APPLE PICKING

November 5, 2010

By David Selig
The Winchester Star       

WINCHESTER- Three weeks ago, when his team was preparing to go through the "meat-grinder" of facing James Wood, Handley and Sherando in consecutive games, Reed Prosser likened the end of the Northwestern District football season to a different sport.

"It's almost like a basketball tournament during football season, where it's a short, finite amount of time that the district is really going to get boiled down to," the Millbrook coach said. "I really do like it, because it seems to place an emphasis on the end of the season."

If the last three weeks were a basketball tournament, then tonight we're down to the final four.

And it's a scenario that's never before been seen in this area.

Starting at 7 p.m., Millbrook (5-4, 2-1 Northwestern District) will host Sherando (8-1, 2-1), while at the same time James Wood (6-3, 2-1) will host Handley (5-4, 2-1).

The winners of those two games will be declared co-champions of the Northwestern District.

But only the head-to-head winner between the two will lay claim to the Barr-Lindon Crimson Apple, awarded each year by The Winchester Star to the team that fares best between the Winchester-Frederick County schools.

That means teams will be rooting for their rivals, and cell phones will be lit up throughout each set of bleachers seeking out updates.

"I think it's exciting for our area, and exciting for football fans," Sherando coach Bill Hall said. "When you have four out of five teams playing for a district championship, I think that brings out the best in people. ... Now it's just a matter of taking advantage of that opportunity."

James Wood has never won the Crimson Apple (Handley has won it four times and Sherando three), but this is the second time in the last three years that the Colonels find themselves in this position.

On Halloween night in 2008, Wood hosted Handley with the district and Crimson Apple on the line.

With a chance to win their first district crown since 1980, the Colonels turned the ball over seven times and lost 17-10.

Few of Wood's current players were on the roster that night, but coach Mike Bolin said he reminded them of that evening earlier this week.

Bolin has said that his team's primary goal each season is to make the playoffs - which the Colonels, ranked eighth in Region II Division 4, still have a good chance of doing even if they lose tonight.

But the rare chance to win a district title trumps all of that. "These things don't happen all that often," Bolin acknowledged. "Especially at James Wood, we don't have the opportunity to play for the district title every year. It's happened, what, twice in the last 30 years? You've got to seize the day and take advantage of it."

To do that, the Colonels will need to defeat their oldest rival, and a team that's beaten them 16 of the last 17 times. (Handley leads the all-time series 31-16-1, and the last time Wood won at home was 1992, evening the series at 15-15-1 at that point.)

While Wood is the hottest team in the area, having won three straight games, the Judges are coming off a disappointing 16-0 home loss to Millbrook.

Handley (ranked first in Region II Division 3) had won five in a row, but they turned the ball over five times and - as is seldom the case - got pushed around a bit on the line.

"If you lose, you've got to learn from it if you want to be a decent team," Handley coach Tony Rayburn said. "Hopefully we've done that."

If any team has done that this year, it's the Judges, who began this season in an 0-3 hole before rebounding to rise to the top of the district standings.

The two-time defending district and Apple winners were without their sparkplug running back/safety Trae Peck (1,094 yards of total offense, 12 TDs) last week because of an unspecified disciplinary reason.

Rayburn said Peck "probably" will play tonight, and he thinks the line will be better off with senior guard Nick Randazzo returning from an injury.

James Wood might not have as many big-time playmakers as Handley, but the Colonels have four running backs that have rushed for more than 200 yards on the season - Cory Schrock, Joel McGreevy, Chris Skinner and Mark Collie - and Schrock has rushed for 200 yards and four touchdowns over the past two weeks.

Add in mobile quarterback Matt Copley and two of the area's top pass-catchers (T.J. Bruce and Chad Potter) and Rayburn says Wood's offense has become "scary."

"They're as fundamentally sound a team as we've played all year," Rayburn said. "Defensively, they're big, and they get to the ball well. And offensively they've really improved."

Like James Wood, Millbrook has never tasted the Apple, and despite qualifying for the playoffs in four straight seasons - including this year - the Pioneers have never won a district title in their eight-year existence.

They too have been down this road, though.

On Nov. 2 2007, the Pioneers visited Sherando with district and local supremacy on the line.

But they ran into a Warrior team that had won 24 straight regular season games and was bound for the state final later that fall.

Sherando - which leads the all-time series 6-1 - won 27-12 that night, leaving the Pioneers still in search for an elusive title.

"It gives our kids an opportunity to do something that no class has ever done here," Prosser said.

Prosser often reminds his players of their place in the program's construction, referring to "bridge builders" of the past and the fact that these Pioneers will lead the way for future classes.

Across the county, Sherando has already built a foundation for annual success, which is part of the reason the Warriors have approached tonight's situation differently.

Hall said he spoke to his team about the scenarios on Monday, but the stakes haven't been discussed since.

"After that, we don't talk about it anymore, because when you have your eyes on the prize, you lose sight of what you have to do to reach that goal," Hall said.

There are a number of other goals on the line in tonight's game, too.

Both teams are playoff-bound and could potentially help their seeding.

Sherando enters as the No. 2 team in Region II Division 4. And Prosser, whose team is tied for fifth in Division 3, says winning tonight would likely be the difference between the Pioneers hosting a quarterfinal game next week or going on the road.

The game also features the area's top two rushers.

Millbrook's Jordan Hartman has run for a school-record 1,489 yards (7.3 per carry) and 16 touchdowns, while Sherando's Joseph Ojo isn't far behind with 1,421 yards (6.5 ypc) and 18 touchdowns.

There's also a compelling subplot in the turnover battle, which both teams have excelled at this season.

Millbrook has given the ball away just six times all year (five interceptions and one lost fumble), while Sherando only has seven turnovers (three interceptions, four fumbles).

Meanwhile, the Warriors have 26 takeaways (16 INT, 10 fumbles), while the Pioneers have 22 (11 and 11).

"Turnovers are always a big part of any big game, and that's something we've been able to be successful with this season - forcing turnovers and also taking good care of the ball," Hall said. "So, that's going to be important Friday night."

Prosser also mentioned turnovers as a key, as well as the ability to execute under pressure.

"Traditionally in the Sherando game with us, each team takes big plays back and forth, like a heavyweight fight," he said. "The question is going to be, who's going to remain standing at the end."

That's the question of the night, and four schools each hope they're the answer.

- Contact David Selig at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.