Turnovers cost James Wood in loss to Kettle Run

WINCHESTER — Before games, coaches will emphasize winning the turnover margin, and on Friday night, the James Wood High School football team found itself on the wrong side of that battle.

After a 3-0 start to the season, the Colonels suffered their first loss of the year, falling to Kettle Run 54-14 at Jerry Kelican Stadium.

Although James Wood (3-1) kept the game within reach in the first half and to start the second half, the Colonels’ seven turnovers — four interceptions and three fumbles — ultimately made a comeback unfeasible.

The turnover bug was an issue from Wood’s first series of the game. On the last play of the Colonels' opening 12-play drive that went 57 yards, Kettle Run linebacker Pete Kuzma sacked quarterback Owen Neal and forced a fumble, which Kuzma recovered.

Wood found itself in the red zone again on its second drive but lost the ball for a second time when wide receiver Xavier Price mishandled a pitch from quarterback Owen Neal on a quarterback option play.

The bobbled exchange was one of three costly fumbles for the Colonels.

“Once we had the first one [we were] down, and then just added the two more, and everyone was just lost,” Price said. “Nobody was hyped. The leaders were trying to tell us [to keep our] heads up.”

The Cougars (3-0) turned those two initial turnovers into 13 points and scored 20 points overall off of takeaways.

Coming into Friday’s matchup against unbeaten Kettle Run (3-0), James Wood head coach Todd Wilson knew that the turnover margin was a key to victory.

“We knew early in the week because we talked with the kids [about how] it was going to be a game of mistakes and who made the mistakes,” Wilson said. “We made the mistakes [tonight]. We got down in the red zone, I think our first three or four drives and then turned the ball over three times. So, we can't turn the ball over in the red zone. We got to capitalize on those, and we just didn’t tonight.”

Entering halftime down 21-7, the Colonels’ defense gave up a 59-yard scoring drive that ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Kettle Run quarterback Jacob Mulhern to wide receiver Zach Roth. That score gave the Cougars a 28-7 lead with 9:49 left in the third quarter.

James Wood’s offense did its best to respond, but on a fourth-and-2 on the Cougars’ 5-yard line, quarterback Owen Neal lofted a pass to the end zone that was intercepted by Kettle Run defensive back Dycen Tapscott.

Neal’s interception was soon forgotten, though, as on Kettle Run’s ensuing offensive play, James Wood defensive back Aidric Yurish scooped up a fumble from running back Haydynn Bell and returned it for a 7-yard defensive touchdown.

“The game of football is a very momentum-swing kind of game,” Wilson said. “There’s ups and downs. Just the same way with when we got the scoop and score, that was a big lift for our program, but we just didn't have enough of those types of things going our way tonight.”

After Yurish’s scoop and score, Kettle Run proceeded to go on a 26-0 run.

On the Cougars’ second offensive play after Yurish’s scoop and score, Mulhern found Colton Lubbe for a 53-yard catch and run down the middle of the field to make it a 21-point game.

James Wood’s offense proceeded to go three-and-out on the ensuing drive, but on the Colonels’ punt attempt, Kettle Run blocked the kick, setting up its offense on Wood’s 18-yard line. Four plays later, the Cougars were back in the end zone, this time on a Colton Quaker 3-yard run, allowing Kettle Run to go up 41-14 after a missed extra point attempt.

The ensuing kickoff was just as disastrous for the Colonels, as some confusion on who was returning the kick led to another lost fumble. The Cougars only needed one play to get back in the end zone and make it a 48-14 game.

As a team, James Wood gained 375 offensive yards, 183 of which came on the ground. The Cougars’ offense finished with 461 total yards, 304 of which were passing and 157 of which were rushing.

Kettle Run head coach Charlie Porterfield thought his defense’s ability to take the ball away was a game-changing factor in the Cougars’ win.

“That's huge momentum in a game,” Porterfield said. “We were able to capitalize and get points off of those turnovers, which is huge. [You] kind of don't want to waste those opportunities.”

Neal, Wood’s starting signal-caller, started the game 6-for-6 passing but was often hurried on throws later in the game which led to giveaways. The sophomore completed 10 of 18 passes for 192 yards and four interceptions.

“We got to get better up front,” Wilson said. “We know we're going to be as good as our offensive line is. That's no secret. I challenge the guys every week to get better. The game of football is won up front on offense and the defensive side of the game, and we just got to challenge our guys. We got to block better up front.”

When Neal had time and found his open receivers, Price was one of the ones who benefited. The sophomore pass-catcher caught four passes for 126 yards.

Price, who also plays defensive back, said both he and the entire team need to execute better, and the defense needs to play better.

“I feel like I could have played better, but I definitely played my heart out most of the game," he said. “I just got to focus on blocking more. That's probably my biggest letdown.”

James Wood’s lone offensive score of the night came on a 13-yard touchdown by senior running back Kobe Mason with just over five minutes left in the second quarter to bring the game within six points early.

Mulhern was able to tack on another eight points on a 13-yard touchdown run, followed by a successful two-point conversion, which gave the Cougars a 21-7 lead at the half.

James Wood will travel to Handley next week for the Colonels’ first Class 4 Northwestern matchup of the year.

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