October 9, 2010

By Robert Niedzwiecki

The Winchester Star

STEPHENS CITY- The Sherando High School football team would probably rather avoid these heart-stopping finishes, but the Warriors sure aren't complaining about the results.

Sherando beat James Wood in a game decided in the final 13 seconds for the fourth time in the last five years, taking the latest battle between the Frederick County and Northwestern District rivals 14-7 Friday night at a packed Arrowhead Stadium.

The Warriors (6-0, 1-0 Northwestern) threatened to blow the game open with two touchdowns in the first nine minutes.

But they couldn't breathe a sigh of relief until they forced James Wood quarterback Matt Copley (10 of 25 for 144 yards) to run on 4th-and-10 from the Sherando 13-yard line and stopped him after just a two-yard pickup with 13 seconds left.

"They played a tough game, and they're a good team," said Sherando junior running back Joseph Ojo, who rushed for 155 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. "I'm just thankful for our defense."

That side of the ball definitely carried the night for the Warriors, intercepting four passes and forcing James Wood (3-3, 0-1) to deviate from the physical, between the tackles running style it's known for.

The Colonels gained a respectable 259 yards (144 passing) while relying on shotgun formations, jet sweeps and pitches, and passes to the outside. But Sherando came up bigger when it counted.

Three minutes before the Warriors forced James Wood to turn the ball over on downs on its final possession, freshman strong safety Reid Entsminger's interception in the end zone denied the Colonels of their best scoring opportunity since Cory Schrock's 1-yard touchdown run with three seconds left in the first half. "Even though we were in some bad situations, I thought our team did a great job just responding to those situations," Sherando coach Bill Hall said. "We haven't had too much adversity so far this year. You can teach fundamentals, you can teach technique ... but it's hard to teach situations where you have turnovers and things like that."

The Warriors were able to hold on at the end after a 58-yard catch by Chad Potter put the Colonels at the Sherando 13 with 29 seconds left, forcing two incompletions and Copley's run after a spike stopped the clock on first down.

On the previous possession, it was Chris Skinner's 38-yard run that put the Colonels at the Sherando 23. But, on 2nd-and-7 two plays later, Copley was under pressure and heaved a ball into the back of the end zone for Potter, who was covered by safeties Tre Porter and Entsminger.

Porter, who was in front, got the initial tip. The ball then went off Potter's hands and into Entsminger's.

"It was like five seconds [it was up in the air]," Entsminger said. "It felt like it was slow motion.

"It was insane [to catch it]. It was awesome."

James Wood coach Mike Bolin said he didn't mind at all that Copley took some chances like he did on that interception, because being aggressive was the only way the Colonels were going to succeed.

"I told him you got to throw it - you can't not throw it," Bolin said. "[Potter] was in double coverage, but Chad almost made the play. When the clock's on your back, you got to force things sometimes.

"Matt did a lot of really good things tonight, and he threw some picks. But when you're playing one of the best teams in the state, they're going to make plays."

Bolin said he came away impressed with the way the Colonels battled.

Had they not given up the big plays they knew they had to avoid - Ojo scored on a 65-yard touchdown run with 6:53 left in the first quarter, and Porter scored on a 22-yard swing pass from Jalen Brisco with 3:24 left in the opening quarter - Bolin feels the game certainly could have been theirs.

"With the exception of two [plays], we stuffed them all night," said Bolin, whose defense forced three turnovers and gave up 267 yards. "Take out two plays, and I guess it's a different ballgame.

"The biggest thing we preached this week is that we got to come out and be physical with these guys. We've seen enough film that teams that were physical, they weren't that comfortable."

Bolin gave Sherando credit for taking James Wood out of its comfort zone on offense. But he was proud that the unit at least gave them a chance at the end.

"Hats off to our guys," Bolin said. "They played tough. We just didn't get it done."

NOTE:There were two 10-minute delays in the second half. The first came when a fan had to be taken from the stadium in an ambulance after requiring medical attention with 3:02 left in the third quarter. The second was because of an injury to James Wood lineman Chase Tyler with 4:11 left in the fourth quarter. A stretcher was brought out, but Tyler was able to make it to the sideline with some assistance.