WEIRTON, W.Va. — The 2013 season was full of redemption for Madonna as the Blue Dons bounced back from a gut-wrenching state runner-up finish in 2012, with a perfect 14-0 campaign, capturing the Class A state championship in the process.
It was a veteran team that boasted 15 seniors, including MetroNews State Player of the Year and UMass quarterback signee Ross Comis, along with standout running back Eliott Nero — just a couple of key senior pieces from that 2013 championship team.
“Those guys are definitely a big loss for us,” said head coach Doug Taylor. “Those kids had dedicated to the program and were hard working. They’re going to all be really tough to replace, but we have another group of kids coming through here.
“That’s the whole part of coaching,” he continued. “You enjoy the years with your good players, you try to get your other players up and ready to go and see how far you can go with the next group.”
Rising sophomore Dustin Brown is expected to be the front-runner to replace Comis at quarterback.
“Dustin played a little bit of quarterback for us last year,” Taylor said. “We also have a freshman coming up who is looking good as well. We’ll feel comfortable with either one of those kids in there.”
Other skill-players expected to have a more significant role this year include senior running back Levi Shreve, junior running back Dillon Shaw and 6-foot-2 senior receiver Grant Retton.
The Blue Dons also return several core players with plenty of size along the line, including 6-foot-7, 275 pound junior Nate Martin (7-foot-2 Josh Martin’s younger brother) and 6-foot-6, 240 pound sophomore tackle Justin Canei.
Madonna has just four home games on the schedule, to go along with a stretch of five road games in a row from September 25th through October 25th.
“We had six home games last year, so now the tables have turned,” Taylor said. “It is what it is being on the road for that many weeks in a row. We know who our opponents are and we think it’s a very competitive schedule. If we can stay competitive in that schedule and we can get to the playoffs, a lot of times that helps us out and we do well.”
| MADONNA 2014 Football Schedule |
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| 1 | 08/29/14 07:00PM | H | BEALLSVILLE, OH H.S. | – | ||||
| 2 | 09/05/14 07:00PM | H | TUSKY CATH, OH H.S. | – | ||||
| 3 | 09/12/14 07:00PM | A | WHEELING CENTRAL CATHOLIC | – | ||||
| 4 | 09/19/14 07:00PM | H | OPEN | – | ||||
| 5 | 09/25/14 07:00PM | A | CAMERON | – | ||||
| 6 | 10/03/14 07:00PM | A | BRIDGEPORT, OH H.S. | – | ||||
| 7 | 10/10/14 07:00PM | A | BISHOP DONAHUE | – | ||||
| 8 | 10/17/14 07:30PM | A | NOTRE DAME | – | ||||
| 9 | 10/25/14 07:00PM | A | CATHOLIC CENTRAL, OH H.S. | – | ||||
| 10 | 10/31/14 07:00PM | H | TORONTO,OH H.S. | – | ||||
| 11 | 11/07/14 07:00PM | H | CLAY-BATTELLE | – | ||||
| wins: 0 lost: 0 ties: 0 | ||||||||
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