James Wood Football Shuts Out Warren County 36-0 For First Win In Home Opener

Posted: September 13, 2014
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — On a night in which every player on the James Wood football team fought for every yard on offense and scrapped for every tackle on defense, some Manuel labor gave the Colonels a spark, and then some separation.

James Wood senior Nick Manuel set up the Colonels’ first touchdown with a 25-yard interception return to the Warren County 37, then fought off two defenders to turn what looked like a regular 14-yard completion into an electrifying 74-yard touchdown reception to put the Colonels up two touchdowns with just 1:26 left on the first-half clock.

From that point on, James Wood left no doubt who the better team was on Friday night at Kelican Stadium, defeating Warren County 36-0 in non-district action.

With the win, the Colonels (1-2) snapped a four-game losing streak in their series with the Wildcats (0-3) and took a 20-19 lead in the all-time series.

And with the victory, James Wood can play two months with the knowledge that it has what it takes to win instead of just two weeks — the Colonels didn’t get their first win last year until the ninth game of the season.

“I’m so happy for these players,” said James Wood coach Mark McHale, whose team outgained the Wildcats 300-107 and forced three turnovers while committing none. “Gosh, you don’t know how happy I am for them. They’ve been working hard. It’s really good to get a goose egg. It doesn’t matter who you play.”

Manuel (four catches for 92 yards on offense, two interceptions on defense) played a huge role in setting the tone for that shutout. After Warren County drove 24 yards into James Wood territory on its opening drive, Warren County sophomore quarterback Cameron Ford rolled to his right, got some pressure from the Colonels, and he threw up a 10-yard pass downfield.

Waiting for it was Manuel, who grabbed it at the James Wood 38-yard line before knifing through the Wildcats’ offense to the Warren County 37. Nine plays later, James Wood junior Tyler Bishop (98 total yards — including 16 rushes for 58 yards — and two touchdowns, and one interception) ran the ball in from the 4-yard line on third-and-goal. Hepner’s 2-point conversion run put James Wood up 8-0 with 3:40 left in the first quarter.

“The past two games, the other teams have given us a blow, making the first play, and we’re always down,” said Hepner (7 of 9 for 170 yards and two touchdowns). “We’re always fighting back, fighting back.

“I think with Nick’s pick, we gave the first blow this time, and we built the confidence instead of having it brought down.”

Still, at the very worst, it looked like the Wildcats would at least be within one score at halftime with James Wood facing a third-and-5 at its own 26 and less than two minutes left in the first half.

But Hepner made a perfectly-timed throw on a hitch pattern to Manuel on the right side of the field, hitting him just as he turned at the 40-yard line with a defender draped over him, and Manuel did the rest. He shook off the defender in his immediate vicinity, then brushed off another as he curled toward the right sideline before turning up and outrunning the defense for a 74-yard TD.

Following Bishop’s two-point run, James Wood was suddenly up 16-0 with just 1:26 left in the half and was in firm control.

Manuel’s effort on that play was just part of the Colonels’ team-wide hustle and determination.

“Offense, we were executing pretty well on our blocks, receivers were catching the ball, running backs were running hard, and I think it was just good overall team play,” Manuel said. “Defensively, I feel we didn’t mess up at all. Penalties hurt us, but the defensive line was doing their job, the linebackers were doing a great job, and the secondary, I think we were just locked down.”

McHale said he felt James Wood did an excellent job flying to the ball on defense, and credited players like defensive lineman Devin Moncrief for getting into the backfield.

McHale also praised Hepner’s precision in the passing game — after coming in with seven interceptions, Hepner also had a nice throw on a rollout to the right to Bishop on a 40-yard catch-and-run touchdown.

And while the running game didn’t always click, James Wood picked up some tough yards in the red zone and ate up 6 minutes and 45 seconds on a 12-play, 53-yard touchdown drive that featured nothing but running plays to make it 24-0 with 1:50 left in the third quarter.

A record of 1-2 might not sound like much, but James Wood can’t wait to try and build off Friday night’s performance.

“I think it really helped us, this being our first home game,” Hepner said. “Our last home last year was against Millbrook, and we won that.

“We set a goal for ourselves to win all of our home games, and this is going to be a huge confidence-builder for us.”

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