Sherando Routs Colonels 48-0 In 4A North Region Playoffs

Posted: November 15, 2014
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI
The Winchester Star

STEPHENS CITY — Once the Sherando football team picked up the pace, the Warriors started picking up the yards and the points in a hurry.

Sixth-seeded Sherando broke open a seven-point game with two touchdowns in the last four minutes of the first half, and the Warriors went on to a 48-0 win over Northwestern District and Frederick County rival James Wood (seeded 11th) in the first round of the 4A North Region playoffs Friday night at Arrowhead Stadium.

With the win, Sherando (9-2) earns another regular-season rematch. The No. 6 Warriors will travel to play No. 3 Liberty in Bealeton next Friday after the Eagles beat No. 14 Pulaski County 48-7 in their first round game Friday. Liberty (10-1) beat Sherando 28-14 on Oct. 3 in Stephens City.

Despite the final score, James Wood (5-6) put up a much stronger showing than it did in its 44-7 loss to Sherando at Arrowhead Stadium on Oct. 10, when the Colonels fell behind 28-0 after one quarter and 42-0 at halftime.

But once again, James Wood couldn’t move the ball (38 yards at halftime compared to 15 in the first game), and Sherando’s scoring burst behind the strength of its hurry-up offense at the end of the half proved too much to overcome.

“That’s the kind of football we like to play,” said Sherando senior tight end and defensive end Brogan McPartland, who made 21/2 sacks. “When the other guys are tired, we just like to get to the line. We weren’t even getting in the huddle. We were trying to run the ball, get positive yards every single time and get in the end zone.”

Up 7-0 with 7:31 to go in the second quarter, Sherando ripped off 64 yards on 12 running plays in three minutes and 33 seconds. Senior running back LeeQuan Johnson (34 carries for 163 yards and 2 TDs) picked up 56 yards alone on 10 carries and capped the drive by powering in from the 5-yard line on fourth-and-2.

Then after a James Wood three-and-out, Sherando needed just 2:17 to cover 68 yards, with Warriors junior quarterback Pat Minteer (7 of 12 for 92 yards and three TDs) finishing off the drive strong by completing all four of his passes for 28 yards over the last six plays of an 11-play drive. Minteer capped it with a 3-yard TD pass to Seth Smith that put Sherando up 21-0 with five seconds left in the first half.

“We felt all week tempo was going to play a huge part, because last time we played them it was a key factor,” Minteer said. “We wanted to establish that again, because they weren’t adjusting to our tempo, so we just kept tempo high and shoved it down their throat.”

Though Minteer was able to connect with Dylan Rivers on a 17-yard play-action pass to take a 7-0 lead 8:38 into the game, Minteer said one reason why it took the Warriors a while to get going was because James Wood came out with a different defensive look than Sherando was expecting.

Minteer said the Warriors practiced thinking that the Colonels would use a 4-4 box with one high safety, but James Wood instead came out with a seven-man box and two high safeties.

After making some adjustments, the Warriors (346-114 total yard edge Friday) were able to get into a groove midway through the second quarter.

“I think the change of tempo with our spread, but also when we went double [tight ends], I think both those things were really effective there in the second quarter,” Hall said.

On defense, Sherando once again proved dominant against James Wood.

The opening three-and-out they forced paved the way for the Warriors to take over at the Colonels’ 37 on the drive that ended with Minteer’s TD pass to Rivers.

Sherando gave up a first down on James Wood’s second drive, but that would be the only one the Colonels would get in the first half. The Warriors stopped the Colonels on third-and-1 on their third drive, then forced two more three-and-outs over the rest of the half.

Sherando’s opening defensive possession of the second half resulted in a fourth-and-1 run stop of Tyler Bishop (34 yards on 15 carries after recording 221 yards and 3 TDs vs. Handley last week) at the Colonels’ own 46, and Minteer hit Josh Ojo (83 total yards and two TDs) over the top of the defense for a 46-yard TD that made it 28-0.

Basically, Sherando just refused to budge up front.

“I’ve got to give credit to their D-line,” James Wood coach Mark McHale said. “I thought they were the difference in the ball game.

“They really did a good job of not letting us knock them off their spot so we can get a seam for Tyler Bishop. I went for it on fourth and a little less than a yard, and we didn’t get it. I have to give them credit. They’re pretty snug on defense.”

McHale said he was definitely proud of how his own defense played Friday. (Sherando took advantage of three short fields in scoring three fourth quarter TDs, and James Wood sat its regular players for much of the fourth quarter.)

“Sherando had to earn everything it got [until the fourth quarter],” McHale said.

And he was definitely proud James Wood’s entire season. The Colonels had fallen on hard times in recent years, suffering 1-9 seasons in both 2012 and 2013. But their accomplishments this year included making the playoffs for first time since 2011; winning their most games since 2010, when they went 6-5; and beating Handley for the first time since 2007 and just the second time since 1992.

“From where they went from last season to this season, the players have a lot to be proud of,” said McHale, whose first season was last year. “There were tears in that huddle in the end, and that’s where you want your program to get, where it hurts to lose.

“[Our players] know they battled them hard. We just didn’t match up in certain deals, and [Sherando] is a good football team.”

“It was a great season,” James Wood senior linebacker and fullback Landon Rutherford said. “It sucks that we couldn’t have made it further, but you can’t take anything away from us. We had two huge wins over Handley and Millbrook, and five wins after the last two years is something to be proud of.”

Brady Hepner led James Wood by going 11 for 17 for 77 yards, and Sherando senior defensive end Matt Van Shufflin had 12 tackles, including three for loss.