James Wood at Fauquier Preview

When: Tonight, 7

Where :Fauquier High School in Warrenton

Records: James Wood (3-5); Fauquier (5-3)

Last week: James Wood beat Millbrook 14-7; Fauquier lost to Kettle Run 21-3

Preview: After breaking a five-game losing streak, the James Wood team is riding high. But during his postgame comments last Friday, Colonels coach Mike Bolin was already talking about how tough it would be to follow up that victory because of how strong Fauquier is.

Through their first seven games, the Falcons averaged 356 yards (246 passing) and 31 points per game on offense. They were shut down in last week's loss to Kettle Run, but the undefeated Cougars have done that to pretty much everyone (six points per game).

"We just weren't efficient," Fauquier coach Mark Scott said. "We had dropped balls, missed reads, and missed assignments."

Scott said the Falcons are anxious to atone for that defeat, because they feel they're a significantly better offensive team than even just a month ago.

In a 20-17 loss against Millbrook on Sept. 23, the Pioneers severely limited the Falcons' underneath passing game. Fauquier wound up running the ball nearly two-thirds of the time (49 of 77 plays), which took away from its explosiveness.

"We've grown quite a bit since the Millbrook game," Scott said. "Our quarterback [Colin Diehl] has really grown, so we're able to throw the ball downfield more."

While that may be, Bolin said the Colonels' first priority is to take away Fauquier's quick-hitting plays.

"They want to stretch the field, but they also still want to throw the short to intermediate passes. That's their game," Bolin said. "They're very good at what they do. They don't really have a weakness on offense or defense.

"We're trying to prepare to defend it all. We're going to do what we do within our system to try and stop their offense. We've made a few adjustments in preparing for them."

Scott said the Falcons definitely want to limit James Wood's running attack, but he's been impressed with some of the plays the Colonels have been able to make in the passing game.

Against Millbrook, James Wood's Jake Lewin, the area passing leader with 808 yards, threw an 18-yard touchdown pass, set up a second touchdown with a 37-yard pass to the Pioneer 2, and made Millbrook's comeback chances difficult with a late 40-yard pass.

"[The passing game is] not where we want it to be but Jake's done a great job," Bolin said. "He's got three to four really good receivers who can catch the ball.

"He has a lot of confidence in our receivers, which allows him to play a little looser. Fauquier is one of those teams that's going to put eight or nine in the box no matter what you do and play man-to-man on the outside. We're excited for the opportunity to play a good team like that."

- Compiled by Robert Niedzwiecki,
Robert Stocks and Kevin Trudgeon