James' interception lifts Warriors over Hawks

By Greg Brill -- sports@nvdaily.com

FRONT ROYAL -- Josiah Patrick was able to hit the long and short passes most of Friday night.

If not for a few drops, the Skyline quarterback would have had much more than the 210 yards through the air and two touchdown passes he threw against Sherando. But Patrick's 27th pass of the Northwestern District football game at the Hawks Den would end up in the hands of the other team.

Sherando cornerback Zach James made a good sideline read and intercepted Patrick's pass at the Warriors' 15 with 1:11 left to play -- Skyline's only turnover -- to seal a 23-19 victory.

"I was dropping back and I saw [Patrick] pointing out a receiver to pass it to him and I just read it," James said. "All I needed to do was jump and I would have swatted it down. It's nice to get that in the end."

The win went a long way to securing a first-round bye and at least the No. 2 seed for Sherando (7-2, 2-1) for the upcoming Region II, Division 4 playoffs, and for Skyline (5-4, 1-3), it will have to beat three-win Warren County next week and get a ton of help elsewhere to make the six-team Division 3 playoffs.

"It's horrible -- we knew we needed this win," said Skyline all-purpose back Cliff Woodard, who had 208 total yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. "We played hard, probably the hardest we've played all season."

The Hawks did everything possible to compete, forcing three turnovers, outgaining the Warriors 340-191, and not allowing a touchdown from scrimmage after giving up scoring runs on Sherando's first two offensive series of the game.

"The game didn't have to come down [to the interception]," Skyline coach Heath Gilbert said. "We had plays early in the game that we missed or someone didn't hold on to. Yeah, that was tough."

The bookend quarters brought plenty of excitement. A late third-period drive stalled at the Skyline 5-yard line and kicker Justin Haines nailed a 22-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to send Sherando up 16-7.

The Hawks had two passes dropped on their next series and were forced to punt. Skyline then got a break, as Dalton Boyd booted Marcus Blair's kick, and the Hawks recovered at the Sherando 27. Three plays later, Woodard bounced off a tackler at the line of scrimmage, and spinned into the end zone from four yards out to cut the lead to three.

After a missed extra point, Skyline kicked off and Boyd again found the ball in his hands. He scooped up the kick at his 20, found a crease and avoided kicker Derek Helsley's arm-tackle dive at midfield to race 80 yards for a touchdown, sending Sherando's lead to 23-13 with 9:05 to play.

It was the second time that Boyd has returned a kickoff for a fourth-quarter score in a Northwestern District game. Boyd also took back a kickoff 94 yards for the winning score on Oct. 9 at James Wood.

"On that punt return, when I muffed it, it definitely hit me that I needed to make some plays," Boyd said. "I try to do everything I can to score when I get the ball. The blocking was good and they left me one-on-one with the kicker, like James Wood. I made a move and took it to the house."

Skyline was far from done. Starting from their 38, the Hawks picked up two first downs before facing fourth-and-14 at the Sherando 41. After a Skyline timeout, Patrick rolled toward the Sherando sideline and spotted Travis Custer in the end zone for a touchdown. Skyline, again, missed the extra point, and trailed 23-19 with 5:34 left.

Early on, the game took on the appearance of becoming a high-scoring affair. Sherando opened the game with a 10-play, 61-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead on Tre Porter's 1-yard run. After Corey Rice missed Boyd on a deep fade on the game's first play, the Warriors stuck to the ground game on the last nine plays to gain early momentum.

Skyline also got on the board with its first offensive series. Woodard busted up the middle for a gain of 32 to the Sherando 33, but the Hawks were left facing 4th-and-8 at the 31 after a delay of game penalty. Not shaken, Patrick kept his poise and rolled to his left, finding Woodard in one-on-one coverage down the left side. Woodard made a nice grab in the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown catch and 7-7 game.

Once again, Woodard caused plenty of headaches with his multiple talents. Woodard even lined up as a wide receiver at times, and pulled in a game-high eight catches for 69 yards. Woodard had a game-high 139 rushing yards on 23 carries.

Sherando came right back and put a long drive together to take the lead for good. The Warriors picked up four first downs on a 70-yard march, with Jalen Brisco making two throws that netted first downs and scrambling 16 yards for another first down to the Skyline 13. Two plays later, Boyd took a direct snap and won a race around the right edge for a 10-yard run and 13-7 lead with 1:03 left in the first.

Sherando closes at home with Millbrook, which lost Friday to Handley, next week and will look to continue to play well heading into the post-season.

"If we win out we feel pretty confident that we would be a [second] seed, so that would be a pretty good deal for us," Sherando coach Bill Hall said.