HAMBLETON, W.Va. — The 2012 regular football season was unprecedented for Tucker County as they steamrolled to a perfect 10-0 record, earning them the top seed in the Class A playoffs. The Mountain Lions then took out Moorefield, 27-14, and Clay-Battelle, 48-14, in the first and second rounds of the playoffs.
However, their season would come to a screeching halt as they lost in the state semifinals in double-overtime to Madonna 20-14.
“Anytime you make it that far you want to advance as far as you can go,” Tucker County head coach A.J. Rapp said. “I think it left a taste in our mouth. Even the year before that, we didn’t make the playoffs and that was one of the boosts for our seniors last year — was working to get back to the playoffs. Our boys worked real hard in the offseason to get themselves ready.”
And this year’s Tucker County team will feature several fresh faces for the Mountain Lions.
They lose four of their five offensive linemen from last year, meaning several younger players will have to step in. A lot of those players, however, received playing time at the end of games last year as the Mountain Lions won their regular season contests by an of average of 32 points.
“We lost a good group of seniors last year, a large group of seniors for our standards,” Rapp said. “We had a good, young group that was behind them and saw playing time. Some of those guys will step up and fill in. That’s the nature of high school football.”
What the Mountain Lions do have coming back is second team all-state running back Austin Zirk and honorable mention all-state running back Zach Armstrong.
And while it may be tough to repeat a perfect regular season for Tucker County, Rapp is zeroing in on three key matchups that could shape their season.
“We have three game in the middle of the season — East Hardy, Moorefield and Philip Barbour — those teams are definitely tough teams,” he said.
All of those will be road contests for the Mountain Lions as well.
Since Tucker County lost so many seniors from last year, the June practice period was an opportunity for those younger players to get acquainted with the playbook, one another and their new roles.
“It really benefits the younger guys and the cohesiveness of the older guys,” Rapp said. “We lost several key guys from last year and we’re filling holes here and there. The good thing about the June practices is it gets the young guys caught up to speed.”
| TUCKER COUNTY 2013 Football Schedule |
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| 1 | 08/30/13 07:30PM | A | POCAHONTAS COUNTY | – | ||||
| 2 | 09/06/13 07:30PM | H | TYGARTS VALLEY | – | ||||
| 3 | 09/13/13 07:30PM | H | NORTHERN GARRETT, MD H.S. | – | ||||
| 4 | 09/20/13 07:30PM | A | MOOREFIELD | – | ||||
| 5 | 09/27/13 07:30PM | A | PHILIP BARBOUR | – | ||||
| 6 | 10/04/13 07:00PM | A | SOUTHERN GARRETT, MD H.S. | – | ||||
| 7 | 10/11/13 07:30PM | A | EAST HARDY | – | ||||
| 8 | 10/18/13 12:00PM | H | OPEN | – | ||||
| 9 | 10/25/13 07:30PM | H | PENDLETON COUNTY | – | ||||
| 10 | 11/01/13 07:30PM | H | PETERSBURG | – | ||||
| 11 | 11/08/13 07:30PM | H | NOTRE DAME | – | ||||
– Wes McKinney