September 28, 2012
By Robert Stocks

WINCHESTER — With the heart of the Northwestern District schedule on the horizon, there’s still a lot of football left to be played for James Wood High School’s football team.

But the Colonels know they can’t worry about district rivalry games just yet.

That’s because unbeaten Warren County (4-0) travels to face the Colonels (1-4) at Jerry L. Kelican Stadium at 7 tonight, and the Colonels — who have lost four straight — face a tough matchup against the experienced Wildcats.

Colonels junior quarterback Cam Butler said the team’s four-game skid has been disappointing, but he’s proud of how hard the team has continued to work in practice each week.

“It’s been tough for us starting out with one win in the beginning of the year and then losing four straight, it’s tough,” Butler said. “But I’ll give it to the guys and myself, we’ve really had a great attitude these couple weeks and we’re sticking together. We know it’s going to come together. We’ve just got to stay together as a team and we’ll be alright.”
The Colonels opened the season with a 30-27 road victory over Heritage but then lost their next four games against Loudoun Valley (52-19), Musselman (W.Va., 41-0), Hedgesville (W.Va., 27-19) and last week’s district opener to Skyline (39-19).

Dealing with injuries against quality teams like Loudoun Valley, Musselman and Skyline made those matchups even tougher, but the Colonels appear to be back at full strength heading into tonight’s matchup against the Wildcats, who beat the Colonels 29-21 in Front Royal a season ago.

“[Wednesday] was the first day since probably day three of summer camp that we had all 35 players suited up and practicing so that’s a good sign,” said James Wood coach Mike Bolin. “We’re 100 percent right now. It’s nice to have everybody out there to have a few more options.”

Colonels linemen Erik Bearer, a 5-foot-10, 282-pound senior, and Chris Alaniz, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound senior, both dealt with injuries earlier in the season but both head into tonight’s matchup as healthy as they’ve been since the start of summer practice.

Alaniz expects another tough, physical game against Warren County.

“They’re a good team and they come off the defensive line really well and they hit hard,” said Alaniz, an offensive tackle who also rotates in at defensive tackle. “We’ll just have to come off the line harder. You’ve got to always think your opponent is going to be at the top of their game so you can be on top of yours.”

The Colonels need to be on top of their game against the Wildcats, who have outscored their first four opponents 141-50. Warren’s offense averages 35.2 points per game and the Wildcats’ defense allows just 12.5 points through four games, including three wins over Group A opponents Clarke County, Central and George Mason and Moorefield (W.Va.).

Warren County senior Timmy Green scored three touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 28-13 win over Moorefield last week.

The Wildcats’ multiple pro-I offense, led by four-year starting quarterback Tyler Post, has scored at least 27 points each game.

“I think we have nice complements in the receiving corps,” said Warren County coach Tony Tallent, whose team has 21 seniors. “I think [running back] Chris Larsen is playing real well, and Zane Grudzinski is playing well at tight end. We’re just a whole lot more multi-dimensional [this year].”

Bolin said the Wildcats utilize the same base sets on offense and defense so the familiarity will help, but the Colonel coach said his team must be able to contain Warren’s offense.

“They don’t do a lot offensively or defensively, but what they do — they do well,” Bolin said. “Those are the types of teams that are tough to play against because if you can’t stop what they’re doing they’re going to run over you.

“They’re well coached. Tony is one of the best coaches around, and he’s done a great job with that program. We’re excited for the opportunity but they’re a great football team.”

One of the things the Colonels hope to improve on is their red-zone offense.

Butler said the team has moved the ball well at times this year, but it struggles once it gets in the red zone (inside the opposing team’s 25).

“The last couple weeks [our offense] has really hurt us and we’ve gone 20 to 20 [yard line] on offense and we can’t really finish drives,” said Butler, who has thrown for 664 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions. “We need to find a way to really finish drives and put the ball in the end zone to help out our defense. Our defense has played pretty well but we have to score points for them.”

In last week’s loss to Skyline, James Wood trailed just 14-7 at the half but the Hawks outscored the Colonels 25-12 in the second half en route to a 39-19 victory.

Against Musselman, James Wood trailed 14-0 but the Applemen scored just before the half on fourth down to take control of that game on their way to a 41-0 win. In the Colonels’ four losses, they’ve been outscored 73-34 in the second half.

“We’ve missed tackles that have really hurt us in spots,” Bolin said. “And we’ve got to play better in the second half.”

Although the Wildcats have won two in a row against the Colonels, Tallent said his team won’t get caught looking ahead to Evergreen District competition because James Wood has faced quality teams.

“They’ve come up short but it’s not for a lack of effort and they’ve come up against some good teams,” Tallent said. “They’re going to be a challenge for us. They’ve got good size and their execution is really solid. They’re always big and strong and fundamentally they’re all together. We’ve got to minimize mistakes and execute flawlessly. We’ll have to play our best game of the year if we’re going to continue to be successful.”

The Colonels face a challenging schedule the rest of the way but they won’t have to leave Frederick County for any of their final four games with road games at Sherando and Millbrook and home games against Fauquier and Handley to close the season.

James Wood’s ground game is led by Dallas Corbin, who has 66 carries for a team-high 324 yards and two touchdowns, and Bradley Skillman ranks second with 33 carries for 142 yards and a score.

Tallent said his team’s defense — which has forced 10 turnovers — faces a physical matchup with the Colonels’ offensive line and ground game.

“They’ve got a big line and [Butler] throws the ball right where receivers need it,” Tallent said. “[Corbin] is a dynamic back. [Joey Eubank] is a stronger runner and a good downhill back. [Corbin] is really able to move around and he’s tough to tackle.”

The Colonels focused on executing fundamentals in practice this week, and Butler said the team needs a balanced attack against the Wildcats’ solid 4-4 defense.

“We hope to get our passing game started early but we’ve got to rely on our running game,” Butler said. “Our offensive line has been our biggest thing all year, and we’ve got to get them banging up front. If we can get some holes our running backs are going to find them.

“We’ve got to get the running game going and have a big night to help us win. If we can get one [win] that would really help us out a lot. That would help our confidence moving on to the heavy district schedule that we have coming up.”

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