BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — Bridgeport will be making its third straight appearance in the Class AA title game after edging Fairmont Senior (10-3) 28-20. The Indians won the game off of turnovers, recovering a Fairmont Senior fumble inside the Bridgeport 10 yard line and returning two interceptions for touchdowns.
A Luke Southern 50 yard pick-six in the third quarter gave Bridgeport a 14-0 lead, while Elijah Drummond added a 15 yard pick-six with under five minutes to go, giving the Indians a 28-14 cushion.
“That’s a good team that we played – they were physical, they came to play and hit us in the mouth,” said Bridgeport running back Dante Bonamico. “We just stuck to what we do, we just kept grinding and kept pushing. It was just a game of big plays.”
After facing familiar opponents in both the quarterfinals (Robert C. Byrd) and semifinals, it’ll be a new team the Indians will have to get through in order to win a third straight title.
“Through these 13 games, we’ve done everything that we’ve needed to do to win. It hasn’t always been pretty, but we’ve continued to battle,” said head coach Josh Nicewarner. “It’s actually kind of nice to be playing an uncommon opponent, one that I’m not sure we’ve ever played.
“It’ll be nice to see something new, but Tolsia is there for a reason,” Nicewarner continued. “They’ve been successful and beat a very good Mingo Central team tonight and shut them out. Kudos to them, but we’re going to focus on ourselves this week, fix some things that need to be fixed and be ready to go.”
The complete interviews with Bonamico and Nicewarner are posted at the top of the page.