Sherando (5-0) @ Martinsburg, WV (6-0)
- Thread starter Shruikan
- Start date
People have inside scoops lolWould like to know Sherando's too, but it usually doesn't come out until much later.
I’m sorry I’m just not sold on Sherando against the Region D Champion!!!! If they make out of the Region like everyone is saying!!!
We shall see GL this week to your team!!! Still not sold on Sherando beating the winner of Region D( I never said anything about GW)
Well you were very high on GW a month ago, and nobody from Sherando ever said a bad word about them. My apologies , Sherando will do well with or without your support . Thanks lol
Still high on GW but we are in a tough Region and Sherando is favored to come out of Region C so that’s who will have to go through if we make that far like you said!!! I will be at the Championship game whether we make it or not!!! Would love to meet you @hamspear so we could talk football and why your team or mine should win! Don’t let that 1 lost fool you! But I really hope Sherando wins because it says a lot about VA football as a whole!
I’ve been watching Martinsburg from afar for several yrs. watched the past 2 state games and the mud bowl game. They are a very good team.
They took advantage of the opportunities that were there. Blocked a punt for a TD. #2 for Martinsburg had a good game. AP was able to get a few long runs on Martinsburg. Center had a few bad snaps. I would definitely watch Out for #10 (QB) running the ball.
Spring Valley,Capital and Wheeling Park are other top schools in WV
Parkersburg has not won a title since 2007
I am seriously thinking about going to this game, but Clarke is at Central and that's a biggie for us too. What to do, what to do.
I wouldn’t promise any seats for this game lol, it’s going to be crowded
Yup. Sherando travels well and Martinsburg fans know that this will be the only game at Cobourn this year that has any chance of being competitive, including the WV playoffs. They filled up all of the away side and some of Sherando's side at Arrowhead last year, and that was an hour before the game.
I always have a seat for my man Clarke fan, he is a regular at some sherando’s away games. Yes it’s going to be a huge crowd , half the state of West Virginia is coming , hope we can put on a good show for them. Have to show up and play well.
@OCBoy I am hearing Sherando will scrimmage Highland Springs , and Westfield, and the entire OOD schedule will be Dinwiddie , Salem , Phoebus, and GW Danville . How’s that for ya? Make a lot of people happy on here right?
Haha you had me there at first until I got to Westfield.
Whew, I just read through all these threads debating about whether Sherando is legit this year!? Don't know anything about Martinsburg but if they've been on top for a while, there's a reason for it.
Below is Matt's latest Class 4 State Rankings: I doubt he's far off on most of these teams. Hope it helps!
Class 4 Top Ten:
Rank LW Team Record Result
1 1 Sherando 5-0 Idle
2 2 Lake Taylor 5-0
W 21-17 over Phoebus (3A)
3 3 Dinwiddie 5-0
W 35-31 over Thomas Dale (6A)
4 4 Lafayette 3-0 Idle
5 5 Eastern View 6-0
W 63-21 over Spotsylvania
6 7 Blacksburg 6-0
W 28-7 over PH-Roanoke
7 8 Jefferson Forest 5-0
W 77-48 over Liberty Christian
8 9 Louisa 5-0
W 36-17 over Western Albemarle
9 10 Loudoun County 5-0 Idle
10 NR GW-Danville 4-1
I'm sure there are some teams with a few losses by Playoff time which aren't on this list & could challenge for a regional crown. In the 757, King's Fork still has to be considered a dangerous team that could make a run & give Lake Taylor /Lafayette fits.
Below is Matt's latest Class 4 State Rankings: I doubt he's far off on most of these teams. Hope it helps!
