Hawks rally late to stun Colonels

September 24, 2011
By Greg Brill
Special to The Winchester Star

Front Royal- Some might say Skyline, in its fifth season, was still looking for a quality win.

Even when they made the Region II playoffs two seasons ago, the knock on the Hawks was that the program had never beaten Handley, Sherando, or James Wood.

You can cross James Wood off that list now.

Battling back from an early 14-point hole, Skyline stunned the Colonels with three second-half scoring drives of 50 yards or more and rallied for a 24-17 Northwestern District football win on Friday night.

"The whole offense is [full of] playmakers - we have tons of athleticism," said Skyline quarterback Aaron Jeremiah, who directed the comeback well after a tough start. "If we would play like we do at the end of the games a little better at the beginning of games, we would win so many more games."

That it came on Homecoming and with a defensive unit that had allowed 36 points a game coming in made it that much more sweet for the Hawks (2-2, 1-0). They held James Wood (2-3, 0-1 in district) to two first downs in the second half.

"In the second half, we came out fired up more than ever," said Skyline linebacker Nick Helmick, who recorded two sacks and knocked down a fourth-down pass late in the game that sealed the win. "It was just a big win. The defense came out and we did what we needed to do. There really wasn't anything to adjust to. It was just [displaying] more heart than we had in the first half, and more energy. We just came out better in the second half."

It definitely was a tale of two halves for James Wood quarterback Jake Lewin. The first-season starter threw touchdown strikes of 31 yards to T.J. Bruce and 11 yards to Chad Potter in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead, then could not withstand the pressure Skyline brought over much of the last three quarters.

James Wood finished with just 123 yards of total offense. The Colonels lost 31 yards on a botched first-half punt snap that Skyline recovered for a score, but the Hawks also sacked Lewin a total of five times for losses of 26 yards. Skyline defensive lineman Travis Siever also had two sacks and linebacker Zack Blair had one.

"Our defensive line did great and our linebackers did well with coverages," Helmick said. "That batted ball [late] - that was just icing on the cake."

James Wood's running game established itself well early, and leading rusher Aaron Clark finished with 89 yards on 22 carries. But Skyline did a better job closing gaps and playing base defense in the second half to limit the Colonels' from the big gains they got earlier in the game.

As has been his team's M.O. over their now three-game losing streak, James Wood coach Mike Bolin was again less than pleased with how his team played up front.

"[Skyline's] offensive line and defensive line played great," Bolin said. "We didn't play as well there, and that's what happens. They came out in the second half ready to go, and we didn't. Blocking and tackling has been a problem for three weeks now. We got to tackle better and we got to coach better."

The Hawks' comeback began with a stroke of good fortune.

A punt snap sailed over Chandler DeHaven's head and by the time DeHaven reached it at his own goal line, he tried to kick the ball out and nailed a Skyline defender instead. Trayvon Freeman then made the recovery for a defensive touchdown, narrowing the gap to 14-6 with 9:18 left in the second quarter.

"The [snap] over the punter's head kind of got our kids elevated again," Gilbert said.

A Skyline turnover a short time later led to a DeHaven 40-yard field goal, which sent James Wood's lead to 17-6, but from there Jeremiah and the Hawks got going.

On their first offensive series of the third quarter, the Hawks used the clock to go 57 yards in 13 plays to get a 1-yard run by Jeremiah on fourth-and-goal to bring Skyline to within five.

Skyline's defense continued to pursue and contain well, and in the meantime, the offense put a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns on the board to take the lead for the first time.

Jeffries scored on a 7-yard run with 8:40 left to make it 18-17.

"In the first half, I had a horrible half and I wasn't helping my teammates out," said Jeremiah, who finished 7 of 13 passing for 85 yards with an interception. "In the second half, we got the first drive and went all the way down the field, scored, and got the momentum."

After holding the Colonels to one first down, the Hawks began their next drive from their 44 and,two plays after Jeremiah picked up two yards on a fourth-and-1, Baltimore darted through a hole on the right side and sprinted to the end zone from 42 yards out to make it 24-17 with 3:13 left.

James Wood got one more first down but it turned the ball over on downs with 1:16 left when Helmick rose up to bat down Lewin's last pass attempt.

"James Wood's a great team," Helmick said. "I think it makes a statement to the other teams that we're not going to come in and lay down. We're going to come in ready and fired up to play some football."