James Wood holds off Culpeper on goal-line stand

WINCHESTER — It's been 10 years since the James Wood football team has had a five-game winning streak.

But with winless Culpeper County coming to town for the Colonels' homecoming contest Friday night, James Wood had to be more than confident it would be able to change all that this season.

After a 21-point first quarter it appeared the Colonels would roll to another blowout win, but James Wood had to rely on a last-second goal-line stand from its defense to hold on to a 28-21 win and escape with a thrilling victory at Kelican Stadium on Friday night.

"A win is a win," James Wood coach Ryan Morgan said. "We knew it wasn't gonna be easy, we knew they were going to be tough up front. The first half we kind of got some breathing room which is a good thing because we didn't do that in the second half.

"I think they kind of got satisfied a little bit. We had it going both defensively and offensively in the first half and I think they just got fat and happy and that's not a good place to be as a football team. We were flat at halftime."

Trailing 28-21 with 3:02 left in the game Culpeper County (0-6 overall, 0-3 Class 4 Northwestern District) took over on its own 24-yard line with only one timeout.

The Blue Devils were able to drive right down the field to the James Wood 20 where they took their final timeout out with 32 seconds left in the game.

On the next play Culpeper quarterback Jojo Crenshaw found his tight end Osmond Reindorf-Malm across the middle for a completion near the goal line. Several Blue Devils thought that Reindorf was in the end zone for the tying score but he was ruled down at the 1.

Once the ball was spotted and the clock started running again the Blue Devils tried to punch it across with a running play that the Colonels stuffed in the backfield for a loss and before Culpeper was able to run another play the clock ran out to end the game.

"We weren't clicking [on that last drive] but we had to make a big stop on that play," defensive back Sam Adkins said. "I believe in my guys and my guys believe in themselves. Making that big stop meant a lot but we can't be satisfied. We've got to move on and be better the next game.

"The winning streak means a lot to me, to the guys, and the coaching staff even though it's just a record. This is one of the best teams I've played on. We've got to keep our heads up and move on to the next game. We've got Liberty next [on the road] and they just knocked off Sherando."

Adkins led the way for the Colonels on the ground, picking up 88 yards on 19 carries and one touchdown. He also had two interceptions, his fourth in the last two games.

Wood (5-1, 2-1) jumped out to an early lead after the first possession of the game thanks in large part to its defense.

Culpeper went three and out on the first drive of the game and were forced to punt from its own 24. James Wood nose guard Drew Reese was able to break contain and block the punt, get to his feet, then scramble to the end zone and recover the loose ball for a James Wood score with just under 10 minutes left in the quarter.

Following another three-and-out and punt on Culpeper's next possession the Colonels started their first drive on their own 48.

The Colonels put together a nine-play, 52-yard drive and took a 14-0 lead when Vitola plunged in from a yard out.

The Blue Devils were able to drive into Wood territory on their third possession but they weren't there long before Adkins ended it with his first interception.

With 2:23 left in the quarter, the Colonels took over on their own 34. Seven plays later running back Jackson Turner busted through the line and raced 16 yards nearly untouched for a 21-0 lead with five second left.

Culpeper County followed that up with its most impressive drive of the night. Starting from their own 40, the Blue Devils went 60 yards on 13 plays and got on the board when Austin Lantz scored from one yard out to trim the deficit to 21-7.

Lantz was one of two Culpeper running backs to rush for more than 100 yards. He finished with 116 yards on 15 carries and two scores. Cam Lacy picked up 108 yards on 18 carries.

Wood answered that by going 78 yards on eight plays. Four were running plays by Adkins who capped the march with a three-yard run that made it 28-7 at the half.

In the first half, Crenshaw completed only 2 of 8 passes for eight yards but the Blue Devils made some halftime adjustments.

James Wood took the second half kick and drove into Culpeper territory but an interception ended the threat.

Culpeper's next two possessions resulted in scoring drives.

After the interception, Culpeper drove 73 yards in eight plays, including a 26-yard pass from Crenshaw to DeJour McCray. Two plays later Lantz scored his second touchdown on a six-yard run to make it 28-14.

Crenshaw completed two passes of at least 20 yards on the next possession, including a 27-yard scoring pass to McCray to pull the Blue Devils to within 28-21 with 2:31 left in the third quarter.

It was the first time since the first game of the season that the Colonels didn't score at least 35 points. Carson Hoberg completed 13 of 20 passes for 141 yards and William Crowder hauled in seven receptions for 73 yards.

"Culpeper's tough, they made some adjustments at halftime," Morgan said. "There are some times where we wore down some teams in the second half but Culpeper wasn't willing to be worn down. They played four quarters and we need to be able to do that next week.

"The kids made some big plays at the end, we've got some tough kids. We were lucky to get out with a win."