FINAL: Martinsburg (WV) 37 Sherando 0

[VAtuffTurf]

Honestly not a bad game for Sherando considering this was the first start for their sophomore QB. Martinsburg was unquestionably the better team tonight. For anyone that is curious this is the first goose egg for Sherando since 2003. Here are my takeaways...

Martinsburg QB is the real deal. I was very impressed to see him overthrow one of his receivers when the ball was in the air 50 yards (not exaggerating). He has a good release and although I feel like he can easily tuck it and run for a few he is true to being a pocket passer.

Both offensive and defensive lines for Martinsburg are stacked but I was more impressed with the defensive line. Sherando tested that middle over and over and it was like running into a wall, they were solid.

Martinsburg's #26 RB is also legit, that kid has some wheels and get to top speed in a hurry. Honestly if Martinsburg wanted to run the ball the whole game, they certainly could have.

I really feel that all of Martinsburg's skill guys are great at making the first guy miss; Sherando had a lot of missed tackles and it was often times on just being juked out.

Sherando came to play. Hat off to the sophomore QB who proved to be very mature in throwing the ball away when under pressure and also accurately delivering the ball on several drop backs.

I was very impressed with the Sherando D, the score at half was 16-0 but bear in mind that 3 of those points came off a botched punt which put Martinsburg at Sherando's 10. Unfortunately, it just looked like Sherando tapped out in the 2nd half realizing no matter how hard the D plays they still needed the offense to score points.

Side note: The well advertised Sherando kicker was launching 50 yard field goals with room to spare during half time. Also that Sherando punter #80, he's got a dang good leg too, consistently booming his punts.

Deserving win for Martinsburg and nothing to be ashamed of for Sherando. Better team won tonight.

 

[SpartanOfYore]

Honestly not a bad game for Sherando considering this was the first start for their sophomore QB. Martinsburg was unquestionably the better team tonight. For anyone that is curious this is the first goose egg for Sherando since 2003. Here are my takeaways...

Martinsburg QB is the real deal. I was very impressed to see him overthrow one of his receivers when the ball was in the air 50 yards (not exaggerating). He has a good release and although I feel like he can easily tuck it and run for a few he is true to being a pocket passer.

Both offensive and defensive lines for Martinsburg are stacked but I was more impressed with the defensive line. Sherando tested that middle over and over and it was like running into a wall, they were solid.

Martinsburg's #26 RB is also legit, that kid has some wheels and get to top speed in a hurry. Honestly if Martinsburg wanted to run the ball the whole game, they certainly could have.

I really feel that all of Martinsburg's skill guys are great at making the first guy miss; Sherando had a lot of missed tackles and it was often times on just being juked out.

Sherando came to play. Hat off to the sophomore QB who proved to be very mature in throwing the ball away when under pressure and also accurately delivering the ball on several drop backs.

I was very impressed with the Sherando D, the score at half was 16-0 but bear in mind that 3 of those points came off a botched punt which put Martinsburg at Sherando's 10. Unfortunately, it just looked like Sherando tapped out in the 2nd half realizing no matter how hard the D plays they still needed the offense to score points.

Side note: The well advertised Sherando kicker was launching 50 yard field goals with room to spare during half time. Also that Sherando punter #80, he's got a dang good leg too, consistently booming his punts.

Deserving win for Martinsburg and nothing to be ashamed of for Sherando. Better team won tonight.

Good write-up and good insights. I appreciate your taking time to post such a detailed report. I’m not trying to be argumentative or nit pick such a fine effort, but in the interest of historical accuracy, both fourseasonsfootball.com and VHSL-Reference.com show Sherando being shut out by Martinsburg, 26-0, in 2014.

Anyway, sounds like Sherando gave a pretty good account of themselves, especially considering they were missing several players, if I’m not mistaken.

 

[VAtuffTurf]

Good eye. You are correct sir.

 

[Shruikan]

Very proud of how the guys played tonight. Yeah, 37-0 is 37-0, but against a team that good, to hold them under 40, is impressive in my books. Hats off to Rodeffer, having to start your first game as a sophomore against a team that has won 7 state championships since 2010 is no easy task. He didn't panic in the pocket at all and had quite a few great throws. If he had a game like he had tonight against any other area team, Warriors win easy, just ran into a buzz saw of a program that is going to decimate everyone else in WV this year.

Despite the loss that was easily the best game they've played so far this year, especially considering so many starters were on the sidelines. Need this bye week to get healthy.

 

[VerizonSportsFan]

Martinsburg makes statement with 37-0 win over Sherando

• By David Statman dstatman@journal-news.net

STEPHENS CITY, Va. – Year in, year out, no one team has challenged Martinsburg’s football dominance more than the Warriors of Sherando, Virginia.

But then again, maybe this Bulldog team is just different. After four straight years pushing Martinsburg to its limit, and with a stadium full of Warriors fans in full voice at their backs, all Sherando managed to do on Friday night was make Martinsburg work just a little bit harder to stretch its state-record win streak to 45.

The final tally: Martinsburg 37, Sherando 0, and one huge statement made, as quarterback Elijah Banks, running back Naieem Kearney and speedy senior Jarod Bowie made light work of a powerful Warriors defense in a stadium that head coach Dave Walker has called one of his toughest places to play.


Banks started out with the hot hand early on, completing his first six passes on Martinsburg’s opening drive, before fumbling the snap on a third-and-1 play at the Sherando 6-yard line. Senior kicker Chris Catlett pushed a 27-yard field goal try wide right, turning the ball over to the Warriors.

