VIENNA, W.Va — Four quarters shy of a perfect regular season, the Poca Dots engineered one of the best turnarounds in the state this fall. In their previous six seasons, Poca won just five games. That included a 39-game losing streak. Their last playoff appearance came eight years ago. A group of players that used to fear the worst is now one of the state’s best. “Probably the hardest thing we have had to do is just change that mindset of everyone looking around just waiting for the next bad thing to happen,” said Poca head coach Seth Ramsey.
“We have a group of seniors that has been playing for three or four years and we have an influx of young talent. We put that together and it has been really good for us.”
The tone for the year was set in their season-opening 46-8 win over a local rival. “It was so big for our kids to get that win over Nitro and to just gets some confidence going in themselves and get some momentum. We came out and we played well offensively, defensively and special teams. It just catapulted from there.”
The Dots feature experienced veterans at most of the skill positions but play in the trenches has keyed their resurgence. “Our offensive line early on really overachieved a little bit. We have had some injuries up front and we have had to move some things around. Our defensive interior, our linebackers, our front four those guys have really done as good job for us, We have been able to get after the quarterback a lot more than what we have in the last couple years and we have been able to stop the run a lot better.”
Poca was dealt some adversity four weeks ago when sophomore Ethan Payne, the team’s leading rusher was lost for the season with a hip injury. In just seven games, Payne rushed for 1,081 yards and seventeen scores. Owen McClanahan is now stepping in as the primary ball carrier. He has scored eight times while averaging nearly ten yards a carry.
“You can’t replace a guy like Ethan for everything that he does. But there’s a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things to make up for that. That’s what we have been able to do.”
The Dots feature a balanced offense that is led by sophomore Jay Cook. He has tossed fifteen touchdown passes against just five interceptions. “Jay is a mentally tough kid. He is a winner. Jay spends a lot of time in film. He spends a lot of time after practice working on the little things. Jay is going to continue to get better every time he goes out.”
Poca is the No. 5 seed in the Class AA bracket and they will host Weir in Saturday’s opening-round matchup. “These games at this time of year come down to who can execute the best and who came be the most disciplined. That’s what we have to be Saturday.”