Football Preview - Heritage at James Wood

When: Tonight, 7

Where: James Wood High School's Jerry. L. Kelican Stadium

2010 Records:Heritage (1-9); James Wood (6-5)

Last year: Did not play

Preview:Heritage is now playing in the Group AA Dulles District after previously playing in the Group AAA Cedar Run District. The Pride definitely had their hands full, giving up 46.8 points per game last year.

"A lot of people that we have this year with us last year," Heritage coach Steve Williams said. "We want to change the perception of what we're about and get on the winning track."

Heritage and James Wood did share one opponent in 2010 - the Pride beat first-year Tuscarora 34-15 while James Wood beat the Huskies 42-7.

Though Williams hopes to achieve more balance with his wing-T and spread offense to take some pressure off of quarterback Austin Nelson, he's not a bad player to lean on. James Wood coach Mike Bolin thinks Nelson is one of the best quarterbacks the Colonels will see this year.

"He's got a good arm, makes good decisions, and he moves his feet real well," Bolin said. "We'll have to put some pressure on him."

Nelson has several capable receiving targets he can throw to as well, including wide receivers Marcus Finney (20 catches for 385 yards), Drew Burkhard (21 catches for 273 yards) and tight end Ryan Taylor (26 catches for 272 yards).

The big story of the game could be whether the Pride's 4-4 defense can match up with a physical James Wood offensive line.

"They're one of the bigger teams we'll see, so we'll see how we execute," Williams said. "We try to be aggressive and bring pressure. Depth is going to be big for us. We're going to try and rotate people in and keep them fresh. If we can't keep their linemen off our 'backers, we'll struggle some."

James Wood definitely brings a diverse attack into this game, including a deep running back pool and two wide receivers in T.J. Bruce and Chad Potter who caught at least 20 passes last year.

Bolin said the Colonels definitely want to be physical with Heritage, and if practice was any guide this week, they will.

"We had a good week of practice, and [Wednesday] was one of our best practices of the year," Bolin said. "The guys are chomping at the bit to play someone else, and we're ready to go."