beyond those two, including Parker Kerns, a baseball standout who is playing football at Wood for the first time.
Senior running back Jeremiah Hodel (83 carries, 596 yards, seven TDs) is part of a deep backfield. JV standout Weston Smith, a sophomore, could see a major role, and Ledford could also contribute again like he did last year.
Wilson likes the depth on the offensive line. Second Team All-District selection and senior Lane Herring is back at left tackle, senior Timber Hough is moving from left guard to center, and junior guard Donny Ramirez returns. Senior Sawyer Farr will move into a starting right tackle role after being a key reserve last year. Junior Brian Snider came up from the JV to start on the offensive line in the playoff game against Sherando.
“Those five have been pretty well [established] in the program and gotten a lot of reps, even though they may not have been starters,” Wilson said. “We have a lot of continuity up front. Any coach is going to tell you if you’re pretty good up front, you can win some football games. If you’re not very good up front, you’re going to struggle throughout the season.
“That’s where it starts, whether it’s in run game or in pass protection for Owen. We feel like we’re probably about eight to nine guys deep that we feel confident we can send out in any configuration, which is a very good place to be in.”
James Wood can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future.
“We can always be better at the fundamentals,” Neal said. “We’re a fast-paced team, so just getting that down pat. Blocking schemes, just making sure that everybody’s on the same, even when the pressure’s high.
“[Defensive coordinator Richard] Davy and [defensive analyst Brian] Thomas do a good job of sending blitzes, and getting us prepared for anything we might see during the season. So it’s about just going over the fundamentals, making sure the keys are down pat, and knowing what we’re supposed to do in any given situation.”
James Wood’s defense also has eight players with starting experience and features three All-District selections in linebackers Jackson Ledford (the junior First Team selection ranked second in the area with 106 tackles last year) and senior Logan Lafollette (Second Team, 80 tacles, five sacks) and senior First Team lineman Heston LaRue (60 tackles, three sacks). The Colonels gave up 299.4 yards per game and 23.6 points per game last year.
“I feel like we’re going to be a much better defense than we were last year,” Ledford said. “I feel like we can work on our pass coverages and really just our communication in general.”
Wilson said James Wood has 90 players out for the varsity and JV programs combined. The Colonels are looking to continue a strong offseason which included their second straight year of workouts with Flow Fitness and Performance in Winchester.
“The consistency in the weight room was amazing,” Yurish said. “A lot of boys, including myself and Owen, got stronger, faster, bigger. Flo Fitness was amazing for us. They’re really good with working on directional steps and agility type of stuff, helping us get vertical and lateral. Everybody here is going to be problem [for opponents].”
Wilson said the players have worked hard and had fun in the offseason in pursuit of getting better.
“They’ve done a great job,” Wilson said. “[Offseason work] started in January for a lot of them. There’s some guys in the program that had perfect attendance for weightlifting since January. That’s a testament to what we’re trying to do around here. But we don’t want it to feel like a job. We don’t want it to feel like drudgery. We’re trying to bring some energy. We want them to have fun, and we’re going to to compete and try and win football games.”
For its scrimmages, James Wood will host Hampshire (West Virginia) on Aug. 15 and visit Skyline on Aug. 20. The Colonels open their regular season at home against Clarke County at Kelican Stadium on Aug. 28.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
Follow on X @WinStarSports1