Class 4 Top Ten:
Rank LW Team Record Result
1 1 Sherando 5-0 Idle
2 2 Lake Taylor 5-0
W 21-17 over Phoebus (3A)
3 3 Dinwiddie 5-0
W 35-31 over Thomas Dale (6A)
4 4 Lafayette 3-0 Idle
5 5 Eastern View 6-0
W 63-21 over Spotsylvania
6 7 Blacksburg 6-0
W 28-7 over PH-Roanoke
7 8 Jefferson Forest 5-0
W 77-48 over Liberty Christian
8 9 Louisa 5-0
W 36-17 over Western Albemarle
9 10 Loudoun County 5-0 Idle
10 NR GW-Danville 4-1
I'm sure there are some teams with a few losses by Playoff time which aren't on this list & could challenge for a regional crown. In the 757, King's Fork still has to be considered a dangerous team that could make a run & give Lake Taylor /Lafayette fits.
WOW!! the score of the JF vs Liberty christian game.... We should all be pulling for Sherando this Friday. Got to at least root for the VA team for heavens sake. Be nice if we have a regular team (meaning a bunch of neighborhood kids) beating a super team from another state. Good luck tomorrow!
Sherando, Martinsburg to battle in clash of titans
Sherando running back T.J. Washington and the Warriors will put their 5-0 record on the line tonight when they travel to Martinsburg to take on the 6-0 Bulldogs for a 7 p.m. contest.
Sherando’s Chacai Campbell returns an interception 20 yards to the Liberty 12-yard line to set up the first touchdown in the Warriors’ 55-21 win over the Eagles on Sept. 21. The 5-0 Warriors face 6-0 Martinsburg in West Virginia at 7 p.m. tonight.
When the Sherando and Martinsburg (W.Va.) football teams met in Stephens City a year ago, they engaged in a back-and-forth affair in which they were never separated by more than seven points.
Ultimately, the Bulldogs rallied from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit and won 31-28 on a 24-yard field goal with 28 seconds left.
Tonight, Sherando travels to Martinsburg’s Cobourn Field for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The 5-0 Warriors have essentially wrapped up all of their games by halftime this year, but as last year demonstrated, nothing ever comes easy against the Bulldogs.
And after losing that heartbreaker at home last year, Sherando would love nothing more than to ruin Martinsburg’s evening tonight.
“They’re definitely going to be our hardest game of the season,” Sherando senior quarterback Hunter Entsminger said after Tuesday’s practice. “They’re always a great team.
“We’re definitely thinking about [last year’s game]. We haven’t beat them since my freshman year, so that’s definitely motivation to come out here and beat these guys.”
The 6-0 Bulldogs have won 34 straight games and two consecutive Class AAA state titles, and they’ve also won 34 straight regular-season games dating back to their 21-14 loss to Sherando in Stephens City on Sept. 4, 2015.
That’s Martinsburg’s only loss to the Warriors since the two schools renewed their rivalry in 2011. The Bulldogs have a 9-4 edge in their all-time series with Sherando as a result of their 6-1 record against them over the last seven years.
“Obviously, this is going to be a huge test,” Sherando coach Bill Hall said. “We’re going to have to play four quarters to have a chance for success. We’ve been building towards that. We haven’t been able to play four quarters all year [because of lopsided scores].
“The great thing about [Martinsburg] is as much as they’re going to challenge us schematically, they’re going to challenge us with the way they play the game of football. You have to match that intensity, passion, grit that they bring to the table.”
Both teams have dominated their opponents.
Sherando — which was off last week and hasn’t played since a 55-21 win over Liberty on Sept. 21 — has outscored opponents by an average of 54.6 to 10.6, and it’s outgaining them by an average of 399.8 yards (232.4 rushing) to 188.4 (115.8). The only time the Warriors didn’t score 50 points was the one game they played that literally ended at halftime, a weather-shortened 42-6 win over Jefferson on Aug. 31.
“This may be the best Sherando team I’ve seen in my 20-couple of years here,” Martinsburg coach David Walker said. “They’re so explosive, and their kids do a great job.”
Martinsburg is outscoring opponents by an average of 52.7 to 6.3 and outgaining them by an average of 447.2 (271.3 rushing) to 109 (17.5 rushing). The Bulldogs are coming off a 67-0 win over Washington (W.Va.) in which they held the Patriots to minus-5 yards.
