The Sherwood Warriors moved to 4-1 on the season as they defeated the Northwest Jaguars 16-13 on a rainy and cold Saturday evening.
“I tipped my hat to our defense at the end of the game,” said Sherwood head coach Chris Grier, “ A lot of people have been talking about our offense and things were doing and the players we got, but the defense won us the game.”
The match-up between the Warriors and Jaguars was supposed to feature two of the top offenses in Montgomery County, as the Warriors came in averaging 53 ppg, while the Jaguars weren’t far behind with 33.5 ppg. But it was the play of the defenses, especially the four interceptions forced by the Warriors secondary that made all the difference.
To begin the game however, it looked like the Sherwood offense would continue its dominance. On its opening drive Sherwood drove 73 yards, including a Marcus Simms 29 yard catch and run for a touchdown. The touchdown gave Sherwood the early 7-0 lead.
The Warriors forced the first of four Mark Pierce interceptions when Leo Hanrahan was able to snag the ball as he was going to the ground late in the first quarter.
After Northwest called a timeout with under two minutes to play in the first half to get one more offensive possession, Sherwood forced Pierce into his second interception of the half. This time Simms would come up with the interception and return the ball 50 plus yards back to Northwest 10 yard line.
The Warriors kicker Jeremy Harrison would tack on a 29 yard field goal to extend the teams lead to 10-0 with 4.7 seconds to play. On the ensuing kickoff, the Jaguars Martin Foray returned a squib kick 80 yards to cut the Warriors lead 10-6 going into halftime.
Northwest was able to carry the momentum from the first half over into the second half. The Jaguars drove 70 yards and ended the drive with a 10 yard touchdown pass from Pierce to Juwon Farri. The touchdown gave the Jaguars their first lead of the game at 13-10, with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Jaguars weren’t able to keep the momentum on offense going, on their next offensive drive the Jaguars were forced to punt, but instead, a turnover on downs occurred after the Jaguars weren’t able to get the punt off.
With good field position, the Warriors would drive down the field with some help from the Jaguars to take back the lead, 16-13 halfway through the fourth quarter.
After the Jaguars defense looked to have held the Warriors after an incomplete pass on third down, referees threw a roughing the passer penalty that gave the Warriors a first down. The Warriors would turn to Travis Levy on four straight plays, including the score from the one yard line.
“I really have to give it up to my offensive line tonight. Game after game they’ve been improving and getting better,” said Levy. “My fullbacks are seeing my vision lately, playing well and really been helping me get better.”
After Pierce almost had his third pass of the night intercepted by Jalonni Matthews on the previous defensive drive, Matthews would get a chance to redeem himself as he picked off his Pierce on the drive, Pierce’s third of the game.
“When I didn’t get the first one I had my head down and I didn’t overcome the play. I kept playing, I kept fighting, I had a couple bad plays but kept my head up,” said Matthews, “ I just kept fighting and I got the second one, I had to get the second one.”
A quick three and out by Sherwood gave Northwest one last shot at driving down the field for a game winning drive.
On a fourth and long, at midfield with just under two minutes to play, Marcus Simms came up with his second interception of the game, this one sealing the Warriors victory and keeping his team undefeated on the season.
“Coming into the game they said we were an offensive team but defense came up big against one of the best offenses in the state,” said Simms. “We had a good game plan, our defensive coordinator did a great job of putting us in the right schemes and we came up big.”
