Judges, Colonels bring winning records into rivalry

As Handley assistant football coach Scott Nole addressed players after Tuesday’s practice at James R. Wilkins Jr. Stadium, it was obvious he didn’t like the fact that the Judges were ranked fifth out of five area teams in total defense heading into last week’s games.

Thanks to a 41-0 shutout of Brentsville in which the Judges allowed only 132 total yards, Handley is now third in the area in total defense at 229.8 yards allowed per game.

Nole was challenging the Judges to become even better. Next, Handley will try to shut down a rival that’s shown significant improvement on offense the last two weeks, even with last week’s turnover struggles.

James Wood (3-1) travels to Handley (3-1) for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday in the 62nd edition of the series. It’s the Class 4 Northwestern District season opener for both teams and the Judges’ Hall of Fame game.

Both squads have only lost to Kettle Run, with Handley falling 34-28 to the Cougars two weeks ago and James Wood losing 54-14 last week, committing seven turnovers (one was an interception on the final play of the first half).

While every team strives to be better every week, the Judges (13.5 points per game allowed) are certainly playing at higher level on defense than they were at this time last year.

After four games in 2023, Handley was averaging 332 yards and 28.7 points allowed per game. And they a hard time slowing down James Wood up until halfway through the third quarter. Handley won 42-28 but surrendered 410 yards (261 passing).

Handley coach Jake Smith feels the defense has done a better job with alignment and assignment over the course of the season, and feels more comfortable with scheme and the personnel it has on the field. That’s allowing them to play faster and execute at a higher level.

“I think putting more speed on the field has helped us out in the last couple of weeks,” Smith said. “The general rule of thumb is play your 11 fastest guys on defense, and play physical.”

Junior linebacker Jo-Jo Johnson leads the Judges in tackles with 38.5 (11.5 for a loss), including 11 last week (he had a sack among his 3.5 tackles for a loss). Defensive lineman Owen Jett had 6.5 tackles (2.5 for a loss), Kenyon Anderson had 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery and Jordan Tobar started the scoring with an interception return for a touchdown.

The Judges are coming off a game in which they had four takeaways, three on defense. They’re plus-six in turnover ratio for the season at 7 to 1.

“The goal is try and get three takeaways a week,” Smith said. “Forcing a fumble is something that has to be practiced. As far as interceptions, it’s about good body position and eye discipline. Most importantly, you have to be aggressive. You can’t be afraid to make a mistake defensivey. You’ve got to play fast and physical, and if you’re aggressive there, [takeaways] are going to happen.”

James Wood gained a solid 311 yards last week after recording 514 the week prior against Skyline. But after the Colonels had two takeaways and no turnovers against the Hawks in a 56-21 win, James Wood had one takeaway compared to seven turnovers against Kettle Run.

“We talked to the kids about battling and bouncing back from adversity,” Colonels coach Todd Wilson said. “We hadn’t really had many turnovers up until this point. I’m hoping it wasn’t a sign of things to come. It was just a bad night for us. Without those turnovers, I think it would have been a whole lot better of a football game for both teams’ fans to watch and be entertained by. The turnovers really overshadowed.”

The Colonels will look to rebound behind an offense led by quarterback Owen Neal (34 of 65, 649 yards, two touchdowns, six interceptions), running back Kobe Mason (42 carries, 306 yards, three TDs) and wide receivers Xavier Price (10 catches, 253 yards) and Xander Manzo (seven catches, 234 yards, two TDs). Handley will also have to be wary of that uses defensive standouts Vincent Salvati and Dominik Ramirez to carry the ball in their heavy package.

“[Neal] throws a good ball and does a good job of reading defenses,” Smith said. “[When Wood goes heavy], we need to make sure we’re lined up correctly and can play fast.”

Wilson said James Wood will need to give Neal more time to make his reads.

“We’ve just got to do a better job of keeping our quarterback upright,” Wilson said. “Some of those interceptions were a little bit on the quarterback, and a little bit on guys being in his face, so our pass pro needs to improve. We’ve still got to shore up a few things in the run game. Our run block needs to continually get better. We moved the ball fairly well against Kettle Run, but we just shot ourself in the foot with the turnovers.”

After a fast start against Brentsville, Handley hurt itself on offense with penalties and wound up punting five times on its last six possessions.

“I think we had a lackluster performance last week, so we had to get back into Day 1 and start with basic stuff, and make sure we were blocking the right people and getting where we need to be,” Smith said.

The Judges will look to establish their run game again. Hassan Akanbi ran for 102 yards and three TDs in last year’s win over James Wood, and he’s coming off a 208-yard rushing performance that included a 97-yard TD run. Akanbi has run for 607 yards and seven TDs on 41 carries. Quarterback Triston Darling has recorded 367 yards and 10 TDs on the ground and is 18 of 34 for 286 yards, three TDs and no interceptions passing.

After not having surrendered more than 301 yards in its first three games, the Colonels gave up 478 yards last week. Wilson hopes the Colonel can limit explosive plays and force Handley to do more work for yardage. James Wood is led on defense by Salvati (44 tackles), Ramirez (28 tackles, three sacks) and Jordyn Sweetser (22 tackles, five sacks).

“[Darling] is very athletic, and he poses some problems out in space,” Wilson said. “Once he gets into the second and third level, it’s hard to bring him down. He’s usually standing in the end zone after that. We know they’re good up front and they’ve got a lot of size and speed. We know we’ve got our hands full, but we’re going to come out and worry about us, and give the best effort we’ve got.”

James Wood (3-1) at Handley (3-1) When: Saturday, 1 p.m. Where: Handley’s James R. Wilkins Jr. Stadium Series history: Handley leads 42-19-1 Last year: Handley 42, James Wood 28 Last week: James Wood lost to Kettle Run 54-14; Handley defeated Brentsville 41-0. Players to watch: James Wood: LB/HB Vincent Salvati; QB Owen Neal; OL/DL Jordyn Sweetser; RB/DL Dominik Ramirez; RB Kobe Mason. Handley: QB/DB Triston Darling; RB/DB Hassan Akanbi; WR/DB Will Yoder; TE/LB Ze’Quon Williams; RB/LB Jo-Jo Johnson, OL/DL Jaishaun Offutt.

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