DELBARTON, W.Va. — With a 22-game regular season win streak at home, ‘Miner Mountain’ represents one of the best homefield advantages in West Virginia high school football.
Atop one of the many rolling hills of Mingo County on the King Coal Highway lies James H. “Buck” Harless Stadium, a place the Miners have called home since the school was founded in 2011. A run of success has heightened expectations around the county, following an undefeated state championship season in 2016 and a 12-1 mark last fall, when the Miners’ 26-game win streak was stopped by Fairmont Senior in the state semifinals, 35-6.
Mingo Central will enter this season with their third head coach in the last three years. Longtime Matewan coach Yogi Kinder retired after the championship season in 2016. Joey Fields joined the staff at Trinity High School in Louisville, Ky., back in May.
Now the Miners are led by former Matewan player and MCHS defensive coordinator Josh Sammons.
“Being here the last four years, I have learned a lot,” said Sammons. “I respect Coach Kinder and Coach Fields. I miss them everyday. I think it is big for the kids to be around and see the same coaches day in and day out. You understand what those coaches expect from you. That’s a big thing in building the program and keeping us on the right track.”
A much younger group of Miners will take the field in 2018, with several new starters stepping in on both sides of the ball. “We’ve had the same guys there playing both sides of the ball the last two or three years,” said Sammons. “We’re a young team. I had some leaders step up that I expected would. You see some kids adjusting how you want them to adjust. And others, it is just going to take time. It is going to get better throughout the year as we keep playing and practicing.”
The most notable loss for the Miners is at the quarterback spot where 2016 MetroNews Player of the Year and Kennedy Award winner Jeremy Dillon has graduated. He led MCHS to 26 wins in two seasons. Dillon is now beginning his college basketball career at Marshall. The Miners do welcome back another first-team all-state offensive selection in junior wide receiver Drew Hatfield.
“Having Drew back is a big thing,” said Sammons. “He is the kind of guy you want to coach. He is there early and staying late. He is in the weight room before and after practice. He wants to be the best receiver in the state and he will tell you that. That’s exciting as a coach that he wants to be that kid. Losing Jeremy Dillon is a big piece of the puzzle to lose but I am happy with where our young guys are at.”
Mingo Central will open their 2018 season with a marquee home matchup against a Point Pleasant team that went 9-3 last year. The Miners look to extend their regular-season home win streak that dates all the way back to October of 2013. “It is something special,” said Sammons. “The only thing up on the mountain is the school and the football facility. We want our kids to understand it is special to play up here. We try to make it as college-like as we can with commercials and the atmosphere and the crowd and the music. They have a winning mentality now up here on the mountain.”