By: Wes McKinney, WVMetroNews.com
AA No. 2 Mingo Central (13-0) vs. AA No. 5 Fairmont Senior (10-2) – Friday 7 p.m.
Mingo Central head coach Yogi Kinder certainly saved his best for last.
Kinder will take to the field for the last time Friday night at the helm with the Miners as he guides them into their first Class AA state championship game, a mere six years into the program’s history.
But it wasn’t easy for the Miners as they had to fend off a pesky James Monroe team in the semifinals, 41-21.
“I thought we got off to a pretty good start,” Kinder said. “We worked so hard on stopping James Monroe’s run game—watched a lot of film on them—so they started the throwing the ball.”
Mingo Central was tasked with keeping James Monroe quarterback Evan Beasley in check throughout the night.
“He has some of the quickest feet I’ve seen,” Kinder said of Beasley.
“He’s probably the fastest quarterback we played against this season. He was able to get outside and make some plays against us. He was in the backyard playing football and running around and his receivers were getting open.”
Each year, Mingo Central has gotten a step closer to making the Super Six and it finally climbed all the way up the mountain.
“Getting to a state championship was something we’ve wanted to do since we took over here,” Kinder said.
“The kids have bought into what we want to do each year. When we first got to Mingo Central everybody had a different coach and it took some time to get everyone on the same page. Kids believe in what we want to do. All of the assistants work so hard. All of them played for me as kids and now they are pretty good coaches. I think our stability has gone a long way towards our success.”
The Miners draw Fairmont Senior after the Polar Bears pulled a dramatic double overtime upset of Bridgeport in the semifinals as quarterback Jake Abbott found Bryson Gilbert for a 41-yard touchdown and then used his legs to convert a two-point conversion to lift FSHS to a 22-21 triumph.
“Fairmont Senior has some great athletes,” Kinder said. “They have some big guys that can move. The quarterback is good and they have some skill guys that are really good.”
The ability of Beasley may have helped Mingo Central prepare for Abbott and his receivers in the state title game.
“I think we will be able to defend the pass a little better this week,” Kinder said. “James Monroe caught us off guard with the pass. We didn’t have the right people in the game. We will definitely have our hands full against Fairmont Senior. They have a bunch of good players.”
Of the four consolidated schools that created Mingo Central — Burch, Gilbert, Matewan and Williamson — they have combined for three state championships in football.