The Bulldogs bring back some of the players who helped the team win a state title last year, but Martinsburg lost a lot of key players.
“They’re more experienced than we are in a lot of areas,” Walker said. “[Last year], we were veteran and they were kind of young; this year, they’re veteran, and we have young guys in areas. The roles are reversed a bit.”
At quarterback, the Bulldogs no longer have Tyson Bagent, who is the starter at NCAA Division II power Shepherd University.
Though junior Elijah Banks has put up some pretty impressive numbers (33 of 55 for 547 yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions), senior Grant Harman is the Bulldogs’ main quarterback. He’s 29 of 40 for 508 yards, eight TDs, and two INTs.
And as good as Bagent was, he wasn’t the running threat that Harman is. The all-state defensive back (16 tackles and four interceptions this year) has 38 carries for 269 yards and two TDs.
“We have to be fundamentally sound [with Harman],” Hall said. “Whatever our call is, we have to make sure we’re executing it and account for his running ability.”
Martinsburg boasts a pair of impressive running backs in 6-0, 185-pound senior Dewayne Grantham (35 carries for 424 yards and nine TDs) and 5-8, 165-pound sophomore Naieem Kearney (37 carries, 539 yards, nine TDs). Grantham rushed for three TDs against the Warriors last year and has given a verbal commitment to play as a linebacker for West Virginia University.
“[Kearney] is smaller and shiftier,” Hall said. “He’s got a lot of speed, good moves. Very talented running back. Dewayne has good speed, runs downhill and can make you miss in space also.”
Martinsburg has three receivers with four touchdowns who range in receptions from 11 to 19 and in yardage from 237 to 284 — Matt Vanduzer, Jarod Bowie and Chelo Teneval.
The Bulldogs lost four of their five starting offensive linemen from last year.
“They’re not quite as big up front,” Hall said. “But those guys have such a rich tradition. It’s just the next guy willing to step in.”
The Bulldogs lost the entire starting line from their 3-3-5 stack defense, but as evidenced by the numbers Martinsburg hasn’t had much of a problem shutting down its opponents.
“Anytime you have six in the box, and they can very easily get eight in the box with their outside ’backers, it puts a lot of pressure on you whenever you’re in a tight formation,” Hall said. “You have to account for all those guys in run game. It will be important for us to get a hat on a hat and just execute our scheme.
“They’ve played their stack so long that they do a good job of adjusting their stack from an odd stack to an even front real quick based off of formation and motion. As much as it’s odd stack, they’re also a 4-2 or a 4-3 based off the formation you have, or it can be a 5-2 real quick.”
Grantham has recorded 29.5 tackles for a defense that is giving up 0.7 yards per carry and has 20 sacks totaling 174 lost yards.
“He’s really fundamental,” Hall said. “He knows his job and does a good job executing his job. He couples that with great athleticism, speed and power.”
Sherando will attack Martinsburg’s defense with an offense led by Entsminger (40 of 50, 837 yards, 11 TDs, 0 INTs; 253 yards and three TDs rushing) and senior running back T.J. Washington (49 carries, 521 yards, eight TDs; 11 receptions, 181 yards, three TDs).
“I’ve got to be wary of where [Harman’s] at,” said Entsminger of the safety. “I need to make my right reads based off of him.”
In a game like this, even the smallest mistake could lead to a game-changing play. The Warriors just hope that this time, they can execute a few more at a higher level than the Bulldogs.
“We’re a really good football program, and they’re a really good football program,” Sherando senior lineman Nick Corbit said. “It’s going to be a fun game.”
— The Journal in Martinsburg (W.Va.) contributed to this story.
Sherando running back T.J. Washington and the Warriors will put their 5-0 record on the line tonight when they travel to Martinsburg to take on the 6-0 Bulldogs for a 7 p.m. contest.
- Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star
Sherando’s Chacai Campbell returns an interception 20 yards to the Liberty 12-yard line to set up the first touchdown in the Warriors’ 55-21 win over the Eagles on Sept. 21. The 5-0 Warriors face 6-0 Martinsburg in West Virginia at 7 p.m. tonight.
- Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star
When the Sherando and Martinsburg (W.Va.) football teams met in Stephens City a year ago, they engaged in a back-and-forth affair in which they were never separated by more than seven points.
Ultimately, the Bulldogs rallied from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit and won 31-28 on a 24-yard field goal with 28 seconds left.
Tonight, Sherando travels to Martinsburg’s Cobourn Field for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The 5-0 Warriors have essentially wrapped up all of their games by halftime this year, but as last year demonstrated, nothing ever comes easy against the Bulldogs.
And after losing that heartbreaker at home last year, Sherando would love nothing more than to ruin Martinsburg’s evening tonight.
“They’re definitely going to be our hardest game of the season,” Sherando senior quarterback Hunter Entsminger said after Tuesday’s practice. “They’re always a great team.
“We’re definitely thinking about [last year’s game]. We haven’t beat them since my freshman year, so that’s definitely motivation to come out here and beat these guys.”
The 6-0 Bulldogs have won 34 straight games and two consecutive Class AAA state titles, and they’ve also won 34 straight regular-season games dating back to their 21-14 loss to Sherando in Stephens City on Sept. 4, 2015.
That’s Martinsburg’s only loss to the Warriors since the two schools renewed their rivalry in 2011. The Bulldogs have a 9-4 edge in their all-time series with Sherando as a result of their 6-1 record against them over the last seven years.
“Obviously, this is going to be a huge test,” Sherando coach Bill Hall said. “We’re going to have to play four quarters to have a chance for success. We’ve been building towards that. We haven’t been able to play four quarters all year [because of lopsided scores].
“The great thing about [Martinsburg] is as much as they’re going to challenge us schematically, they’re going to challenge us with the way they play the game of football. You have to match that intensity, passion, grit that they bring to the table.”
Both teams have dominated their opponents.
Sherando — which was off last week and hasn’t played since a 55-21 win over Liberty on Sept. 21 — has outscored opponents by an average of 54.6 to 10.6, and it’s outgaining them by an average of 399.8 yards (232.4 rushing) to 188.4 (115.8). The only time the Warriors didn’t score 50 points was the one game they played that literally ended at halftime, a weather-shortened 42-6 win over Jefferson on Aug. 31.
“This may be the best Sherando team I’ve seen in my 20-couple of years here,” Martinsburg coach David Walker said. “They’re so explosive, and their kids do a great job.”
Martinsburg is outscoring opponents by an average of 52.7 to 6.3 and outgaining them by an average of 447.2 (271.3 rushing) to 109 (17.5 rushing). The Bulldogs are coming off a 67-0 win over Washington (W.Va.) in which they held the Patriots to minus-5 yards.
The Bulldogs bring back some of the players who helped the team win a state title last year, but Martinsburg lost a lot of key players.
“They’re more experienced than we are in a lot of areas,” Walker said. “[Last year], we were veteran and they were kind of young; this year, they’re veteran, and we have young guys in areas. The roles are reversed a bit.”
At quarterback, the Bulldogs no longer have Tyson Bagent, who is the starter at NCAA Division II power Shepherd University.
Though junior Elijah Banks has put up some pretty impressive numbers (33 of 55 for 547 yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions), senior Grant Harman is the Bulldogs’ main quarterback. He’s 29 of 40 for 508 yards, eight TDs, and two INTs.
And as good as Bagent was, he wasn’t the running threat that Harman is. The all-state defensive back (16 tackles and four interceptions this year) has 38 carries for 269 yards and two TDs.
“We have to be fundamentally sound [with Harman],” Hall said. “Whatever our call is, we have to make sure we’re executing it and account for his running ability.”
