CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — A late-season push last year earned Robert C. Byrd High a No. 13 seed in the Class AA football playoffs. The Eagles, who advanced to state semifinals in 2012, took full advantage of their postseason opportunity in 2013 again making to the semifinal round.
After an opening round upset of No. 4 Frankfort 21-17, RCB handled Ritchie County 36-6 before eventually falling to state runner-up Wayne 44-20.
“We were young, but we got in a good draw and all four teams had a good chance to get into that semifinal,” said head coach Bruce Carey. “I think being there the year before and having a little bit of experience helped. We gelled at the right time and played some good football at the end of the season.
“As a coach, you want to improve as the year goes on and I thought that’s what we did,” Carey continued. “We got better as the year went on and we got more confidence in ourselves. This year, we’re putting in a new offense, so it will take a little time for this to gel too, but we have some kids with some confidence and we’ll be able to run this pretty well.”
At the core of that new offense will be senior running back Ben D’Annunzio who was limited last year after breaking his collarbone in RCB’s season opening loss to Fairmont Senior.
“I know that Ben wants to have a great year and we’re hoping he does too, injury free,” Carey said. “I hate to say it, but last year might have been good for him and our team to know that we can win without him – he’s a part of our team, not just our team. I’m hoping he has a great year.”
It was a young and mostly inexperienced RCB team last year for Carey — something that is now a strength for the Eagles who have more depth at running back and at the skill positions overall. 6-foot-5, 240 pound senior Justin Noble will also play a key role for RCB after earning first team all-state honors in 2013 along the offensive line.
“Justin Noble is going to be a stud for us this year,” Carey said. “We (also) have a couple of outstanding basketball players who are working with us, and if they stick it out, you’ll be seeing them on highlights every week too.”
The Eagles have an intriguing week three matchup at Frankfort, followed by the rivalry game at defending Class AA state champion Bridgeport the following week.
“We went to Frankfort twice last year – we scrimmaged them and played them in the playoffs,” Carey said. “It’ll be an interesting game because they have a lot back too and they’re going to be tough this year.”
| ROBERT C. BYRD 2014 Football Schedule |
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| 1 | 08/29/14 07:30PM | H | FAIRMONT SENIOR | – | ||||
| 2 | 09/05/14 07:30PM | H | LIBERTY (HARRISON) | – | ||||
| 3 | 09/12/14 07:00PM | A | FRANKFORT | – | ||||
| 4 | 09/19/14 07:30PM | A | BRIDGEPORT | – | ||||
| 5 | 09/26/14 07:30PM | A | GRAFTON | – | ||||
| 6 | 10/10/14 07:30PM | H | EAST FAIRMONT | – | ||||
| 7 | 10/17/14 07:30PM | H | LINCOLN | – | ||||
| 8 | 10/24/14 07:30PM | A | NORTH MARION | – | ||||
| 9 | 10/31/14 07:30PM | A | ELKINS | – | ||||
| 10 | 11/07/14 07:30PM | H | PHILIP BARBOUR | – | ||||
| wins: 0 lost: 0 ties: 0 | ||||||||
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