Colonels happy to start anew

By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Following a frustrating double overtime loss to Fauquier two weeks ago, James Wood football coach Mike Bolin stated that a team probably shouldn’t make the playoffs if it loses four of its last five games.

Well, it’s happened, and the Colonels have no problems with that now.

“We’re upbeat,” said Bolin, whose team has lost three straight games, including an 18-10 loss to Handley last Saturday. “I think the team understands we’re fortunate to be in the playoffs with the way the regular season ended.

“But everybody’s 0-0 now. We’ve had a real good week of practice so far, and the kids have played really hard. I don’t think these kids want it to end yet. They want to do everything they can to extend their season.”

James Wood (6-4), seeded sixth in Region II Division 4, will try to get that done against a familiar foe — No. 3 Loudoun County (8-2), coached by former Handley coach and athletic director Todd Hill.

In a twist, both the Colonels and Hill will be in familiar surroundings. Because of ongoing rain, the game has been moved from tonight to 1 p.m. Saturday at Handley. James Wood will be playing in the Handley Bowl for the second straight week, while Hill will be patrolling the same sideline he once walked as Handley’s head coach, albeit on synthetic turf as opposed to the natural grass of his day.

The Raiders, who lost to James Wood 41-8 two years ago, handed the Colonels one of their two regular season losses last year by a score of 23-20. Loudoun County outgained James Wood 379-180 in that game.

Like James Wood, Loudoun County also made the playoffs last season, and the Raiders return many of the same pieces that helped get them there. Seven starters return on both offense and defense, led by senior middle linebacker Chase Williams (116 tackles), the Dulles District Division 4 Defensive Player of the Year.

Also an all-district first team tight end, the son of New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has verbally committed to attend Virginia Tech next year.

The Colonels have been studying film of Williams and the rest of a Loudoun County team that features 10 all-district players, but first, they had to study themselves.

James Wood was dominant in starting the season 5-0, outscoring opponents by 26 points per game and outgaining them by 172 yards per game. Running back Brock Lockhart gained 1,112 yards in that stretch.

But in the second half of the year, the Colonels were grounded by a rigorous Northwestern District schedule and an improved Fauquier team.

James Wood looked good in a 34-6 win over Skyline, but in the Colonels’ four losses (by an aggregate 18 points), they’ve been outgained by 30 yards per game, with the first-team All-Northwestern District player Lockhart recording just 516 rushing yards in the season’s second half.

Bolin said the key to a turnaround is simplifying everything.

“I think we’ve tried to be a little too fancy at times, especially last week against Handley,” Bolin said. “We tried to do things differently than we’ve done them. After we got back into our base stuff we moved the ball OK against them.

“We’ve just got to be fundamental, we’ve got to be aggressive, and we’ve got to fire off the football. The game’s going to be won on the offensive and defensive lines.”

With the Raiders’ defense giving up just 11 points a game, the Colonels’ defense will need to make some big stops of its own.

Loudoun County quarterback Austin Campbell, who competed 14 of 15 passes for 145 yards in a 13-10 win against Sherando on Sept. 17, led the Dulles District in passing yards (1,721) completion percentage (63 percent) and touchdowns (17).

Campbell’s top targets are Mike Ayoub (56 catches for 929 yards and nine touchdowns) and Williams (27 catches for 464 yards and eight touchdowns), and he has two strong running backs in Adam Yesuf (110 carries for 744 yards) and Kevin Fitts (59 carries for 428 yards).

Despite the fact that quarterbacks have completed 46 of 71 passes (65 percent) for 494 yards against James Wood the last two weeks, Bolin said he’s confident in the pass defense. As long as the Colonels make the Raiders’ balanced attack work for its yards, they feel good about their chances.

“We can’t just give up big plays,” Bolin said. “We’ve got to limit the amount of yardage they get on first and second down and put them in 3rd-and-long situations.”

Bolin hopes that will result in good field position. The Colonels already plan on being in adverse situations after kickoffs, as Loudoun County kicker Calle Brown — whose 42-yard field goal with 1:12 remaining beat Sherando — has 36 touchbacks.

The Raiders play a 50 defense that they rarely stray from, in large part because of the playmaking ability of their linebacking corps. Williams is flanked by Jake Wasko (98 tackles) and Anthony Wiley (91).

“If our linebackers play well, our defense plays well,” Hill said. “Their play determines so much for us.”

Bolin said the ability of that group means it won’t be enough for the Colonels to be physical with their blocks. They need to be intelligent, too.

“We’ve got to adjust our schemes to be able to account for their backside linebackers,” Bolin said. “All three of their linebackers are real good, real good. We’ve got to get a body on them all the time, and that’s tough to do.”

That may be, but after a rough second half of the year, James Wood will take any challenge at this point.

“We don’t care about the regular season right now,” James Wood quarterback Trae Tinsman said. “We’re just ready for the playoffs and ready to show everybody what we can do.”

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