MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Williamstown left Wheeling Island Stadium with a trophy last season but not the one they coveted. The 2021 Class A runners-up refocused quickly after falling to Ritchie County and they have returned to the state’s brightest stage.
“We said the next week, ‘Hey, we are coming back’,” said Williamstown head coach Chris Beck. “We wanted to come back and be on the opposite end of this thing. I am just proud of our guys. It is a wonderful feeling for them.”
With 30 rushing touchdowns and an average of nearly nine yards per carry, senior running back Rickie Allen has been a consistent performer on an offense that averages 46 points per game.
“Rickie knows when it is ‘go time’. We know we can count on him. We certainly have a lot of depth with playmakers. But Rickie heads up that list. He is able to make plays in a variety of ways.”
Junior Maxwell Molessa is the team’s leading passer and second-leading rusher. He also ranks fifth in receiving yards and tackles.
“We had packages like that before the year anyways. When he got hurt, it forced us to leverage those a little bit more maybe earlier than we wanted to.”
As Class A’s lone remaining unbeaten team, James Monroe is yielding just 6.2 points per game. That number is aided by an offense that loves to play keep away with time-consuming drives.
“If it was up to me, that’s what I would way to do every time,” said James Monroe head coach John Mustain. “Sometimes, that is the best way to go, to keep going until they stop it. It works for us and fortunately we are able to run a lot of time off the clock too.”
The Mavericks’ offense has been engineered by sophomore Layton Dowdy. In his first year as the staring quarterback, Dowdy is completing two-thirds of his passes with 26 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
“We kind of went through three or four different quarterbacks last year. Basically when we came in this year, I decided that from what I had seen, he was the one we were going to put under center. And he has done an excellent job,” Mustain said.
Senior Eli Allen led the Mavericks to a state basketball title last March and it appeared he was going to pass up football this fall. A change of heart brought him back to the team and he has been a dominating force at receiver and in the secondary.
“I said, ‘Be here tomorrow’. That was pretty much it,” Mustain said. “He was kind of hanging around that first game along the sidelines. I just kind of had a feeling that he missed it and really wanted to be out there. It is definitely a big plus to have him out there.”