Martinsburg boasts a pair of impressive running backs in 6-0, 185-pound senior Dewayne Grantham (35 carries for 424 yards and nine TDs) and 5-8, 165-pound sophomore Naieem Kearney (37 carries, 539 yards, nine TDs). Grantham rushed for three TDs against the Warriors last year and has given a verbal commitment to play as a linebacker for West Virginia University.
“[Kearney] is smaller and shiftier,” Hall said. “He’s got a lot of speed, good moves. Very talented running back. Dewayne has good speed, runs downhill and can make you miss in space also.”
Martinsburg has three receivers with four touchdowns who range in receptions from 11 to 19 and in yardage from 237 to 284 — Matt Vanduzer, Jarod Bowie and Chelo Teneval.
The Bulldogs lost four of their five starting offensive linemen from last year.
“They’re not quite as big up front,” Hall said. “But those guys have such a rich tradition. It’s just the next guy willing to step in.”
The Bulldogs lost the entire starting line from their 3-3-5 stack defense, but as evidenced by the numbers Martinsburg hasn’t had much of a problem shutting down its opponents.
“Anytime you have six in the box, and they can very easily get eight in the box with their outside ’backers, it puts a lot of pressure on you whenever you’re in a tight formation,” Hall said. “You have to account for all those guys in run game. It will be important for us to get a hat on a hat and just execute our scheme.
“They’ve played their stack so long that they do a good job of adjusting their stack from an odd stack to an even front real quick based off of formation and motion. As much as it’s odd stack, they’re also a 4-2 or a 4-3 based off the formation you have, or it can be a 5-2 real quick.”
Grantham has recorded 29.5 tackles for a defense that is giving up 0.7 yards per carry and has 20 sacks totaling 174 lost yards.
“He’s really fundamental,” Hall said. “He knows his job and does a good job executing his job. He couples that with great athleticism, speed and power.”
Sherando will attack Martinsburg’s defense with an offense led by Entsminger (40 of 50, 837 yards, 11 TDs, 0 INTs; 253 yards and three TDs rushing) and senior running back T.J. Washington (49 carries, 521 yards, eight TDs; 11 receptions, 181 yards, three TDs).
“I’ve got to be wary of where [Harman’s] at,” said Entsminger of the safety. “I need to make my right reads based off of him.”
In a game like this, even the smallest mistake could lead to a game-changing play. The Warriors just hope that this time, they can execute a few more at a higher level than the Bulldogs.
“We’re a really good football program, and they’re a really good football program,” Sherando senior lineman Nick Corbit said. “It’s going to be a fun game.”
— The Journal in Martinsburg (W.Va.) contributed to this story.
“This may be the best Sherando team I’ve seen in my 20-couple of years here,” Martinsburg coach David Walker said. “They’re so explosive, and their kids do a great job.”
Wow, that's quite the statement from Coach Walker. He and his staff are the main reason they've been so good for the last decade. Even when they don't have top tier talent they're still about as well coached as a high school team can be.
Wow, that's quite the statement from Coach Walker. He and his staff are the main reason they've been so good for the last decade. Even when they don't have top tier talent they're still about as well coached as a high school team can be.
First half thoughts: Martinsburg is the better team, they’ll beat everyone in WV by 30 with ease. That said, there have been a couple absolutely atrocious non-calls by the refs. Both times Sherando players got tackled before they could catch long passes that were definitely catchable. I think it’d be 30-28 Martinsburg without that.
This years Martinsburg team is better. I saw it with my own eyes. ATHLETES GALORE!
Martinsburg would play SALEM all they would have to do is ask. I know one thing the Salem fans would have much more respect than they do now.
I disagree. I think this is a special team with athletes galore. I've watched a lot of football and the best team I've seen Martinsburg have in a long time.
Martinsburg this year is better and Walker the coach might be a better coach than Mags...It's a toss up!
I will agree with you , after seeing them live . They are Even better than I thought originally.
