By: Eric Little – Seven Ranges Radio
When St. Marys head coach Jodi Mote showed up to the weekly playoff coaches’ meeting at the SSAC office in Parkersburg on Sunday, he brought a special guest from his coaching staff: Bill Hanlin. Among other stops in his illustrious career, Hanlin was the head coach at St. Marys High School for many years and is a former executive director of the SSAC.
For those that aren’t aware, the main purpose of the weekly meeting is to select sites and dates for each round of the playoffs. Because of this, Hanlin had the distinction of being the only person in the room on Sunday to hear the announcement of a host site named after himself, now that St. Marys High School plays in the recently-named Bill Hanlin Stadium.
To the surprise of no one that knows Hanlin, he was extremely well-received by the gathering, which included many people he’s known for decades. Another thing that’s been extremely well-received is the new name for the football field at St. Marys High School. Both statements are a testament to how Hanlin is viewed both in the St. Marys community and statewide.
Class A No. 3 Fayetteville (12-0) at No. 2 St Marys (12-0) – Friday 7:30
How many sports movies show two teams that meet early in the season, only for those same two teams to meet again when it REALLY counts? In “Major League,’ Clue Haywood of the Yankees hits a grand slam on Opening Day off Rick Vaughn, only to strike out later in the film with the pennant on the line. The trend even holds true in real life. The 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team had their clocks cleaned by the USSR in a pre-Olympic exhibition, only to defeat the Soviets in a gold medal semifinal.
On Friday night in St. Marys, another example of that concept in real life when the St. Marys Blue Devils welcome the Fayetteville Pirates to town for the second time this year. The first occasion came on a sun-splashed Saturday morning in August in a scrimmage involving these two teams and River High School from Hannibal, Ohio. Interestingly enough, St. Marys, Fayetteville and River all finished their respective regular seasons undefeated and currently have a combined record of 34-1 after River’s first-round loss in the Ohio playoffs.
Both head coaches – Jodi Mote of St. Marys and David Moneypenney of Fayetteville – say the biggest thing that’s stayed the same for their teams since then is that they’ve stayed healthy. That’s of particular importance for a Fayetteville team that boasts only around two dozen players. But to reach the semifinals of the playoffs, no roster can bear serious injuries to key players.
“We haven’t really been banged up. The kids that we started game one with we’ve got here in Week 14,” Moneypenney said of his Pirates. “A lot of things have bounced our way. I don’t really know why, but it has. Usually some things will bounce your way but a lot of things have this year and hopefully those things continue.”
Mote realizes St. Marys has been similarly lucky when it comes to health.
“You can afford kids going down, because you’ve got bodies to replace the injured players, but you really can’t – not if you want to reach the semifinal round,” Mote said. “They’re obviously healthy and thankfully we’re healthy.”
The running game for St. Marys was particularly healthy for St. Marys in a quarterfinal win over Gilmer County last week that was, sadly, marred by unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and ejections in the final minutes. Jaiden Smith led the way for St. Marys with 153 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, including one circus-like run captured on WDTV’s cameras where Smith appeared dead-to-rights before wiggling out of a tackle – and his shoe – on the way to the end zone.
All told, the Blue Devils ran for 272 yards, with two other rushing scores coming from quarterback Will Billeter. The Blue Devil quarterback also atoned for an early interception by throwing for a touchdown to Braden Barnhart, who added a late rushing score.
The game turned following the Billeter interception when St. Marys was able to force a fumble on Gilmer running back Trey Shuff to keep the Titans out of the end zone.
“The goal line stand was big,” said Mote. “Our kids just did a great job of not letting them put any points on the board and our staff did a great job of preparing our kids last week for what they might see.”
And for St. Marys, that’s a defense that’s allowed just seven points in two playoff games this season. Or, in other words, about the same number of Gilmer County players and coaches ejected in the second half against St. Marys last week. This week’s opponent, the Fayetteville Pirates, offers a different challenge for St. Marys.
“I see a lot of Wing-T philosophy behind their offense and misdirection. They’ve got a lot of good skill kids and a great quarterback,” Mote said of the Pirates. “Defensively, they aren’t real big, but they’re quick. They’re just hard-nosed and they just get after it. They’ve got a nice team.”
Of course any team wants to be this deep in the playoffs, but while Moneypenney wouldn’t call the accomplishment an expectation for his program, he also says the Pirates aren’t just happy to still be playing. They want more.
“I think all coaches going in hope they can have a good year and make it into the playoffs. But that was our goal. It doesn’t surprise me. But if you asked me if it was a possibly we wouldn’t be here there would be a possibility of that too,” Moneypenney said. “We’ve had a lot of breaks and hopefully Friday we’ll have more because we’ll need them. St. Marys is probably the best team we’ll face.”
And how are the Pirates different now than the team that visited Pleasants County in August?
“Like most teams, hopefully you can get better at the things you need to improve at and clean some things up over the year. I don’t think we’re a whole lot different though, just hopefully better,” Moneypenney said of his team’s journey in 2016. “And I know they will be too because Coach Mote is good at his job. He’s as good as it gets.”
To go 12-0, the Pirates have relied on offensive balance.
“We’ll throw the ball here and there and maybe get the run game established. We’ve got Jordan Dempsey in the backfield and Will (Fenton) throwing the ball to Jordan’s older brother Dalton, but it’s all about the offensive line,” Moneypenney said. “If they play well I think we’ll have a chance to compete with them.”
With so many external factors working against the team, numbers being the largest one, Fayetteville’s been boosted by tremendous community support.
“I think it really helps the kids,” Moneypenney said of the community’s ability to support the “Dirty Two Dozen” in person and through social media. “We have some veterans, but we have some younger kids do. It’s really helped the younger kids realize what the older kids are facing because any game could be their last. Younger kids need encouragement and positive role models and I think that’s played a big role for us.”
For St. Marys, this is their third straight year in a state semifinal and the second time they’ve hosted in the last three years they hosted. The last time they hosted came two years ago – when the old St. Marys High School was still standing along Route 2 in St. Marys, with Imlay Field firmly planted in back. Now, neither the old school building nor Imlay Field is standing; both razed to make room for economic development. Still, other than site and personnel, Mote says little else has changed since the last time the state semifinals visited St. Marys.
“What’s different obviously is the stadium, but we’re just going to treat it as any other week, but at the same time, the winner goes to Wheeling,” Mote said. “It’s a great matchup. Both teams are undefeated and they’ve got a lot of history and tradition in the playoffs and I feel like we do too.”
Just like in August, the Pirates will head to St. Marys and give it all they’ve got. And as far as Moneypenney is concerned, regardless of the stakes, it’s just business as usual.
“Maybe this sounds like a cliché, but we just take things one game at a time. Because we know with the numbers we have, any game can go against us,” Moneypenney said. “So we don’t really want to put too much pressure on the kids, we just want to put things in perspective and talk one week at a time and it’s been working out that way. Nothing different this week.”
This game can be heard locally on Lite Rock 93R (93.9 FM) and online at www.literock93r.com.