Rick Kozlowski, The Journal of Martinsburg, for the West Virginia Sports Writers Association
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The winning never seems to end for David Walker.
The Martinsburg football coach guided the Bulldogs to an undefeated season and fifth Class AAA state championship in seven seasons, winning the final game in December. Then, a month later, he became the first person from West Virginia to be named as national high school football coach of the year.
Walker’s latest triumph: He’s the winner of the Van Meter Award as the high school coach of the year for all sports in West Virginia, as voted on by members of the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
It’s his third time in winning the sports writers honor.
Each time came after a state championship effort by the man who has guided the Bulldogs to nine title games in his two decades at Martinsburg, winning four championships in a row from 2010-13 seasons and adding another crown in 2016 with a team some think was the Bulldogs’ best of the championship teams.
“I mean, five championships in seven years,” assistant coach Dave Lopez said. “Nine championship games in 19 seasons. I think that speaks for itself.”
Five Class AAA championships in seven seasons speaks to a program that has no equal at the moment in the Mountain State.
“When you talk about quality wins and the history of West Virginia (high school) football, there’s no better coach,” said Britt Sherman, who played for Walker and assists him now.
The 216 wins by Walker, who started his career at woebegone East Hardy and turned the Cougars into perennial playoff qualifiers, rank third all time in state history. His number of playoff wins is unmatched.
Members of his staff think Walker is the best coach West Virginia has ever seen in the high school ranks.
“He’s fairly young. Walker probably has 10 more years in him if he wanted to,” said Lopez, who grew up in Clarksburg and is familiar with some of state’s best coaches, including Bridgeport’s Wayne Jamison.
“I’d put Dave at the top.”
In getting to the top in 2017, Walker’s Martinsburg team was hardly challenged, even in the postseason.
The Bulldogs defeated Spring Valley 49-7 in the title game, yielding their only points during the four-game postseason as they completed a 14-0 season with a largely underclass roster.
Overall, Martinsburg averaged 52.3 points per game on offense and gave up just 7.6 on defense.
In Walker’s eyes, he was just a small part of the success. He regularly touts his players and coaching staff for their parts.
“He stays humble and works hard,” Sherman said. “That’s the two biggest things.
“He’s gotten a lot of recognition in the last year. He always deflects it, puts it back on the players and people around him.
“He does a lot for everybody. He’s one of those people who does a really good job of making people around him better. He’s not an ego guy.”
Walker is a winning guy.
He’ll be recognized for the honor on May 21 during the 71st Victory Awards Dinner at the Village Square Conference Center in Clarksburg.
Among the nominees, Walker finished ahead of Ron Hess, the boys basketball coach at Huntington, which has played in four straight AAA championship games, and won three, including one this past March; Jamey Conlin, who led Wheeling Central to a state Class A runner-up baseball finish while battling cancer; and Yogi Kinder and Rick Magruder, who tied for fourth.
Kinder led Mingo Central to its first state Class AA football title with a 14-0 record, and Magruder’s Wheeling Central softball team finished 33-0 last spring to win the Class A championship.