The 2014 Super Six High School Football Championships came to a close Saturday night, December 6th and looking back on the event one has to say “job well done” by the Wheeling Super Six Committee. This year marked the 21st year this great event has been held on Wheeling Island and I have been fortunate enough to have been in attendance for every year. Each of those year’s when I have left the Wheeling area on the Sunday morning following the Championships, those three words above, “job well done” have been uttered! So, once again, congratulations to everyone that gets involved in Wheeling…..you folks know how to do things right!
Now some thoughts about the games! Friday night we watched two very good Class AA teams compete on a very wet field that saw the rain vary in intensity all evening long. In the end, it was the stellar running of Bridgeport running back Dylan Tonkery who rushed for a Class AA record 315 yards as the Indians won back to back state titles with a 43-7 victory over Frankfort. Senior quarterback Gage Shaffer proved why he was worthy of the full scholarship offered by the University of Maryland as his very strong arm and his ability to scramble away from trouble, keep the Falcons moving the ball up and down the field. But, give credit to the great defense that kept the Falcons out of the end zone most of the night. Certainly a very emotional and well received moment in the came came late in the 4th quarter when Frankfort’s injured senior running back Stefan Buser came on to the field for the game’s final play. Buser had been a very important part of the running attack for Frankfort this season but in a game against Oak Glen in late October he was injured and lost for the season. In an agreement between Frankfort’s Head Coach Kevin Whiteman and Bridgeport’s Head Coach Josh Nicewarner, Buser was allowed to hop onto the field with the help of teammates and he did indeed get into the state championship game for one play in his senior year. That was a class act by two of the state’s finest head coaches!
When the sun came up Saturday morning it could not be seen in Wheeling. Once again, the skies were grey and overcast and during the Class AAA game we saw some of the heaviest rain! We also saw the wind that we are familiar with on the Island come back blowing very hard from North to South and it certainly did affect the play on the field at times. In the Class AAA game, the Capital Cougars proved why they were the #1 seed as they handled the #6 seed South Charleston with relative ease. In a game that was marred with penalties, (a Super Six Record for one team, Capital: 138) the Cougars ran and passed their way to a 55-15 win over the Black Eagles. Also in the win, Capital established a new record for the biggest winning margin (40) and for the most rushing yards in the Class AAA title game (370)! Other records included most touchdowns (4) and most touchdown receptions (4), both by the game’s most valueable player, Capital’s Jordan Kinney! However, the game became unimportant when we learned the tragic news of the car accident that claimed the lives of five people who were related to South Charleston cheerleader Savannah Taylor including her Dad, Mother and brother. Certainly our thoughts and prayers go out to Savannah and to South Charleston High School.
In the Class A game on Saturday night, St. Marys and Williamstown were blessed with the fact the rain had stopped about 90 minutes before kickoff and the game was played in the best weather of the weekend. And, that was only fitting because the Class A game was certainly the best game of the weekend. Number one seed St. Marys jumped out to a 20-0 lead early in the 1st quarter and it appeared we were in store for another run away game. However, the Williamstown Yellow Jackets behind Dakota Watson and a very impressive defense came from behind and won the game in triple overtime 33-32. In that game, Dakota Watson set a Class A Super Six record by rushing 41 times and was a part of that defensive unit that stopped St. Marys running back Jeremy Pratt on the one yard line as the Blue Devils were going for a two point conversion in the 3rd overtime. That defensive stop gave Williamstown their second state championship and ran their record against St. Marys to 10-3 over the last ten years.
So, with the crowning of the three state champions, we bring down the curtain on the 2014 high school football season. Once again it seems as if the season went by way too fast and I personally want to thank everyone that helped us out so much each week by calling GAMENIGHT and being a part of the show. We have just finished our 13th year of GAMENIGHT and can’t wait for #14 to begin! Make sure you check out the high school page on our website at wvmetronews.com for all the stories as we wrap up this year in high school football and please take a look at our final team standings in each class and all the other things related to a great sport. A special thanks goes out to our talented 10 year old reporter, Christian Deiss, who over the year became a name everyone in the state knew! On behalf of Dave Jecklin, Garrett Cullen, C. J. Ricker, Deborah Martinelli, and the guys who gathered our scores each week, Joe Nelson, Jimmy Schmiedicker and Grant Gutmann, plus all of the great sports guys around the state that wrote articles for the website each week, we say thanks for listening to GAMENIGHT! As I write this story, we have only 262 more days until we turn on the microphones again to talk about high school football on GAMENIGHT 2015! Talk to you then!!