September 4, 2010

By Tom Myrick
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER- James Wood place kicker Peyton Hottel picked a great time to hit his first ever field goals in a competitive game.

A pair of fourth-quarter Hottel kicks handed the Colonels a hard-fought 13-7 victory over Washington (W.Va.) in their season opener Friday night at Jerry L. Kelican Stadium.

The senior broke a 7-7 tie with a 26-yard field goal with just over nine minutes to play, capping off a 19-play drive orchestrated by the Colonels' new starting quarterback, Matt Copley.

Hottel then buried another 26-yarder with three minutes left, after Washington's Colin Gustines fumbled a punt return.

"I was a little bit nervous before the first kick, but my offensive line and holder and all looked at me and told me it was going to be OK," Hottel said. "During the game, Matt [Copley] came over to me and said, 'If we get inside the 30- or 25-yard line, you can't miss. I just tried to do what he told me to do."

Fullback Cory Schrock scored James Wood's lone touchdown - a 28-yard gallop on an inside handoff on the Colonels first drive. The senior led the team with 79 yards rushing on 14 carries as Wood pounded out 221 yards on the ground.

Copley, meanwhile, completed six of his 12 passes for 48 yards, and he added 31 yards rushing.

"Matt played great," James Wood coach Mike Bolin said. "We tried to keep it simple for him, but he got a little pressure in there a couple of times. We've got to get better up front, and that will make Matt better." Defensively, James Wood allowed just 134 total yards, including just 55 yards rushing. Washington could manage just eight first downs, compared to 19 for the Colonels.

Patriots quarterback Tyler Wilt completed seven of his 19 pass attempts, and he had one pass intercepted by Tripp Lewis on a Hail Mary just before halftime.

"Our defense played great," Bolin said. "For them to hold a good football team to just 134 yards is outstanding.

"Overall, I am proud of how we played tonight. We've got a lot of work to do, and we aren't satisfied by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a victory and we'll take it."

In the build-up to the game, Bolin warned his team about the dangers of coming out too pumped up and energized. Yet Bolin himself rolled the dice straight out of the gates, opting for a risky "pooch" onside kick on the opening kickoff.

The lofted kick was actually recovered by the Colonels, only to see them lose possession when one of their special teams players touched the ball in the air - a violation in high school football.

"It was just a mental mistake by our guys. They know they can't touch the ball in the air." Bolin said. "We were really just trying to get them to make a fair catch on it, but it would have been nice to have gotten the football."

Instead, the Colonels handed the Patriots great field position, and they nearly paid for it immediately.

Wilt's long pass found Logan Johnson behind the secondary on a post route, but the ball bounced off the senior wide receiver's hands on what would have been a sure touchdown.

Given a second chance, the Colonels' defense held firm, and the home side promptly marched down the field for their first score of the season.

The Patriots had their chances to get on the board in the first half, particularly after Malcolm Newman blocked a Hottel punt to give Washington 1st-and-goal from the seven.

James Wood's defense was up to the challenge, though, sacking Wilt and stopping tailback Dante Washington for a loss before an ill-advised pass on a fake field goal fell harmlessly incomplete.

The Patriots finally got on the board on their first drive of the second half, taking advantage after Gustines intercepted a Copley pass near midfield. Wilt completed the drive up the short field with an 11-yard touchdown pass to slot receiver Shane Marrone.

Washington's score seemed to fire up Copley and the Colonels' offense, however, as they responded with their finest drive of the game.

Riding the one-two punch of Schrock and Joel McGreevy in the backfield, James Wood marched 62 yards to set up Hottel's game-winning kick, eating up nine minutes and 41 seconds. Schrock had 32 yards rushing on that drive alone, while McGreevy added 16.

"That drive was what we needed," Copley said. "We were disappointed when they scored, but we aren't a team to get down on ourselves. We knew we had to go out there, come right back at them and score ourselves. That just motivated us more."

"Our line made big holes for us the whole game, so we have to give credit to them. They got us into a position for Peyton to win the game for us, and he came through."