But while Sherando’s offense lit Martinsburg up to the tune of 45 points last season, this version of the Warrior attack was missing starting quarterback Chacai Campbell, who was inactive for the game with a leg injury.

Into his place stepped sophomore Dylan Rodeffer, who showcased a powerful arm in his first career start but couldn’t consistently get Sherando’s offense moving. Although Rodeffer broke off a string of completions to start his Friday night, Sherando’s first drive stalled just past midfield.

Bowie broke off a long return on the ensuing punt, and added 15 yards on a facemask. On the next play, Banks hit Teddy Marshall in stride on a go route for a 38-yard touchdown, giving Martinsburg the lead late in the first.

The Bulldogs didn’t have to wait long to find themselves in the end zone again early in the second. After Bowie showcased his playmaking ability on a 60-yard catch and run, Banks stepped up on third down and hit the senior again on a slant for a 10-yard touchdown.

Down two scores against a team that hadn’t lost in more than three years, Sherando began to make mistakes it couldn’t afford to make. The Warriors turned the ball over on a muffed punt late in the second, leading to a 22-yard field goal by Catlett, and Rodeffer was intercepted just before halftime on an acrobatic, leaping snag by sophomore Braxton Todd.

The cycle continued to repeat in the second half: Sherando would make even the smallest of mistakes, and Martinsburg would capitalize with a vengeance.

On Martinsburg’s first offensive play of the third quarter, the Warriors looked to have Banks dead to rights for a big sack. Instead, Banks somehow slithered away from pressure and found Bowie for a 24-yard gain. Two plays later, Kearney was in the end zone on a 9-yard touchdown run.

It happened once more on the next series, when Rodeffer led one of Sherando’s best sustained drives of the day, only to take a brutal sack for a turnover on downs. Again, Martinsburg needed only a few plays to get into the end zone, with senior Trey Sine stepping in for Kearney and scoring to make it 30-0.

Martinsburg saved perhaps its best highlight for the fourth quarter, when the game was well and truly in hand. Bowie elected to field a long, bouncing Sherando punt at his own 1 and zipped untouched for a 99-yard return score that brought the final score to 37-0.

Banks finished the game by completing 14 of 22 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Almost half of that yardage went to Bowie, who caught five passes for 112 yards and a score, while Marshall and Malakai Brown both topped 50 yards receiving. Kearney finished the game rushing for 135 yards on 15 carries.

Sherando’s Dylan Rodeffer finished his first career start completing 13 of 26 passes for 114 yards and two interceptions, while Martinsburg largely managed to bottle up leading rusher Darius Lane, who went for 57 yards on 19 carries.

Martinsburg (3-0) will next face Academy Park, Pennsylvania, at Cobourn Field at 7 p.m. Friday.

 

[NoVaKane]

I agree with everything said about Sherando - very gutsy performance and it's tough to beat a good team like Martinsburg at full strength let alone with the injuries Sherando has seemingly endured early in the season. Sherando has some good looking athletes in street clothes standing on the sideline. I'm not sure the status of those players - but some of those guys definitely look like they can help the Warriors down the stretch.

Now to Martinsburg as I know they have a highly anticipated match up with Salem down the road. Martinsburg is a good football team - very well coached. But having seen Martinsburg play over the years - this Martinsburg team is nowhere near the best Martinsburg team in comparisan to teams from years past. To suggest that this Martinsburg team could compete with Highland Springs or Stone Bridge (I know I'm biased here) let alone an All-Star team from Loudoun is absurd.

I'm not taking anything from Martinsburg - great program. Just offering an unbiased opinion. I have not seen Salem but I expect them to give Martinsburg everything they can handle. I won't be making that trip but I would love to see Salem snap the streak!

 

[VAtuffTurf]

I agree...I think Highland Springs would be head and shoulders above Martinsburg. That's not a knock at Martinsburg that's just how good Highland Springs plays. Considering Martinsburg's enrollment numbers they really are a dang good football team. They do play in the AAA level of West Virginia but to put that in perspective their most recent enrollment numbers were low 1300.

On a different note: I'd love to see Salem come away with a W against Martinsburg. I haven't seen Salem this year and I don't really know what to expect with new coaching. I would say that Salem would need to put together a zone defense as Sherando appeared to run man-man quite often and the speed Martinsburg had just allowed a lot of separation. Martinsburg ran shorts slants often and it was just a matter of the receiver beating his man. Sherando blitzed Bauer quite often but Martinsburg QB is generally throwing short slants which doesn't take much time so the blitz is fairly ineffective. As far as the run, Martinsburg again uses their speed and pushes it to the outside quite often but they can run it between the tackles (just didn't see it as much).

I honestly don't see any team being able to effectively run the ball between the tackles against Martinsburg. Even when Sherando brought in their power package with Bauer taking a direct snap the Martinsburg defense was a wall. Salem QB will have to be comfortable stepping up in the pocket and the OT's for Salem will have to be quick as Martinsburg's DE's tend to try and use speed and take path of least resistance to get to the QB. If Salem QB steps into the pocket and has a decent arm I think there are definitely holes in Martinsburg's secondary which can be exploited.

 

[ClarkeFan83]

I watched the streamed version of the game. I agree that the score was deceiving, as Sherando played with heart and guts. They still need to clean up the stupid penalties. The QB did a really good job, the O-line gave him time to make passes, but there were a couple of times I thought he should have tucked it and run. Wish they would have shown the Marching Band at halftime on the stream! One thing I did notice during the National Anthem the camera was showing the Martinsburg players and cheerleaders, when the fireworks went off, some of the cheerleaders were startled, and not in a good way. Sounded like gunfire. Don't think they knew about Sherando's passion for fireworks!