Oak Glen’s Lemley nabs Carl Lee Award after 14 interceptions

— By Kyle Lutz, The Intelligencer

NEW CUMBERLAND, W.Va. — Very few people predicted Oak Glen to make a run in the West Virginia Class AA state playoffs this year. However, four years ago, when Michael Lemley was a freshman, he and his teammates knew that they had a class full of athletes and playmakers.

Throughout the years, the Golden Bears showed improvement. Fast forward to this year and Oak Glen capped off an undefeated regular season for the first time in school history.

Lemley, a shutdown corner, was a vital part of the Golden Bears success. It seemed liked anywhere the ball was on the field, Lemley was there to sniff it out. On top of his 101 tackles, the senior defensive back secured 14 interceptions.

With those numbers, Lemley was selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association to receive the Carl Lee Award as the top defensive back in 2019.

“It’s awesome. It’s a pleasure to be named to such a prestigious award,” Lemley said. “I couldn’t have done this without my teammates and coaches throughout the season.”

Lemley will be recognized at the 74th annual Victory Awards Dinner on May 3 at the Embassy Suites in Charleston.

Those 14 interceptions were near the state and Ohio Valley records.

Rick Smith of Calhoun County has the state record of 16 when he accomplished that feat in 1990, while Adena’s Rick Kokiko has the Ohio Valley mark when he picked off 15 passes in 1969.

“If you get 14 interceptions, you’re in pretty good shape,” Oak Glen coach Ted Arneault Jr. said. “That’s averaging more than one interception per game for the whole season which is just an outstanding statistic for anybody. For him to be able to produce that and really anchor our pass defense along with Brayden (Mineard), he really did an outstanding job for us in the secondary this year.”

It sure wasn’t smooth sailing for Lemley and his classmates when they arrived at Oak Glen. As a matter of fact the Golden Bears went 2-8 during Lemley’s freshman and sophomore years.

In 2018, Oak Glen took a small step and finished the season with a 5-5 record. Arneault saw the potential in his star defensive back.

“He’s somebody we really feel like we built the program around,” Arneault said. “When he was a freshman, the program wasn’t where we liked it to be. We were were getting beat up pretty bad. 

“He’s one of those kids that persevered and really took to heart getting better, becoming coachable, working with his teammates to build something that I think was pretty special this year. He really emerged as not only our leader on defense, but a leader on our team as captain. He put up big numbers on both sides of the ball.”

Lemley and the Oak Glen defense played stellar throughout the entire 2019 season. They held five teams to 10 or less points, including a shutout against Philip Barbour. Edison was able to only account for a field goal.

The Golden Bears held Toronto — a team that secured a playoff spot in Division VII in Ohio — to seven points and Lincoln County to eight.

“We expected this. My class knew that by our senior year we should at least go 10-0 once because we knew what kind of talent we were going to have this year,” Lemley said. “Nobody expected us to do this, so it made it even more special to prove everybody in the state and the Ohio Valley wrong.”

On top of winning the Carl Lee Award, Lemley was named first team-all state. But no matter how many accolades he has received, nothing will top winning and starting a new tradition in a community that was hungry for this type of season.

“Because we’ve been working on trying to turn everything around at Oak Glen,” Lemley said, “definitely winning for this community because we’ve all been suffering up here in the north without any football success. So, it was nice to bring back the winning.”

Lemley will never forget what the team did this year to put Oak Glen on the map. He also knows the future of the program is in good hands.

“I know they are going to do great things and maybe go to Wheeling next year and play on the island,” Lemley said. “I thank them for everything they’ve done for the team to help change the culture of Oak Glen and for helping me with my success. I couldn’t have done anything I did this year without every single one of my teammates. They all played a role in it.”

Brandon Penn of Parkersburg South, JJ Roberts of Cabell Midland, Teddy Marshall of Martinsburg and Hunter Jenkins of Doddridge County also received votes for the Carl Lee Award.





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