All 5 area football teams advance to playoffs

By David Selig
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — While Handley was being awarded the Barr-Lindon Crimson Apple and the Northwestern District championship plaque Saturday afternoon, James Wood football coach Mike Bolin was receiving a pair of CDs from a Loudoun County assistant.

The game film on those discs was the Colonels’ consolation prize, signifying a third consecutive trip to the playoffs.

For the first time, all five of the area’s teams will be going to the playoffs this season.

Seeded sixth in Region II Division 4, Wood (6-4) will travel to Leesburg to face No. 3 Loudoun County (8-2) in the regional quarterfinals Friday night.

Millbrook (5-5) is the fifth seed in Region II Division 3 and will visit No. 4 Goochland (8-2) Friday. The winner of that game will play at top-seeded Handley (10-0) on Nov. 21.

Sherando (8-2) is the No. 2 seed in Division 4, giving the Warriors a bye. They will play either No. 5 Louisa (7-3) or No. 4 Liberty (7-3) Nov. 20 at Arrowhead Stadium. In the other half of the bracket, James Wood would advance to play at No. 1 Broad Run (10-0) with a victory. Clarke County (9-0) finishes its regular season Friday with a game at Madison County (9-0) to decide the Bull Run District championship. The Eagles will begin the Region B Division 2 playoffs the following week.  Only four teams qualify for the Division 2 playoffs, so regardless of their finish, the Eagles will not have a bye and will start right in the regional semifinals.

This is the first year Divisions 3 and 4 have taken six teams, which has allowed Millbrook and James Wood to qualify and also rewarded teams like Handley and Sherando with a bye week.

“I think it gives the guys a mental break,” Sherando coach Bill Hall said. “The playoffs are such an intense environment, not only physically, but mentally. I think it just gives you a break before you get into it. And obviously it’s one less game you have to get through to advance on.”

Handley will also relish the rest, as it provides the ever-banged up Judges a chance to heal.

In Saturday’s 18-10 win over James Wood, they lost two defensive starters — cornerback Jaivon Wilson and linebacker Ryan Crawford — to first-half shoulder injuries.

“Obviously for injuries and healing, it’s important,” Handley coach Tony Rayburn said. “But we have to keep practicing, and momentum has to stay with us.”

For Millbrook and Wood — as well as Skyline, which got in at No. 6 in Division 3 to put the entire the Northwestern District in the postseason — the playoffs present a fresh start.

The Pioneers were in the race for the district title before losing hard-fought games at Handley and Sherando in the final two weeks of the season.

The Colonels dropped four of their last five after beginning the year 5-0, but Fauquier’s loss to Liberty on Friday provided Wood an opportunity to get in.

“You hate to back in the way we did, but we’re going to go after it,” Bolin said. “Everybody’s 0-0 now, and now it’s just time to play and have fun. We’re going to go up to Leesburg on Friday and play the best game we’ve played.”

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