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Millbrook will have something to prove. Sherando will build a decent lead, then blow it in the 4th quarter. Will Millbrook be disciplined enough to pull it out?
I'll give Millbrook a sight edge being the home team. QB Isaac Brown who played for Martinsburg WV last season is on a 23 game winning streak. Brown seems to make everyone around him play better. And of course their running back Savon Smith can bust open a long run every time he touches it. Sherando's T.J. Washington is the same way; and their QB Hunter Entsminger has been very good. I can see this being a back and forth game with lots of scoring. 38-34? Would love to see Gameday come over the mountain and show this game. This might be one of the biggest crowds ever to see a football game in Frederick Co. Va.@Shruikan LOL! So have you asked your fellow Sherando fan is he a Louisa fan in denial? Since he likes to throw his 2 cents in every Louisa thread?
Not sure why people keep underestimating Millbrook. They seem like they have the athletes to matchup well with Sherando's athletes at all of the skills positions.A lot on the line ... The Cup ... The NWD title ... who wins?
Not sure why people keep underestimating Millbrook. They seem like they have the athletes to matchup well with Sherando's athletes at all of the skills positions.
Sherando was heavily favored by a lot of people versus Liberty and that didn't turn out like most prognosticated.
Huge game for both teams. Excited to see what's going to happen
I guarantee you Sherando is not under estimating Millbrook. They have great athletes. This is going to be the game to be at in the surrounding 100 square miles.
You can bet your house I'll be there! Gonna be a great game to watch!I guarantee you Sherando is not under estimating Millbrook. They have great athletes. This is going to be the game to be at in the surrounding 100 square miles.
I didn't know that was possible. I thought it was a requirement for VHSL officials to officiate VHSL sanctioned home games?Who is officiating this game ?
I know that Sherando went with the WV officials this season. Not sure who Millbrook uses.
I know that I have heard talk that Sherando will possibly be returning to the Winchester group next year.
What officials does the Handley basketball team use
Lol I’m just messing with Ham and the Winchester crew.They use a group from the Shenandoah Valley Region, if I recall correctly.
Millbrook I don’t know , doesn’t matter haven’t been any issues I hav seen .Sherando West Virginia officials this year.
I stand corrected. Sherando uses the same association as Clarke, Warren Co., and Strasburg but not Skyline. What are my others errors?Skyline and Warren do not use same officials association. There are other errors in New Guy's post as well.
Aw man, stick around, we don't bite!Since I have already admitted that I mis-identified Strasburg as Skyline in my original post, I think I could argue that your post is actually more error filled than mine in stating that mine was error filled - But I Won't.
My half dozen or so annual posts are only meant to share what I believe is valuable information from typically reliable friends near the Sherando and James Wood programs. I certainly don't ever plan to get in a tit for tat with anyone. I instead will continue to read and appreciate the great posts from so many people on this site and will make sure that I double fact check my posts before I reply.
yep we’re bringing the horse! The spear is going down at midfield!!The stadium is going to be packed. I've heard both bands will be there, and Sherando travels well. Millbrook's stands weren't completely filled last year, but I suspect they will be this year.
The Winchester Star sports reporters/stringers ... 3 out of 5 of them are going with Millbrook.
Jus kiddingyep we’re bringing the horse! The spear is going down at midfield!!
yep we’re bringing the horse! The spear is going down at midfield!!
Millbrook,
Sherando quarterback Hunter Entsminger has thrown for 1,776 yards and 23 touchdowns heading into tonight’s Northwestern District showdown at Millbrook.
Pioneers are likely to retain their No. 1 rating. Sherando activities coordinator Jason Barbe believes the No. 5 Warriors could finish second or third in the ratings with a win and finish fifth, sixth or seventh with a loss, though he added that the scenario that it would take for them to finish seventh is a highly improbable one.
Regardless of rating, these very well might be the two best teams in the region. Sherando’s only losses are 31-28 to Liberty on Sept. 22 — a game that the Warriors led 15-14 with 10:40 left before Entsminger left with an injury — and 31-28 to West Virginia state power Martinsburg, winners of 24 straight games.
