After being a consistent contender in Class AAA, Fairmont Senior will now be moving down to Class AA heading into the 2012-2013 academic year. And with the move, head football coach Jared Mileto sees it as an even better opportunity for an equal playing field for his school.
“You’re competing against schools that are your size, not schools that have a thousand extra kids in them,” Mileto said. “From a football standpoint, it definitely levels that playing field out quite a bit.”
Also joining Fairmont Senior from Class AAA and going down to Class AA are Nicholas County, North Marion, Bridgeport, Robert C. Byrd and East Fairmont.
“For football, I don’t really look for that big of a change,” Mileto said. “A lot of schools that we played when we were in AAA dropped down to AA with us.
“The individual athletes in AA are just as good as they are in AAA, but there’s just not as many of them,” Mileto said.
Fairmont Senior will have a core group of juniors and sophomores returning for the upcoming season. And despite the overall youth of his team, Mileto said they’re still a confident group that have been working hard in the offseason to get in the best football shape they can.
“There’s a big difference between a sophomore and a junior, especially a sophomore that spent his offseason in the weight room and junior who didn’t,” Mileto said. “We’re lucky to have seen a lot of these sophomores in the weight room.”
One young player that will have a tremendous impact on the team is Austin Norman, a junior taking the role of starting quarterback.
“He’s really gone into this full force and attacked it,” Mileto said. “Whether it’s AAA or AA, the type of kid he is, he’s going to prepare to prepare the same exact way he is now.”
Fairmont Senior’s first game of the season is August 24th on the road against Robert C. Byrd.