Wilson wins late

FISHERSVILLE — Richard Andrews is one tough cookie.

The Wilson Memorial senior rushed for 129 yards and scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns as the Green Hornets scored a 21-6 comeback victory over James River in front of a Homecoming crowd Friday.

Andrews also intercepted a pass with two minutes to go to stop the Knights deep in Wilson territory.

“That kid — pound for pound — is as good as any football player I’ve ever coached,” Wilson coach Derek McDaniel said. “Nobody runs any harder than that boy.”

McDaniel has been around a lot of good football players and a compliment like that is not taken lightly.

Andrews, whose 129 yards came on 29 carries was the workhorse for the Green Hornets (2-3, 0-0 Shenandoah).

“We tried to run the ball straight at [James River],” Andrews said.  “I was just following my line.”

But things weren’t easy for Wilson as the Hornets fell behind the Knights (2-4, 0-0 Pioneer) 6-0 midway through the third quarter.

Knights’ quarterback, Jordan Talbott — who finished the night with 198 passing yards by hitting 21-of-42 attempts — found his favorite target, DaVon Ross, for an eight-yard scoring toss with just over five minutes to go. But the James River kicking game fell short, as Eric Whiting’s kick was wide.

Whiting had a second-quarter, 27-yard field goal attempt blocked by Wilson’s Jason Cappo after the Knights were stopped on the Green Hornet 10-yard line.

The Wilson offense sputtered until its first drive of the final frame.

Starting from their own 14, the Green Hornets’ Jake Bailey made two big passes to teammate Weston Cash — one for 42 yards and another for 15. The sophomore then bootlegged for 11 yards before pitching to Andrews for the tying score.

Ben Hopewell drilled the extra point to give the hosts a 7-6 lead.

With the Knights driving on their next possession, the Wilson defense came up huge as Max Nobles broke through the line for consecutive sacks — the second resulting in a fumble recovery by Cappo at the Knight’s 35-yard line.

Andrews ran three straight times for 29 yards to the six and Bailey carried twice to the one. Andrews got the last call and blasted off-tackle for his second score of the night. Hopewell’s kick pushed the lead to 14-6.

Talbott had James River driving again for the potential tying score, hitting 4-of-6 passes to the Wilson 25.  But Andrews stepped in front of Ross on a slant and picked off the pass at the 20. He returned the ball all the way to the James River 49.

Just three plays later, Bailey hit Cash for the final score — a 12-yard scoring pass.

“I’m proud of these guys,” McDaniel said. “To put three scores on the board in the fourth quarter was huge. And defensively, we gave up some passing yards, but [James River] didn’t put the ball into the end zone.

Nobles and Cash led the team with 10 and 12 tackles respectively and Nobles credited a defensive switch with his sacks.

“I just went to the line on a different formation,” he said.  “I was outside a little bit and I just got [the quarterback].  I just did what I’ve been taught to do all my life.”

Wilson will travel to Riverheads on Friday for its first district contest.