Millbrook is averaging 406.8 yards per game (first in the area) and 46.3 points per game (second) and is led by junior Savon Smith (1,338 yards and 22 touchdowns combined rushing and receiving), whose 54-yard receiving TD on fourth-and-10 led to the game-winning extra point with 47 seconds left last year. Martinsburg transfer quarterback Isaac Brown (90 of 140 for 1,490 yards, 14 TDs, 4 INTs) has energized the Pioneers’ passing attack this year.
Sherando is averaging 400.3 yards (second) and 48.0 points per game (first), and is led by Entsminger (96 of 138 for 1,776 yards, 23 touchdowns and three interceptions) and running back T.J. Washington (1,380 yards and 18 TDs combined rushing and receiving).
But what could make the difference for these teams tonight and in the future is their improved defenses. Both squads had nearly identical defensive stats last year (289.3 yards per game for both, 21.8 ppg for Millbrook, 22.0 for Sherando), but the Pioneers are now allowing just 15.9 points (first in the area) and 267 yards per game (second) while the Warriors are permitting 16 ppg (second) and 208.7 ypg (first).
Millbrook hadn’t been held under 40 points through its first seven games, but the Pioneers have showed in recent wins over James Wood (24-8) and last week’s 22-14 win over Liberty — in which the Eagles were held to a season low in points — that their defense can take over, too.
“I believe that defense wins championships, like everybody says,” said Millbrook senior linebacker Trammell Anthony, a first-year starter on defense who ranks third in the area with 94 tackles. “[The last two weeks], I think we’ve stopped the pass better than we have before. We’re trying to limit how many yards people can get, and how many yards they get after the catch.”
Millbrook is only giving up 85.9 passing yards per game, but the Pioneers haven’t faced a passing attack like Sherando’s this year. Aaron Banks (30 catches for 565 yards and eight TDs) is one of four Sherando players with at least 12 catches and one of six with at least 164 receiving yards.
The Pioneers are loading up their pass defense in response. Smith has focused on offense the second half of the season, but he said on Wednesday he’ll be heavily involved in the secondary this week, too. With Millbrook also featuring Brown at cornerback (36 tackles, four interceptions), Entsminger will need to be at his best tonight.
“I have to spot [Brown and Smith] out and make sure I make the right read depending on where they’re at,” Entsminger said. “[Millbrook] switches up between one high safety and two high, so it’s just getting the right reads and telling my receivers the right routes they need to run.”
Sherando’s ability to balance the pass and run keeps teams on their toes. The Warriors have passed for 1,886 yards and rushed for 1,717.
“We’ve got to be disciplined, but that applies to all phases of the game,” Millbrook coach Josh Haymore said. “You’ve got to do your job. You can’t be the person who’s going to go out and try to win the game themselves. You’ve just got to do your job and believe in the teammates next to you that are practicing as hard as you that they are going to do what they need to do.”
Sherando’s aggressive defense has caused teams fits all year. In addition to the low yardage total, they have 18 sacks (Millbrook has 13) and have 25 takeaways (the Pioneers have 21).
The Pioneers’ offense has hurt itself with five turnovers in the past two weeks, but their speed, misdirection and own offensive balance out of their shotgun wing-T attack will test Sherando as well.
“Outside containment and communicating on defense will be key,” said Banks, a safety on defense. “They try to create a lot of confusion, so we definitely have to stay fundamentally sound.”
With the speed and talent on both these teams, they only need a sliver of space to go the distance. Sherando has at least one touchdown covering 50 yards or more in every game this season, and Millbrook has at least one 40-yard TD in eight of nine games this year.
“Big plays are obviously important in terms of not giving up the big play, and making them earn it,” Sherando coach Bill Hall said. “They have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball, so just making them earn [yards] the whole way down the field [is key]. If we can put them in predictable situations, then obviously that allows us to do different things as far as how we’re attacking on defense.”
The Warriors have won three straight since losing an intense battle to Martinsburg, and the only team to hold the Bulldogs under 40 points this year believes that game has prepared them well for big moments like the one they’ll have tonight.
“Millbrook’s just as athletic as Martinsburg,” Entsminger said. “We need to have the same mind-set that we had going into the Martinsburg game and play well.
“[Tonight’s] for the district championship and the Apple Cup, and this is what we wanted since we set our goals on Day 1 of the offseason. We want to go out and play and show what we’re made of.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1