MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Two of the state’s premier programs share the field at East-West Stadium on Thursday night. Class AAA No. 7 Bridgeport (2-1) visits Class AA No. 1 Fairmont Senior (3-0) in their annual early-season matchup.
The Indians and the Polar Bears have split the last eight meetings in the series dating back to 2015. BHS has won each of the last two contests.
The two-time defending state champion Polar Bears are tied with Frankfort atop the initial Class AA WVSSAC ratings. Fairmont Senior has defeated Lewis County, Linsly and Preston. Sophomore quarterback Brody Whitehair is the team’s leading passer (514 yards, 6 TD) and rusher (224 yards, 3 TD). Whitehair passed for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns in last year’s meeting with the Indians.
“He extends plays, for sure. He does a good job of getting outside the pocket and stepping up through the pocket and getting rid of the football. He is a kid that can throw it but he is agile too. He adds a scary dimension,” said Bridgeport head coach Tyler Phares.
“You need to defeat blocks early in order to keep him inside the pocket. We’ve got to be able to keep our rush lanes. There has to be good integrity there.”
Senior running back Germaine Lewis has not yet played this season for the Polar Bears due to injury but Phares is game planning as if Lewis will make his season debut.
“We have been preparing, looking back at previous years for favorite runs for him. We expect ‘G’ to be there on Thursday night.”
Jayden Cheriza and Trey Longwell have each reeled in 10 passes to lead the FSHS receivers. Cannon Dinger and Dylan Ours each have a pair of touchdown receptions.
“Just like always, they have a plethora of kids there. Our kids are well aware of that. Our kids have also seen some good receivers this year. They are looking forward to the challenge.”
Ours is the Polar Bears’ fourth-leading tackler (13) and he has forced a pair of fumbles this season.
“He is a very aggressive kid. He is one of the better mike linebackers in the state, for sure. He uses his aggressiveness well. He’ll get skinny and find holes and show up in your backfield a lot. We definitely have to have him accounted for in the blocking scheme.”
Bridgeport has sandwiched home victories over Buckhannon-Upshur and John Marshall around a road loss at Morgantown. In their single wing offense, the Indians have run the ball on 94 percent of their snaps this season. BHS is averaging 386 rushing yards per game.
“You try to stay disciplined to your rules of your defense. In the single wing, it adds a little bit more in terms of guys following the rules are staying disciplined. You are trying to do that but you also have a lot of double-team blocking and athletic guys with size that you are dealing with,” said Fairmont Senior head coach Nick Bartic.
“There’s a lot of nuances in their offense where they will try to get you on false reads. It breaks down some one-on-one matchups.”
In his season debut for the Indians last week, Zach Rohrig rushed for 190 yards and he found the end zone twice. Phil Reed (5), Ty Martin (4) and Ryan Hall (3) have also scored multiple rushing touchdowns.
“It starts at the line of scrimmage with them. There’s no surprises in what you are going to see. They are always consistent in what they do. It is going to be an intense rivalry game like it is every year. What adds to it are the conflicting styles that we play with. That adds to the flavor of the game,” Bartic said.