October 16, 2010
By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER- James Wood football coach Mike Bolin called Friday night's 21-10 Northwestern District victory over Skyline the team's best effort of the year, but he had to admonish himself and the rest of the coaching staff for one important detail.

"How bad of coaches are we if it took us seven games to figure out he can run like that?" Bolin said with a smile.

The "he" Bolin was referring to is senior Mark Collie, who rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, becoming the first James Wood player to crack triple digits in rushing yardage this year.

Collie had just seven carries in the previous five games and came into Friday as the Colonels' fifth leading rusher with 59 yards.

With one carry for four yards in the first half, it didn't appear as if his role was going to change much.

But after gaining 34 yards on James Wood's second play from scrimmage in the second half, everything changed. The Colonels (4-3, 1-1 Northwestern) rode Collie in turning a tight 7-3 advantage at halftime into a comfortable 21-3 cushion after Collie scored on a 47-yard run with 6:39 remaining in the fourth quarter. "[First down] was a play where Joel [McGreevy] didn't hit the hole as hard as I wanted him to, and I just pulled him out to tell him that," said Bolin, whose team was already down one running back because of an injury to Chris Skinner, who did not play in the second half. "And next thing you know Mark breaks one [34] yards. You got to play the hot hand, and Mark was the hot hand tonight.

"He stepped up for us big this year. He doesn't fit the mold at a lot of spots on the football field. But he's aggressive and fast and quick. We're tried to find a spot for him. He's playing defensive tackle, he's playing defensive end, outside linebacker - he's played a bunch of different spots. He went in there [at running back], he stepped up, [and] he'll get a lot more carries, that's for sure."

James Wood had plenty of confidence after a 13-play, 70-yard drive capped by a 26-yard touchdown pass put the Colonels up 7-0 with 1:30 left in the half. But because Skyline (2-5, 0-2) was able to answer with a 25-yard Derek Helsley field goal as the first-half clock expired, the Colonels needed to keep the pressure on to open the second half.

Collie took care of that, carrying the ball seven times for 49 yards on a 13-play, 65-yard drive, one he kept alive by fighting for three yards on 4th-and-1 at the 19 and finished with a two-yard run to make it 14-3.

Though Collie's been an effective player in passing situations for James Wood's defense (his two sacks lead the team), he's never stopped wanting a bigger role on offense.

"I've been working hard to play running back," Collie said. "[That first touchdown drive] felt great, and the linemen, they made excellent blocks."

James Wood only ran four plays, with Collie carrying once, on the Colonels' next two possessions. But after Skyline missed a chance to get back in the game when a wide-open Nick Helmick dropped a pass inside the 20 with about eight minutes to go, Collie put the Hawks away on his next carry.

On 2nd-and-6 from the Hawks' 47, he found a hole on the right side, cut inside a defender 15 yards downfield, then outraced the rest of the defense for the touchdown to all but sew up the win.

"It feels great," Collie said when asked how it felt to contribute as much as he did.

Bolin said that even though Collie never complained about his limited running role, he knew how badly the senior wanted to produce.

"You could see it in his face," said Bolin, who praises Collie for things like his ability to see cutback lanes and his intelligence. "On that sideline, you look up, and he's always looking at me.

"I don't know why it's taken us so long. But he's a good ballplayer. He's going to help us a lot."

Skyline coach Heath Gilbert lamented some missed opportunities - in addition to the dropped pass late, the Hawks had three holding penalties on their first drive, including one that nullified a touchdown.

"We weren't able to make the plays, and James Wood [did]," Gilbert said. "We just want to stay together. We just want to compete as hard as we can these last three games."

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