James Wood rolls over Musselman

By David Selig
The Winchester Star

BUNKER HILL, W.Va. — When Mike Bolin finally pulled Brock Lockhart off the field in the fourth quarter of James Wood’s 35-14 win at Musselman (W.Va.) Friday night, the senior running back/linebacker shot his coach a look.

“It’s not a disrespectful look. It’s not a ‘Get me back in’ look,” Bolin explained after the game. “It’s a ‘You know I want to play’ look.”

It’s tough to believe Lockhart wouldn’t relish the rest.

A week after taking a school-record 35 carries for 302 yards, Lockhart rushed 29 times for 187 yards.

He also helped get the ball back into the Colonels’ hands with a crucial tackle on a 4th-and-5 and an interception, both of which led to scoring drives.

“He works so hard at practice that he’s just used to that pound, pound, pound, sprint every eight seconds,” Colonels quarterback Trae Tinsman said. “And he goes both ways, so you’ve got to give it up for him.”

Contrary to what Tinsman says, Lockhart admits he does indeed get tired.

“But we do conditioning every day [in practice] and yeah, everyone hates it, but it helps,” he said.

Lockhart didn’t take any of his rushes a great distance Friday night, as two 15-yard runs were his longest.

But he continued to carve his way deeper and deeper into Musselman (0-3) territory, as his James Wood (2-0) teammates kept finishing off the drives.

Two of those touchdown passes went to Harlan Robinson, and the third was to Matt Copley, who added a three-yard scoring run on an end around that put Wood ahead 14-0 in the second quarter.

Musselman’s Jesse Hanes took the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown to cut into the lead, but James Wood fullback Cory Schrock answered with a 19-yard run, and Tinsman’s second TD pass put the Colonels ahead 28-7 three seconds before halftime.

By intermission, Lockhart had already carried the ball 21 times for 155 yards, but he said the passing success made his job relatively easy.

“It makes it a lot easier on me and the running backs,” said Lockhart, who added one reception for good measure. “I don’t know how many yards Trae had, but I know he threw for [three touchdowns]. That’s awesome if you have a quarterback who’s a threat like that.”

Wood allowed the Applemen to rack up 245 yards of total offense, but the Colonels defense forced three turnovers on downs, and linebacker Devin Stonier intercepted two passes in the second half.

From the way they played, it was hardly apparent that James Wood was missing a pair of two-way starters to injury.

Bolin said senior offensive guard/defensive tackle Jesse Barnes will miss the rest of the season with a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament and two medial meniscus tears suffered in the season opener at Washington (W.Va.).

Senior linebacker/fullback Ryan Abdelhalim is expected to miss three to six weeks with a broken leg.

Mark Bean and Chase Tyler stepped into the vacant starting spots at inside linebacker and defensive tackle, respectively.

On offense, the Colonels have moved tight end Brandon Sinecoff to left tackle, tackle Austin Woodall to right guard and inserted David Alaniz as the full-time tight end.

It didn’t appear that they missed a beat, and Bolin said it’s sacrifices like the one Sinecoff has made — shedding his old position and even his old No. 88 — that make his team special.

“He played, as an offensive tackle, one of the best games that he’s ever played,” Bolin said of Sinecoff. “He’s a competitor, he’s a team player, he’s a special kid. He sacrificed his own good for the team, and that’s the type of players that we have.”

Lockhart is another one of those players, and one Bolin said puts a smile on his face every time he sees him in the locker room or around school.

Luckily, he and the Colonels got to see plenty of Lockhart on Friday night, bringing smile after smile following a week of tough news.

“He’s one of those rare kids that you get to coach every five to 10 years that just loves to play the game,” Bolin said. “Brock’s one of those special guys. Hopefully we don’t run him to death.”

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