By Eric Little – Seven Ranges Radio for WVMetroNews.com
Defending Class A state champion St. Marys carries the Mid-Ohio Valley banner all the way to the Tug River Valley this weekend.
Class A No. 5 St. Marys (9-1) at No. 4 Tug Valley (10-1) – Friday 7:30, Tug Valley High School
St. Marys and Tug Valley are both fortunate that football games consist of four, 12-minute quarters – because based on both of their performances from just the first two quarters last week, both could easily be sitting at home this week. Yet, here they are.
Doddridge County got a touchdown against St. Marys in the final seconds of the second quarter to tie last week’s first round game at six going into the halftime locker room. Blue Devil head coach Jodi Mote says he told his team it was time to face reality.
“I just told them at halftime that there’s going to be a group that turns their stuff in at the end of the game and another group that moves on. And that we had 24 minutes left to decide who it was going to be.” Mote said, of his halftime remarks to his team last week. “Thankfully, they responded in the second half.”
That response came in the form of a Jaiden Smith touchdown run and two touchdown strikes from Eric Illar to Dylan Gray. The Blue Devils outscored Doddridge 22-0 in the third quarter and never looked back on the way to a 44-14 win. Mote said he could tell the difference in his team’s demeanor from first half to second.
“I felt like our kids were more excited, energized and ready to go in the second half.” Mote recalled from last week. “I could see emotion on the field and on the sideline during the game, and then I could also see it when we went back and watched film.”
Meanwhile, Pocahontas County led by two scores at one point in the first half last Saturday night against Tug Valley. Like St. Marys, the Panthers also had a big third quarter, outscoring Pocahontas County 16-3 to take a 30-23 lead late into the contest.
Pocahontas County got a late touchdown to pull to within one, and rather than try for the PAT kick to tie the game, the Warriors opted to go for the two-point conversion to try to take a late lead. It didn’t work – Tug Valley made a stop and held on for a one-point win.
Mote says the biggest challenge this week for the Blue Devils will be countering Tug Valley’s size.
“They’re big, and I’m not sure you can really understand how big until you see them in person. Obviously, we’ll emphasize that this week.” Mote said. “In my opinion, I think they’ll try to cram it down our throat from an offensive perspective.
“From a defensive perspective, they showed a four-man front, but they also showed a five-man front against Pocahontas County. And they also play sound special teams.” Mote continued, scouting the Panthers.
One wrinkle St. Marys used on Saturday was the direct snap to Matt Eichorn in somewhat of a Wildcat look. Eichorn started at quarterback for St. Marys when Illar missed time midseason because of an appendectomy.
The injury to Illar and Eichorn’s subsequent play at quarterback allowed the Blue Devils to use a play that worked for them in the postseason last year.
“We wouldn’t have thought of (Eichorn) doing that if Illar hadn’t been hurt.” Mote said. “I remember we did that with Braden (Barnhart) and Will (Billeter) last year, running the option a little bit with Braden taking the snap and throwing to Will. So it’s not entirely new, but it’s a wrinkle we could do with our personnel.”
Last year’s Blue Devil team went unbeaten all the way to a state championship and laid the foundation for a 20-game winning streak that was snapped in a mid-October loss to South Harrison.
The loss to the Hawks came when St. Marys was playing without Smith, and in the subsequent weeks, the Blue Devils had to learn to win some games that were a little closer than what they’d been used to.
“It was nice that the kids rebounded from that loss, especially since they hadn’t lost in forever.” Mote said. “So credit goes to the kids and the staff. I guess that’s a sign of a good team when you’ve got kids that are able to keep fighting and get back up.”
A week after playing on Saturday afternoon, the Blue Devils chose to schedule their quarterfinal road tilt for Friday night – thanks, in part, to inspiration from one of the lead voices of “The Voice of West Virginia.”
“I’ll credit Fred Persinger with that because he wanted us coaches to pick Fridays.” Mote said. “I think every team’s different, every year’s different. I think this group does better if you’re able to stay in a routine as much as possible. And I like Fred’s suggestion anyway. It’s good for high school football to be able to play on Fridays. If you’re able to do that, that’s what you need to try to do.”
Without attempting to reach Persinger for comment, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a good guess on his response.
“Thanks, Jodi.” – Fred, probably.
This game can be heard locally on Lite Rock 93R (93.9 FM) and online at www.literock93r.com.