Wood hosts defending district champion Kettle Run

Two teams with vastly different experiences this season will collide when James Wood hosts Kettle Run at 7 p.m. on Friday in the Colonels’ Hall of Fame game at Kelican Stadium.

The defending Class 4 Northwestern District champion Cougars are off to a 4-0 start in which they’ve outscored their opponents 154-34. The latest win by Kettle Run — which is playing its district opener — was a 31-0 victory over Class 5 Riverside.

James Wood (0-3, 0-1) has been outscored 117-28, including 42-0 last week to a Brentsville squad that Kettle Run beat 38-7 on Sept. 9. The Colonels turned the ball over five times and the Tigers scored 28 points off those mistakes. James Wood only had 20 rushing yards on 15 carries, and Jared Neal (44 of 85 for 503 yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions for the year) threw four interceptions.

James Wood will have to develop more success in the running game if it hopes to have success against anyone. The Colonels have lost 94 yards as a result of six sacks and two major losses on punt snaps, but they still have managed just 195 yards outside of those eight plays. Isaiah Ralls leads James Wood with 28 carries on 110 attempts.

“It seems like somebody’s missing a block, or somebody’s missing a read,” Colonels coach Ryan Morgan said. “Sometimes the hole is there, and the running back goes the wrong way, or the linemen fit up and we have the tight end miss a block. There’s one thing going wrong every single time we try and run the ball.

“We’ve just got to keep working at it. We did make fewer mistakes on Friday than we did the game previous, but still too many to be successful.”

Kettle Run brings back a wealth of talent from last year’s team. That group includes Virginia Military Institute-bound receiver Jordan Tapscott, Kettle Run’s all-time leader in catches (95), receiving yards (1,786) and receiving touchdowns (25). He’s coming off a 10-catch, 171-yard, one-TD performance against Riverside.

The Cougars’ running backs includes senior Peyton Mehaffey and sophomore Colton Quaker, who combined for 121 rushing yards in last year’s win over James Wood. Both were All-District First Team linebackers last year.

Morgan notes that the Cougars once again have a big and strong offensive line.

“Their linemen get foot to foot, less than one-foot splits,” Morgan said. “It’s tough to try and shoot the gaps, because they don’t leave a whole lot of space in there. We’ve got to be gap sound, because those running backs that they have, they’re really patient, and they just kind of wait for a crack to open up, and inevitably, one usually does.

“That’s how they gain their yards. They don’t necessarily get a ton of big plays out of the running game, but they’re able to get yards in chunks, and that has a way of demoralizing their opponents.”

Kettle Run’s backfield also includes another 2021 First Team All-District player. Abram Chumley — the Cougars’ tight end last year — is proving to be the latest in the long line of successful Chumleys at quarterback. (Beau Lang quarterbacked last year’s Kettle Run team, but before that the Cougars had Casen, Gabe and Elijah Chumley). Abram Chumley completed 15 of 16 passes for 189 yards against Riverside.

“He’s a good athlete,” Morgan said. “He caught a [50-yard] touchdown pass against us last year, and he had a long touchdown run against Brentsville on a scramble two weeks ago. If he’s got time to sit back there and throw, he’s got a good, strong arm where he can push the ball down the field.”

James Wood will look to corral the Cougars with a defense led by linebackers Zach Smith (36 tackles) and Matt Dueweke (28 tackles).

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