James Woods rolls past Fauquier for third win

By MARK SAWYER The Winchester Star

Oct 20, 2018

WINCHESTER — Through the first seven games of the season James Wood football coach Ryan Morgan has been waiting for his team to put together a complete game.

The Colonels did just that on Friday against Fauquier.

The Colonels came out swinging and didn't stop until the final seconds ticked off the clock, rolling to an impressive 44-14 victory before a jubilant Homecoming crowd at Kelican Stadium.

"To put together four quarters and come out in the second half and put up another 21 points, the kids didn't let up. They were still fighting in the second half," Morgan said. "We didn't shoot ourselves in the foot. If we can stay on schedule and run the ball we feel pretty confident. Once we get behind the chains and have to do some things we're uncomfortable with then we start to have some issues.

"We had a game plan to attack a few different areas in their defense with a few different guys and I think we did a good job of game planning both offensively and defensively. We were concerned with Fauquier because they were 1-6 last year and they put it on us."

James Wood's rushing attack was firing on all cylinders, recording 383 yards on 48 carries (8.0 yard average). The Colonels only passed twice.

Juniors William Crowder (10 carries for 118 yards, one TD) and Sam Adkins (nine carries for 116 yards, two TDs) combined for 234 rushing yards and four total TDs (Crowder had a 70-yard kickoff return TD), and classmate Jackson Turner added 73 yards on 10 carries. Four different Colonels found the end zone.

James Wood (3-5, 1-3 Class 4 Northwestern District) didn't play a perfect first half, but there weren't many things it didn't do right.

The Colonels scored on three of their four possessions, had no turnovers or penalties, forced two punts, and had a turnover on downs, an interception and a goal-line stand in jumping out to a 23-0 halftime lead.

Wood's opening drive started at its own 40-yard line and it only took it five plays and 1:47 to go 60 yards for an 8-0 lead. Crowder ripped off the last 25 yards of the drive to put the Colonels on the board. The two-point conversion from Carson Hoberg to Chris Garcia Ortega made it 8-0 with 10:06 left in the first.

Later in the first, on its second possession Fauquier (0-8, 0-4) made a bid to get on the board with a 10-play drive that found it with a fourth-and-goal at the Wood 3-yard line as the first quarter ended. The Colonels stopped the Falcons after a gain of just one yard on the first play of the second quarter.

What followed is rarely seen. The Colonels answered with a 12-play, 98-yard drive that featured nothing but runs to punch Fauquier squarely in the mouth.

Four different backs carried on the drive with Adkins picking up big chunks with runs of 31 and 10 yards before sophomore Joey Vitola took it in from six yards out. The score was 16-0 after the two-point conversion pass from Hoberg to Crowder.

After the defense forced a punt, the Colonels took over on their 17 and had just over three minutes left in the half to try to add to their lead.

After six runs, Hoberg rolled to his right and hit a wide-open Treyven Mandel in stride near the sideline for a 40-yard score and a 23-0 halftime lead.

"We knew they were scrappy but we had to focus on us and we couldn't overlook them," Adkins said. "Our blocking was amazing tonight, we were running to the ball defensively. We were just making plays, it wasn't just one superstar, it was the whole team."

Morgan told his team at the break not to let up. His squad got the message and responded.

On the first play of the second half, Fauquier fumbled setting the Colonels up with a short field.

Four plays and 31 yards later, Adkins plowed in from one yard out to give the Colonels a commanding 30-0 lead.

Following another Falcons punt, the Colonels put together a nine-play, 75-yard drive that featured all runs. Adkins showed his speed after breaking through the line and raced the final 37 yards to give Wood a 37-0 lead that sent most of the Wood starters to the sideline for the remainder of the night.

Fauquier was able to put together a couple of fourth-quarter drives against mostly Colonels backups to avoid the shutout.

Wood's final score came on Crowder's 70-yard kickoff return after Fauquier's first score.

The Colonels close out their home season next Friday with rival Handley.

"Handley and James Wood is the rivalry that matters locally for those that have been around the area for a long time," Morgan said. "That has kind of filtered down to these kids and it should be an exciting week. They're a good football team and hopefully we can carry our momentum over to next Friday."

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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