By: Kristin Kurelic
Bridgeport is dominating on its quest for a third straight state championship, posting an 11-0-1 record, averaging nearly 45 points per game this season, and outscoring its opponents 539-109.
Dante Bonamico and Dylan Tonkery lead the Indians’ rushing attack on the season, which is the program’s sixth best since 1997, with 4,163 yards and 67 touchdowns. Zach Spurlock has moved to third in career passing yards, with 783, and 12 touchdowns.
“In this town, (winning the title) is kind of expected after the last two years,” Spurlock said on Wednesday’s MetroNews High School Sportsline. “With all of the experience on our team, the state title is our goal and anything less than that would be a disappointment. We still have to go out every game and every practice to work our hardest and play our best to accomplish what we want.”
The top-ranked Indians rolled into the Class AA semifinals by defeating Robert C. Byrd for the second time this year, by a score of 41-13. After leading, 20-13, at halftime, the Indians put the game away in the second half.
Next up is another rematch, this one with No. 4 Fairmont Senior (10-2), with a trip to the Super Six, at Wheeling Island Stadium, on the line. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday.
The Polar Bears won a shootout against Keyser, 58-42, in the quarterfinals. Dominic Smith completed 28 of 39 passes for 426 yards and four touchdowns, putting him over 3,000 yards passing on the season. Bryson Gilbert had a 67-yard interception return at just before halftime, which gave the Polar Bears the momentum to come from behind, 27-24, in the second half.
The Polar Bears hope to take some of that offensive momentum into the semifinals, after being shut out by Bridgeport, 35-0, on October 30. In that contest, Bridgeport rushed for 321 yards, led by Bonamico, who had 121 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
“We made plays when we needed to in the first game (against Fairmont Senior),” Spurlock said. “They have a great team and I’m sure they’re looking to pass on us. We’ll need to apply a lot of pressure to their quarterback – he’s a very good passer. Our offense has to execute and we can’t have any turnovers.”
Fairmont Senior quarterback Dominic Smith completed 20 of 36 passes, for 258 yards. However, the Indians’ rushing defense was so strong, the Polar Bears wound up with just 220 yards of total offense. They were also just 2-of-10 on third down conversions.
“In our two losses, we have 10 turnovers,” said Fairmont Senior coach J.L. Abbott. “We didn’t show them who we really are. Hopefully we have our kids focused and our minds right. It’s a rivalry game to us – maybe not to Bridgeport, because in rivalries you have to win sometimes. They’re the defending champs, we’re in the same conference, we’re 17 miles apart. It’s something our kids are looking forward to.”