Football: James Wood vs Handley

Posted: November 11, 2013
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

WINCHESTER — If you had told James Wood football coach Mark McHale before the game that his defense would only give up 83 yards of conventional offense halfway through the second quarter against Handley, he probably would have signed up for that in a heartbeat.

But the Judges have been showing lately that they’re more than just a flashy offense, and that showed up in a big way on Saturday at the Handley Bowl.

Despite only having 83 yards out of offensive formations halfway through the second quarter, Handley led 28-0 at that point.

The Judges just continued to pour it on from there, adding 21 points over the ensuing six minutes to take a 49-0 halftime lead en route to a 49-15 Northwestern District victory.

Handley’s special teams and defense created numerous big plays and short fields for the Judges (7-3, 3-1 Northwestern), and that helped the Judges lock up their first home playoff game since 2010.

“We had mistakes here and there, but we pulled it together and everyone played well,” said senior linebacker Will Martin, who had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Handley will be the No. 8 seed and face No. 9 Liberty (6-4) — winners of five straight games — next Saturday at the Handley Bowl in the first round of the 4A North Region playoffs.

The Eagles — who beat Handley in an opening round playoff game two years ago in Bealeton — led the Judges 42-21 heading into the fourth quarter in the season opener this year on Aug. 31, only to watch Handley storm back with 24-unanswered points and win 45-42 at the Handley Bowl.

Just like they did in that game, big games were had Saturday by junior quarterback Will Dearing (4 of 10 for 155 yards and four touchdowns) and junior wide receiver/running back Dontae Mauck (228 total yards and four touchdowns — Mauck had 134 yards and three touchdowns on four catches and 94 yards and a touchdown on five carries).

But Handley’s offense wasn’t in sync early, as Dearing started 1 for 7 and the Judges had just one run longer than eight yards through the first 18 minutes. (Handley running back D.J. Frisby missed his third straight game with an injury.)

Thanks to Handley’s defense and special teams, there were no worries.

After Handley started the game three-and-out, James Wood muffed Nick Dempsey’s punt, and Jarett Cestaro recoverd the fumble at the James Wood 22. Dearing hit Mauck for a touchdown on the next play to make it 7-0 one minute into the game.

James Wood then went three-and-out, but the Colonels forced Handley to punt after four plays. Except the Judges didn’t punt — Dempsey caught the snap and threw to a wide open Mauck at midfield, and he took the ball all the way to the James Wood 6, which set up a three-yard Jack Pingley touchdown run at the 6:55 mark of the first quarter.

James Wood then embarked on a 45-yard drive to the Handley 21, but on fourth-and-8 Colonels quarterback Brady Hepner (14 of 19 for 225 yards and a touchdown) received heavy pressure from Pingley, and his short pass was picked off by Martin at the 30 and returned for a touchdown at the 2:18 mark of the first.

After the teams exchanged three three-and-outs, Handley’s Brian Thomas returned a punt 29 yards to the James Wood 29. Mauck took a swing pass on the left side on the following play, froze some defenders with some quick hip movement, then essentially ran a tightrope along the left sideline to make it 28-0 at the 8:40 mark of the second quarter.

And that’s how you give up 28 points despite giving up just 83 yards out of traditional offensive formations.

“You can’t play a good football team and [commit turnovers],” McHale said. “We got behind early, and then they were just able to throw it up and do whatever they wanted. We shot ourselves in the foot about five times in the first half.”

Handley ended the first half with a 69-yard touchdown run by Mauck on an end-around, a 76-yard touchdown reception by Cestaro on a post play, and a 28-yard touchdown reception by Mauck after James Wood had another special teams fumble and Handley’s Jacob Shade recovered at the Colonels 31.

“It was a good all-around effort,” Handley coach Tony Rayburn said. “I think we’ve played pretty well in most facets of the game the last few weeks. Hopefully we’ll take that into the playoffs.”

In particular, the Judges are enthused about what their defense is doing. Two weeks ago Handley only allowed 93 yards to Skyline while building up a 49-3 lead at one point in the first half; last week Handley held Millbrook to 202 yards while forcing two turnovers in a 21-7 win; and before the starters exited for the second half Saturday held James Wood to 121 yards of offense, ncluding just 27 rushing yards on 23 carries.

“Our defense has picked it up, more than I expected,” said Mauck, who also plays cornerback. “Even with the injuries, everyone’s been playing well. Everybody’s doing their part to help out the team.”

Martin, who plays outside linebacker, agreed.

“It took us a while to get used to the 4-3 [defense], but I think it’s suiting us pretty well right now,” he said.

James Wood’s second-half scores came on a 30-yard touchdown catch from junior tight end Branson Ratlief (four catches, 83 yards) and a six-yard touchdown run from junior Landon Rutherford (five catches for 68 yards, 39 rushing yards).

Though James Wood went 1-9 for the second straight year, the Colonels were in the thick of a few games until breaking its 17-game losing streak with a 13-6 win over Millbrook in their second-to-last game.

McHale said the Colonels showed him plenty this year.

“This group of young men practiced like they had won every ballgame,” McHale said. “They never gave up, we didn’t have to push them, they tried their best, but it just wasn’t to be [as far as wins] this year. We’re building, and we’ll continue to work hard.”

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