John Lilly distinctly remembers the feeling within the Independence football program in the aftermath of a 21-12 loss to Fairmont Senior in last season’s Class AA title game.
“We felt like we let the community down a little bit, because of the support we get,” Lilly said leading up to the Patriots’ second straight appearance in a state final Friday against Herbert Hoover.
In what was Independence’s first appearance at the Super Six, the Patriots hung with the Polar Bears throughout, but suffered their only loss of the season while playing on the biggest stage in program history.
Fast forward a year, and that’s the only loss Independence has suffered over the last two seasons. A No. 2 seed for the second straight year, the Patriots (12-0) get a chance at redemption against the Huskies at Wheeling Island Stadium.
Lilly says the unwavering support from Coal City and surrounding towns weighs heavily on the minds of Patriots’ coaches and players as they pursue a first state championship.
“I’m at the stage of my career where if it happens for me, it happens, but I really want to see it happen for our community,” Lilly said. “When you’re from a coal camp community in southern West Virginia, this is a huge deal. The way we live and the socioeconomic factors, this is a big deal. Our kids really want this for the community.”
Lilly is hopeful the experience from last year’s title game pays dividends against the ninth-seeded Huskies, who enter winners of 10 straight since an 0-2 start.
“Last year was so new to us and by the time we really got dialed in, it was Thursday,” Lilly said. “Trying to get buses and deal with this and that. After you’ve been through it, we’re a little bit more comfortable to know how to deal with the week. Hopefully it’ll be a factor for us.”
Senior tailback Judah Price is the focal point of the Independence attack and enters as the state’s all-time single-season scoring leader with 47 total touchdowns and 2,204 rushing yards.
Price has more than picked up what the Patriots lost last season with the departure of then-senior Atticus Goodson, who garnered the Kennedy Award.
Quarterback Trey Bowers has become a bigger factor of late and orchestrates the IHS fast-paced attack that utilizes a quicker tempo than most teams. The Patriots have scored 40-plus points in 11 of 12 games.
“They’ve been playing in this offense for three years,” Lilly said. “Next year, we may not be able to go as fast. It allows us to go fast, because the kids are so used to it. We practice and play that way. We don’t even think about it anymore. We just go fast and sometimes our fast is pretty quick.”
Back in August, Independence and Herbert Hoover scrimmaged each other leading up to their respective season openers.
Lilly, however, doesn’t believe his team will put much stock in that exhibition, particularly with Hoover’s improvement throughout the course of the season that helped produce three straight playoff wins on the road.
“Early in the year, they were going to go through some growing pains, because they lost a lot of seniors and they were just trying to find things out,” Lilly said of the Patriots. “I knew once they found things out, they were going to be pretty good, because that guy that plays QB for them [sophomore Dane Hatfield] is phenomenal. [Huskies’ coach Joey Fields] is a good, offensive-minded guy. We know they’re not the same team. When we played them, we had 19 seniors coming back and they were trying to figure out how to fit new pieces in the puzzle. It’ll be a dogfight.”