Football Preview: James Wood at Warren County

When: Today, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Warren County High School, Front Royal

Records: James Wood (0-2); Warren County (1-1)

Last week: James Wood lost to Loudoun Valley 17-0; Warren County beat Brentsville 37-14

Last year: Warren County won 32-7

Preview: There are plenty of fond memories associated with Warren County football for Mark McHale, who coached from 1998-99, but he’ll be looking to add one more when his Colonels head to Front Royal tonight.

After a strong performance in the opener against Heritage, James Wood took a step back offensively last week, failing to score against Loudoun Valley at home, and McHale knows the main culprit for his team’s struggles.

“We didn’t run the ball, that was our nemesis,” said McHale, whose team rushed for just 81 yards on 31 carries. “We had three 100-yard rushers in the first game [against Heritage], but we didn’t come close to that in the second game. It cost us field position, the defense was defending from the 50-yard line all night long, and it cost us the game.”

McHale said the Colonels stressed blocking and opening up running lanes this week, and he hopes that another week under center for senior Cam Butler will also help the offense.

After missing all of the preseason and the first game battling mononucleosis, Butler started against Loudoun Valley but had to exit the game after taking a hard hit.

Butler is fine, according to McHale, and he’ll need to be if the Colonels are to have a shot against a Warren County team that’s beaten them each of the last three seasons.

Tony Tallent’s squad was hit hard by graduation last year, but running back Demetrus Yates (223 rushing yards last week against Brentsville) and wide receiver Jontae Rollins (caught three touchdowns) make the Wildcats plenty dangerous.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys that are improving by leaps and bounds,” Tallent said. “You can see the improvement each week.”

Despite last week’s setback, McHale feels like James Wood is moving in the right direction, and a win tonight would be a huge step.

“When I was at Warren County we beat James Wood my second year and that was a big win for our program at the time,” McHale said. “Hopefully we can return the favor.”

— Compiled by Robert Niedzwiecki, Robert Stocks and Kevin Trudgeon