9/25/26 Front Royal, VA- Warren County welcomes James Wood to Wildcat Country for tonight’s Hike Kidz Foundation Game of the Week c/o Brickhouse Bar and Grill on The River 95.3, Fox Sports 1450, TheRiver953.com and The River 95.3 app with coverage starting at 6:30 pm for the Tana Hoffman Pregame Show followed by kick-off at 7 pm.
Both teams are coming off their biggest games of the season so far in Week 4.
James Wood went to Sherando for a battle of unbeaten cross-county rivals and came up just short after fumbling at the 2 yard line on a potential game tying score.
Warren County travelled to Kettle Run and came home with one of the biggest upsets in program history, 35-28 against Kettle Run in overtime to spoil the Cougars homecoming.
Now they will both need to turn the page for a matchup which includes two of the most explosive offenses in the Valley.
James Wood’s offense enters the matchup averaging 54 points per game and over 500 yards of total offense behind Sr QB Owen Neal
Neal does it all for James Wood, whether it’s dropping dimes down the field or rushing for hard fought yards between the tackles.
While Owen Neal has established himself as the top QB in the region, but you may be surprised to see how similar WCHS QB Bryce Bergmann and Neal’s stats are when comparing them side by side.
Neal enters the ball game as the area leader with 1,084 passing yards on 54/75 attempts, 11 TDs, and 1 INT.
Bergmann is just behind him with 956 yards on 54/79 attempts, 10 TDs, and 1 INT.
The next closest QBs in yardage are Skyline’s Brently Grindle with 775 yds then Handley’s Triston Darling with 547 yards.
Look for Bergmann and Neal to continue to distance themselves from the pack as the season progresses.
Both QBs have deep receiving corps and good OL play to allow time for their receivers to get open down field.
James Wood has three receivers with over 12 catches and 270 yards and the group is led by Aidric Yurish with 22 receptions, 415 yards, and 4 TDs,
WR Xavier Price had the best game of his career vs Warren County last year and finished with 5 receptions for 5 touchdowns and 238 yards.
The Cats are much improved from last year’s club that only won 2 games, but have they improved enough to defeat a team that won 72-6 last year?
Warren County will enter the matchup with as much confidence as a Wildcat team has had under Coach Josh Breeden after knocking off Class 3 Powerhouse Kettle Run, but James Wood will be playing with a chip on their shoulder after falling to Sherando last week.
I look for Warren County and James Wood to exchange scores through the first half and don’t be surprised to see the Cats leading early as they enter the game with momentum in front of what should be a great Hall of Fame Night crows.
But eventually, James Wood’s advantage with depth and the additional size that comes with being a Class 4 school will be too much for the Wildcats that are dropping down to Class 2 next season, James Wood 49- Warren County 41.
For a preview of all the Week 5 matchups and a look back to last week, check out the latest Sports Dogs Podcast HERE.
