Millbrook, Sherando square off again in Region 4C semifinals
- By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI THE WINCHESTER STAR | The Winchester Star
Sherando’s T.J. Washington rushed for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Warriors’ 35-22 win over Millbrook on Nov. 3. The Pioneers host Sherando tonight in the Region 4C semifinals.
- Jeff Taylor/The Winchester Star
WINCHESTER — Given the way their respective defenses were playing in 2017, it was unlikely to expect Millbrook and Sherando to recreate their previous season’s 42-41 shootout when they met at Millbrook on Nov. 3.
Nobody would have predicted that the Pioneers — averaging 46.3 points per game — would have a goose egg on the scoreboard after three quarters, though.
Millbrook scored 22 points in the fourth quarter. But with Sherando holding a 28-0 lead with 11:44 to play, it was too little, too late. The Warriors won 35-22, and they celebrated on Millbrook’s field in loud and enthusiastic fashion after they were handed the Class 4 Northwestern District and Barr-Lindon Crimson Apple trophies.
It goes without saying that the Pioneers will have to be significantly more efficient on offense if they hope to prevent Sherando from celebrating on their field again tonight in the Region 4C semifinals.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. for tonight’s Frederick County rematch between No. 4 Sherando (9-2) and No. 1 Millbrook (9-1). The Warriors — who lead the all-time series 12-3 with the Pioneers — beat Dominion 27-10 in last week’s quarterfinals to advance to this point, while Millbrook had a bye.
Waiting two weeks to play a game after a disappointing defeat is not an easy thing to do emotionally. But from a preparation standpoint, the Pioneers aren’t complaining about it.
Averaging 406.8 yards coming in, Millbrook recorded only 141 yards of offense through the first 16 seconds of the fourth quarter against Sherando. The 11:44 mark of the fourth quarter was when Sherando scored its second defensive touchdown of the second half on a Payne Bauer fumble recovery for a touchdown on a play that started at the Pioneers’ 8-yard line to take that 28-0 lead.
“We just didn’t execute. That’s it,” Millbrook coach Josh Haymore said about his team’s offense in the first comments after the game.
The Pioneers drove 22 yards to Sherando 30 before they punted on fourth-and-9 on their first drive. When asked after the game about his decision to punt in that situation, Haymore said “that didn’t effect the game whatsoever,” but that possession would be the first of four drives into Sherando territory in the first three quarters that failed to yield any points.
On its second possession, Millbrook drove 21 yards to the Sherando 36 before punting on fourth-and-3.
On the Pioneers’ last drive of the first half, quarterback Isaac Brown was sacked for a nine-yard loss on third-and-3 from the Sherando 6 after driving 73 yards.
With the score 14-0, Millbrook drove 35 yards to the Sherando 40, but Brown threw short to the left sideline while his receiver went long on a double move, and Sherando’s Malachi Doleman intercepted the ball and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown.
In short, Millbrook had its chances, but Sherando’s defense executed better than the Pioneers did in key moments and exploited Millbrook’s mistakes.
The Pioneers didn’t get to be 9-0 by accident. Haymore said his message during the last couple weeks was to just focus on execution, and having a bye week helped them focus on the things they need to do to be at their best.
“We go out and execute the first couple drives, it’s a different ballgame,” said Haymore during an interview on Tuesday. “We just need to make sure that we hit the right receivers, the receivers catch the ball, and we block the right person. We just need to execute.
“It’s always good to have a bye week, where you can focus on yourself and focus on the little things to get those done.”
A more effective running game would go a long way to helping Millbrook produce more points.
The Pioneers had just 27 yards on 14 carries at halftime, and for the game, the running backs only had 40 yards on 16 carries. Brown had 70 rushing yards on 15 carries, but just 26 yards through three quarters.
Millbrook’s struggles in is run game made it difficult to open up things in the passing game, too. Brown was 10 of 20 for 100 yards through three quarters.
“On offense, we’re focusing on keeping them from coming off the edge,” Millbrook senior lineman Myles Bruce said. “Last game, that was our weakness. They had a lot of players coming off the edge and got into the backfield, which caused a lot of pressure on our quarterback.”
Since 2007, the Warriors have played James Wood and Liberty three times each in the playoffs following regular-season contests, so Sherando coach Bill Hall is well-versed in how to prepare his team for rematch adjustments.
The Warriors (222.6 yards per game allowed, 16 points per game, 30 turnovers) will be in good shape if they can bottle up Millbrook’s speed like they did the first time.
Sherando managed to keep Pioneers junior Savon Smith (1,424 yards, 22 TDs rushing and receiving) out of the end zone, limited him to four rushing yards on four carries, and also limited him to just one gain that went longer than 16 yards in the passing game.
“The keys to their offense is not letting them get on the edge,” Hall said. “I think that kind of opens up their offense. If they stretch the whole field, then their whole offense is wide open.
“If you get a hard edge, and do a good job with your cutbacks, then that limits what they want to do. Late in that game, they did a good job with some cutback stuff, so you’ve got to make sure you’re fitting well. A quarterback like that is very dangerous out in the open.”
Haymore said the bye week helped for Millbrook’s defense as well. Haymore some of Sherando’s bigger plays came from Millbrook’s players not being in the right place on those plays, so the Pioneers were able to go over their assignments.
Bruce (76 tackles, four sacks) said Sherando was particularly effective in the running game in the first matchup when the Warriors showed unbalanced looks on the line. Sherando junior T.J. Washington (184 carries, 1,297 yards, 14 TDs rushing for the season) had 25 carries for 176 yards and two TDs in the first game.
Running the ball that well again for Sherando would be nice, but the Warriors have done an excellent job all year of taking what the defense gives them.
Quarterback Hunter Entsminger (119 of 173, 2,059 yards, 26 TDs, 5 INTs) has guided the Warriors to at least 27 points in every game (44.9 average total) and an almost perfect balance as far as yardage. Sherando is averaging 398.5 yards per game, with 201.5 coming on the ground and 197.2 coming through the air.
“We don’t like to be predictable,” Hall said. “There’s always things that you wish you could have done or should have done [in a game], and I think what you do the second time around is make sure you take advantage of those things that you wish you would have done the first time. Running the ball is key, but I think passing game will be big also.”
Millbrook might have lost the regular-season matchup, but a win would put that disappointment behind them and put the Pioneers in the third round of the playoffs after losing in the second round the previous two years.
“We put a lot of emotion into every game we play, and we have that fire in everything we do,” Bruce said. “Hopefully we’ll keep going further into the playoffs.”
For Sherando, it’s a chance to play for a regional championship, something that the Warriors haven’t done since 2013, the year before the current senior class arrived at the school.
“We’re excited [for Millbrook],” Entsminger said after last week’s win over Dominion. “We’re going to touch up on things we missed here and there last week and try to play a better overall game.”
Note: Tickets for tonight’s game and all Region 4C football games are $8. Only VHSL, VHSCA and VIAAA passes will be accepted. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. There will be three ticket gates open, one each on the left and right side of the main ticket booth and one at the bus gate on the right-hand side as you approach the stadium.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at
rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1
