By: Wes McKinney
OAK HILL, W.Va. — New Oak Hill head football coach Jason Blankenship has his hands full in year one at the helm, having to replace nine starters on offense from a 2013 playoff team.
Led by two-time first team all-state running back Jalen Jones, the Red Devils put together an 8-2 regular season record last year, earning the No. 9 seed in the Class AAA playoffs where they fell to No. 8 George Washington in overtime 21-14.
Despite the graduation of Jones and eight others on offense, Oak Hill still returns some talent to help fll in the gaps.
“Antonio Gray is a guy that I think should be in the running for defensive player of the year in the state this year,” Blankenship said.
This season, Gray will be relied on at running back, in addition to his duties on defense.
“He’s a great kid that has done a lot for us,” Blankenship said. “The last three years he has been in the shadows of Jalen, Jarrell Green and K.K. Goodman. We also have Antwan Smith, who has played on the line for us some, but he will be in the backfield.”
The two offensive starters coming back for the Red Devils are quarterback Deonte Scruggs and tight end Joey Re.
“Those guys have been hooking up in the passing game and doing some good things,” Blankenship said of their performance during 7-on-7 drills.
Oak Hill has put together back-to-back impressive seasons, despite several long road trips. Oak Hill last year had road games at Buckhannon-Upshur, Elkins, Musselman and Point Pleasant
“We’re not in the MSAC, not that we want in there, but we travel a lot,” Blankenship said. “I don’t think anybody could have traveled further than we did last year.”
The schedule does ease up for Oak Hill this year, at least in terms of travel, as the road trips are much shorter to Bluefield, Winfield and Woodrow Wilson. However, the Red Devils will travel to Lewis County week one.
Even with being in the bottom tier of Class AAA enrollment, Blankenship says his team can play with the big boys in the highest level of high school football in the state.
“It’s a challenge for us since we are one of the smaller schools in Class AAA, but that’s not an excuse,” Blankenship said. “We think we can compete with the big teams and we have proved that the last couple of years.
“It’s year-to-year though,” he said. “Our schedule is manageable for a Class AAA. We don’t have the top-level teams on there, but that’s not to say we won’t in the future. I think the kids are excited that they are playing Class AAA football.”
OAK HILL 2014 Football Schedule |
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1 | 08/29/14 07:30PM | A | LEWIS COUNTY | – | ||||
2 | 09/05/14 07:30PM | H | MUSSELMAN | – | ||||
3 | 09/19/14 07:30PM | A | WINFIELD | – | ||||
4 | 09/26/14 07:30PM | H | BUCKHANNON-UPSHUR | – | ||||
5 | 10/03/14 07:30PM | H | SHADY SPRING | – | ||||
6 | 10/10/14 07:30PM | H | POINT PLEASANT | – | ||||
7 | 10/17/14 07:30PM | H | ELKINS | – | ||||
8 | 10/24/14 07:30PM | A | BLUEFIELD | – | ||||
9 | 10/31/14 07:30PM | A | WOODROW WILSON | – | ||||
10 | 11/07/14 07:30PM | H | GREENBRIER EAST | – | ||||
wins: 0 lost: 0 ties: 0 |
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