By: Sean McNamara (Times West Virginian) for the West Virginia Sports Writers Association
FAIRMONT, W.Va. – For the last 11 years, Jake Abbott has been a fixture at East-West Stadium.
As the son of a coach, Abbott used to roam the sidelines and soak in all the information he could from the players who came before him at Fairmont Senior High School.
This season, Jake Abbott, a returning first-team all-State defensive player, put it all together for the 10-3 Polar Bears and was a member of the first senior class in school history to make the postseason four years in a row.
While also serving as starting quarterback, Abbott led an FSHS defense that surrendered an average of 16.2 points per game and made it to the Class AA championship game.
In all, Abbott recorded 131 total tackles, eight tackles for loss, four sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery and was selected as the 2016 recipient of the Chuck Howley Award given to the state’s top linebacker, as chosen by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
As he and his father, FSHS head coach J.L. Abbott, reflected on all Jake had invested in the program, they credited his hard work and dedication to the Polar Bears over the last 11 years.
“I became head coach in 2005. His mom would drop him off and he’d come stand next to me,” J.L. Abbott recalled. “He didn’t come in and jump on the pads or play video games. He’d stand out on the field and watch. He grew up watching Kyle Allard, Logan Moore, Remington Skarzinski, Aaron Fetty and Ben Kettering. He was smart enough to pay attention to those guys. He asked a lot of questions.”
During those early years, Jake Abbott used to occasionally run conditioning drills with the team when he was watching his father coach, and he got to see some of the Polar Bear greats on the field.
The entire process of being a part of the program for such a long time helped mold Jake Abbott into the player he is today, he said.
“I remember a game when I was standing on the sideline against University in ’09,” Jake Abbott said. “Remington came off the field and broke his facemask. I thought that was the coolest thing. … I was like, ‘Wow. That’s a bad dude.’ That’s the kind of football player I wanted to be.”
Once he got old enough to join the varsity squad, Jake Abbott began to etch his own name in the FSHS history books.
After starting his sophomore season at outside linebacker, Abbott took his spot as starting middle linebacker in the 2015 season.
Always trying to learn and improve his craft, Jake Abbott leaned on the talented players he had around him, notably fellow Polar Bear and second-team All-State linebacker Michael Toothman, who was already a starter at inside linebacker when he moved to the position.
“Last year I learned from Toothman defensively,” Jake Abbott said. “The first week or two I was a little slow at picking up strength calls and where help was going to be. We both just got into a rhythm.”
This season, Toothman accumulated 121 total tackles himself, and he and Jake Abbott’s talents inside meshed together to help lead a defense that carried the team to the 2016 Class AA title game.
“We’ve played every single football game together since we were 5,” Jake Abbott said. “Our two styles match up pretty well together, I think. We’ve gotten used to playing alongside each other for as long as we have.”
Jake Abbott said that he was fortunate to have Toothman alongside him with Darius and Dante Stills and Zach Frazier up front this season.
With so many talented players around him, tackles were shared amongst several key contributors, all while the Polar Bears built several early leads this season that led to starters being pulled early on.
“There were three or four games this year where he never saw the field in the second half on defense,” J.L. Abbott said. “He still came out with 130 tackles.”
Now, Jake Abbott will take his work ethic and dedication to football to West Virginia University as a walk-on.
“I’m not doubtful of what I can accomplish at WVU, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get where I want to be,” Jake Abbott said. “I’ve always wanted to be Mountaineer.
“I’m obviously going to redshirt as a walk-on. I just plan on getting bigger, stronger and faster in the next few years. … Maybe one day I’ll be out there with a West Virginia number and Abbott on the back.”
The Chuck Howley Award is named for the former Warwood High School and West Virginia University standout who went on to win a Super Bowl MVP as a member of the Dallas Cowboys.
Jake Abbott will receive the 2016 Howley Award at the 71st annual Victory Awards dinner at 4 p.m. May 21 at Village Square Conference Center in Clarksburg.