SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — High school football will be back in full-swing Monday around the Mountain State as practices begin, prepping for week one of the season set for August 28.
Capital (AAA), Bridgeport (AA) and Williamstown (A) all won championships a season ago. It was South Charleston (11-3), though, on the wrong end of a 55-15 score in that Class AAA title game against rival Capital.
The Black Eagles, who return a plethora of experience, will have expectations of getting back to Wheeling in 2015. South Charleston made it to the title game last year despite losing then-senior standout running back A.D. Cunningham late in the season with a torn ACL.
“It was a good (experience),” South Charleston coach Donnie Mays said of the playoff run. “We were sophomore and junior led. The fact that A.D. got hurt was a painful loss to us, but the kids used that to their motivation and we played for him as a team. We bonded more and came together as one – it was a great experience to get there for everybody, being that young.”
Senior quarterback Kentre Grier and junior receiver/defensive standout Derrek Pitts highlight a multitude of those returnees.
Grier, who was voted as the 2014 MetroNews Player of the Year and Gatorade Player of the Year, accounted for 4,614 yards of total offense and 60 touchdowns. He completed 220-of-306 passes for 3,553 yards, 47 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while rushing for another 1,061 yards and 13 more scores on 169 carries.
“I told him to just go out and play, the only thing that matters is winning football games,” Mays said. “At the end of the day, if he does better (statistically) than last year, fantastic. If he doesn’t, it doesn’t matter, as long as we’re winning.”
Pitts, meanwhile, has become one of the more highly touted recruits in recent years out of the Mountain State, collecting 14 offers (and counting) from D-I programs, including Auburn, Clemson, Louisville, Nebraska, N.C. State, Oklahoma, Pitt, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Standing in at 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, he’s rated as a four-star prospect by Rivals.com as a defensive back prospect.
“Derrek is a special player and he has the heart of a lion,” Mays said. “He’s a hard worker and he’s so fast. In the offseason, he trains with us, but has been going and doing extra things on his own to make himself that much better — that’s all that you can ask for out of a player.”
The entire starting offensive line also returns for South Charleston. Receiver Fred Crozier and running back Chrisjamar Perkins are a couple of other experienced skill players back for their senior seasons.
South Charleston opens up the year with a home contest against St. Albans and then has a September 4 home rematch against defending champion Capital. Four of the Black Eagles’ final five games are on the road.
“It’s going to take a valiant effort by our kids to continue to play hard together,” Mays said. “We have a tough schedule and nothing in the Mountain State Athletic Conference is easy, especially when your second game of the year is against the defending state champions. They’re a good football team, we know it and they’re coming to our place. We’re going to be ready for every game we play.”
2015 SOUTH CHARLESTON FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
WEEK | TEAM | DATE | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | vs. ST. ALBANS |
August 28 | ||
2 | vs. CAPITAL | September 4 | ||
3 | at SPRING VALLEY |
September 11 | ||
4 | vs. NITRO | September 18 | ||
5 | vs. CABELL MIDLAND |
September 25 |
6 | BYE WEEK | October 2 | ||
7 | at RIPLEY | October 9 | ||
8 | vs. WINFIELD | October 16 | ||
9 | at HURRICANE | October 23 | ||
10 | at RIVERSIDE | October 30 |
11 | at GEORGE WASHINGTON | November 6 | ||
OTHER 2015 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEWS