James Wood runs over Fauquier

In doubling up Fauquier on the scoreboard on Friday night at Falcon Field in Warrenton, the James Wood football team has now doubled its win total from 2022.

The Colonels defeated the Falcons 20-10 to even their record at 4-4. James Wood never trailed in the contest and led 7-0 after one quarter and 14-10 at the half before adding a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Colonels dominated in total yardage. According to HUDL, Fauquier (1-6) only gained 65 yards, including 26 rushing on 25 attempts. James Wood coach Todd Wilson had the Colonels with 352 yards, including 274 yards and three touchdowns on 47 rushing attempts. Elijah Richards (30 carries, 146 yards), Dominek Ramirez (11 carries, 92 yards, two TDs) and Kobe Mason (six carries, 36 yards, one TD) were responsible for the entire rushing output.

Some mistakes kept the game close. In a phone interview on Saturday afternoon, Wilson said James Wood had two turnovers (one on a punt return), several holding penalties, a late penalty and a personal foul penalty.

But overall, Wilson was pleased. The Colonels were dealing with some injuries leading into the game and wound up using some less experienced players, and putting players in unfamiliar positions.

"We played pretty well," Wilson said. "We were undisciplined in areas, but we're proud of the effort the guys gave. All three phases played a role.

"We talked about playing for four quarters, and that's what we did. Fauquier's a lot better than their record shows. We're proud of how the players battled."

Ramirez opened the scoring by plowing through several tackle attempts after taking a shotgun snap for a seven-yard TD in the first quarter. Chris Viera kicked the first of his two extra points.

Fauquier tied the game in the second quarter on a two-yard TD run by Bo Green, but the Colonels went back up 14-7 on a 16-yard TD run by Mason. After taking the handoff, Mason darted right, then after crossing the line of scrimmage he cut back into space over the middle. He was essentially untouched on the play.

The Falcons cut their deficit to 14-10 on a 27-yard field goal. Ramirez closed the scoring with another seven-yard TD run.

Wilson said the rushing effort was particularly impressive, because the Colonels wound up changing their schematic approach based on Fauquier's alignment.

"It was nice to see the guys be able to make adjustments on the fly," Wilson said.

On defense, Wilson said the Colonels rotated a lot of players into the game, with area tackling leader Zach Smith leading the way in stops. Jordyn Sweetser — who was banged up at the end of the Sherando game — had at least one sack.

"It was a patchwork team last night," Wilson said. "We coach all those guys hard so everybody is ready to go. We've got confidence in kids, but there's a difference between practice and game-like reps.

"We didn't have a ton of missed alignments, and when we did misalign, they didn't beat us badly on it. And we did a better job of tackling in space."

Wilson said senior kicker Jasmine Hackman played a big role on kickoffs as a result of an injury suffered last week by Aidan Bell, who normally handles that duty as well as punts. Hackman popped her kickoffs into the air, and James Wood recovered one after a first-half touchdown. The Colonels didn't score off the recovery, but the play helped them with field position, and Wilson said James Wood had good coverage on her other kicks.

James Wood quarterback Owen Neal was 7 of 16 for 78 yards and one interception. The Colonels are off next week and will return to action on Oct. 27 at Liberty.

Falcon Field will soon be named after late Fauquier principal Kraig Kelican, who died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident last month. A Stephens City resident, Kelican was the son of former James Wood athletic director and football coach Jerry Kelican. James Wood's stadium is named after Jerry.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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