THE WILD ONE

Sherando, Wood prepared for ‘wildest week of the year’

WINCHESTER — Three more days of essential practice and preparation were still in front of James Wood High School football coach Mike Bolin as he sat in his office with the clock nearing 6 p.m. on Monday.

But from the sound of it, Bolin wouldn’t have put up too much of a fight if the game had been pushed up to say, 7 that evening.

When Sherando and James Wood get together, emotion’s just as important as strategy.

“It’s going to come down to ... I don’t even know,” Bolin said. “I just can’t wait, to be honest with you. I’m so excited for this game.

“This is going to be the wildest week of the year for sure.”

If the last three years are any indication, the week will culminate with a wild night. The Warriors (4-1) will face James Wood (5-0) in the Northwestern District opener for both teams at the Colonels’ Jerry L. Kelican Stadium tonight at 7.

In 2006, Sherando emerged with a 29-22 victory on a Joel Witt touchdown catch with nine seconds remaining. In 2007, the Warriors earned a 21-14 playoff win when Derek Crosen tackled James Wood’s Tyler Orndorff one foot from the end zone with no time remaining.

Last year, James Wood knocked off the Warriors 17-14 when Sherando placekicker Lukas Stump’s 36-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right as time expired.

It’s that last game that’s finally made this series a true rivalry. The Colonels had lost 15 straight to the Warriors and hadn’t beaten them since 1993, the year Sherando opened. “For us to finally get a win against them was big for our program,” Bolin said. “I think that game showed these guys that they can compete with anybody, because Sherando knows how to win.” 

 The Warriors showed that by responding to their first loss of the year — a 13-10 defeat to Loudoun County — with a resounding 28-7 victory against Jefferson (W.Va.) two weeks ago. Sherando piled up 384 yards, including 248 through the air, while allowing just 87.

As good as the Warriors were, Sherando said its bye last week made the team feel even better about itself.

“We treated it as a way for us to make sure we got back to fundamentals, to make sure we weren’t getting away from our core and what we needed to do to be successful against anybody,” said Sherando coach Bill Hall, who also gave his team three days off that it normally wouldn’t get. “I think that was beneficial to give them some down time mentally away from football.”

The Warriors’ minds and bodies will need to be sharp tonight, particularly on defense. In a game in which line play will be critical for both teams, the most intriguing matchup will likely be the Colonels’ rushing game against Sherando’s run defense.

Led by Brock Lockhart (1,112 yards and 11 touchdowns) James Wood is averaging 299.8 rushing yards per game, while Sherando is surrendering just 83.8 on the ground.

“They are aggressive and solid,” Bolin said of Sherando’s defense. “They really come hard, and they’re going to try and take away the inside run. They don’t switch fronts a lot, they don’t change a lot of things.

“They’re kind of like us. They’re going to play in their base defense and play what they’re comfortable in. We’re going to put man on man and make them try and beat us.”

Many of the Warriors’ opponents have had to abandon the run. But Hall doesn’t expect the Colonels to do the same if they encounter a rough patch, even though he expects to get a fair dose of quarterback Trae Tinsman (37 of 71 for 623 yards, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions).

Hall said Sherando wants to try to make Lockhart run side to side as much as possible so Sherando can take advantage of its speed and agility.

“We just have to play assignment football every single play,” Hall said. “What they’ve shown is, when someone does make a mistake, they can be explosive on offense. When you do play a team that runs the ball a lot, you’ve got to be disciplined, especially in the secondary, because that’s when big plays happen down the field.”

Sherando’s made a few more of those with the addition of Jalen Brisco to the quarterback rotation. Brisco missed the first three games with an injury, but the speedy sophomore broke out in a big way in the win over Jefferson, throwing for touchdowns of 81 and 51 yards.

Hall said starting quarterback Corey Rice (37 of 68 for 561 yards, five touchdowns, four interceptions) continues to improve, and Brisco’s ability to run the option and run to the edges makes him and the entire offense more effective.

“It helps to change it up a little bit,” Rice said.

Sherando has to capitalize on its opportunities, whether it’s through big explosive plays or from the red zone. (The Warriors scored just 10 points in three trips inside the red zone against Loudoun County.)

James Wood might give up yardage, but it usually finds a way to prevent points. Sherando received a school-record 403 passing yards from graduated quarterback Ross Metheny in last year’s game against the Colonels, and in a 35-19 season-opening win against Washington (W.Va.) this year, James Wood gave up 394 yards — 292 through the air.

The Colonels might try to force Sherando into a game similar to last year’s, when the Warriors ran the ball just 20 times and threw it 45 times.

James Wood’s defense will be fortified by the return of safety Harlan Robinson, who missed last week’s game with a dislocated finger, and key reserve linebacker Ryan Abdelhalim, who broke his leg against Washington (W.Va.) in the season opener.

“I think we’ve got a solid game plan,” Bolin said. “We feel the things we’re trying to do this week within our scheme will work if we execute well.

“We tend to give up some passing yards. That’s been our M.O. the last two years. But there’s also been games that we didn’t. Andrew Oates was a heck of a quarterback, and they had two good receivers, but we held Millbrook to [107 passing] yards last year.”

Yet, as both teams say, history doesn’t mean anything. Only how they play tonight.

“We definitely have bragging rights from last year, but it all goes down the drain [tonight],” Lockhart said.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Sherando senior fullback and linebacker Shawn Branham said. “The whole school’s talking about it. We had a good week of practice, and we’re ready to go.”

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