Wildcats can’t stop Wood’s offense

Front Royal — As Brock Lockhart put the finishing touches on his 56-yard touchdown run that tied the score with 3:51 left in the first half Friday night, James Wood’s defensive players immediately began yelling and challenging each other to make a statement of their own.

They did it with a three-and-out, and it created all the momentum the Colonels needed for a 41-21 non-district victory over host Warren County.

James Wood (4-0) took a 20-14 lead on a touchdown with eight seconds remaining in the half, then capped a seven-play drive to open the second half with a 5-yard touchdown run by Brock Lockhart (252 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries) to take a 27-14 lead, a deficit the Wildcats (1-3) never cut into.

On a night when the Wildcats couldn’t stop James Wood’s offense and didn’t force a punt, the Colonels’ ability to finally slow down Warren County’s defense swung the tide in their favor.

“That’s a big momentum switch,” said James Wood quarterback Trae Tinsman (10 of 13 for 146 yards and two touchdowns). “Defense did great getting the three-and-out to get us back on offense so we could score more points.”

Until that possession, which was the Wildcats last full one of the first half, Warren County had been running all over James Wood’s defense.

Led by Gage Steele (12 carries for 143 yards overall) and Marty Haley (nine runs for 66 yards and two touchdowns), the Wildcats rushed for 192 yards in the first half, and they had a 14-7 lead after converting a turnover into a 14-yard Haley touchdown run with 5:10 left.

But after Lockhart’s big run tied the score, Steele gained three yards on first down and one on second before linebackers Mark Bean and Devin Stonier teamed up to tackle Haley for a three-yard loss and force the Wildcats’ first punt. Bean surged through the middle and forced Haley right. He grabbed his legs to trip him up, and Stonier completed the tackle.

Stonier then made another big play by partially blocking Ryan Molka’s ensuing punt, which rolled to the James Wood 44 with 2:01 remaining, after traveling 27 yards.

The Colonels then executed their two-minute offense to near-perfection. After two Lockhart runs netted 12 yards, Tinsman completed 3 of 5 passes (one was a a spike) for 46 yards, and he finished off the drive by hitting Harlan Robinson (four catches for 55 yards) for the first of his two touchdown receptions from eight yards out with eight seconds remaining in the half.

With James Wood up 20-14 and set to get the second-half kickoff, the Wildcats’ chances looked bleaker than the score indicated.

“That’s the second or third halftime drive we’ve had like that this year,” James Wood coach Mike Bolin said. “We’ve done a good job in our two-minute offense. It’s always big to get that lead going into halftime. That was big for the whole team.”

After Lockhart (now 39 yards from 1,000 for the year) opened the second half with his third touchdown, James Wood’s defense forced another three-and-out. Cody Vorous blocked the ensuing punt to put James Wood at the 14, and Lockhart scored from 11 yards out two plays later to make it 34-14.

Bolin said James Wood’s defense gained a lot of confidence from that late first-half stop, and it showed in the second half. The Colonels gave up just 62 rushing yards in the second half after giving up 192 in the first and 105 total yards after surrendering 225 in the first.

“We didn’t tackle well, and a lot of that is based on the fact that those two running backs are studs,” Bolin said. [That possession] let us know that they could stop these guys. [Defensive coordinator Tim] Combs made a couple of really good adjustments [for the second half]. We’re proud of the way we played.”

Bean said the Colonels struggled when the Wildcats bounced outside.

“We kept containment for some [of the plays], but not all of them,” he said. “I think we did a heck of a lot better [in the second half] because we came out fired up.”

Cory Schrock had 97 yards on 13 carries for the Colonels.

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