SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After advancing to the 2014 Class AAA football state championship game with a runner-up finish, South Charleston returned a bulk of starters and had title hopes again in 2015.
But injuries throughout the year, especially early, put the Black Eagles through a string of adversity. South Charleston suffered close losses to Capital, Spring Valley and Cabell Midland, putting its playoff chances in jeopardy with a 2-3 record and just half of the season remaining.
Five straight wins, though, put the Black Eagles into the postseason as the 11-seed where they took down No. 6 Jefferson on the road in the opening round. A quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Wheeling Park, though, meant the end of an era for a special group of South Charleston seniors.
“It was a fun ride with those seniors, they were a good group of kids and I can’t say enough about them,” said head coach Donnie Mays. “I had a blast with them, we just came up short one time and then went through some growing pains last year with some injuries. But we still have a good group back and they learned a lot from those seniors last year.”
Among the graduated seniors is the school’s all-time leading passer and 2014 MetroNews Player of the Year, Kentre Grier. He finished last year with over 3,000 total yards of offense and scored 29 combined touchdowns.
Grier’s cousin, junior Trae Murphy, and sophomore Bryce Damous have spent the summer and preseason battling for that vacant starting quarterback position.
“We have a good little quarterback battle going on and I really like it, it’s been good,” Mays said. “We won’t make an announcement of who is starting until the kickoff Thursday night of opening week against George Washington. We’re evaluating them every day.”
Murphy last year made 13 catches at receiver for 258 yards and two scores as a sophomore.
But the most notable returnee is Penn State commit Derrek Pitts who made 82 total tackles a year ago defensively and collected 33 catches for 480 yards and five touchdowns offensively. He also rushed for another 305 yards as a junior.
“It’s hard to replace a guy like Kentre Grier, but at the same time, we have guys like Derrek Pitts who will step up for you,” Mays said. “We know what Derrek (Pitts) is capable of and we will put him in the right position to get the ball in his hands. Hopefully he makes big plays for us.”
Pitts is expected to get more carries at running back this season, but senior Lawrence Cunningham and sophomore Orange Dyess will also contribute. At receiver, junior D.Q. Watkins, senior Larry Bryson, junior Curon Cordon and senior tight end Tamon Scruggs will all be some of the names in the mix.
“It’s a new era and I just hope that our kids can understand that what is in the past, is in the past,” Mays said. “This is their team now, they need to play off of that and go with it.”
The Black Eagles open up the year with that Thursday game against George Washington, which will have a live video stream at the MetroNews Channel of WVMetronews.com.