BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — With respect to the ten state championship teams that came before, Bridgeport’s 2024 squad may have put together the most dominating season in program history en route to a title. The Indians went 14-0 and put the running clock on scoreboard in each game. Each win came by at least four touchdowns and they outscored their opponents by an average of 57-8. Eleven players earned first or second team all-state honors. Unsurprisingly, Bridgeport’s championship celebration was brief as the focus quickly turned to 2025.
“We celebrated for a couple, about two or three weeks after the win,” said Bridgeport senior lineman Noah West. “Then it was back to business, talking about when our lifting schedule was, when we can get back in the weight room and when we can get back to doing what we do best.”
“I enjoy, almost, January in weightlifting and watching the kids get stronger and better as much as I do winning a championship in December,” said Bridgeport head coach Tyler Phares. “It is fun to watch them come in and work and get better every day.”
A large and decorated senior class filled with six first team all-state picks and a pair of Division I signees [Wes Brown and Carter Zuliani] has moved on, leaving this year’s group of seniors to meet the annual expectations of the program.
“The seniors were more than brothers to me,” West said. “They just helped me out a lot throughout the years. Certainly Wes Brown, because I had no idea what to do at inside tackle. And he helped me out a lot.”
“It is a privilege to be looked up to. You just have to fill in the shoes,” said Bridgeport senior lineman Bryson Lowther.
“There’s a lot of pressure being a senior on this team,” said Bridgeport senior tight end/linebacker Wes Conley. “You have to be a leader. You have to know how to talk. You have to know how to set the right tone everyday at practice. You want to be there, want to work and want to get better every day.”
Several linemen with starting or varsity-level experience are back. It is a group led in part by second team all-state selection Noah West.
“He is a little bit of the energy,” Phares said. “He is fun and he is a happy kid to be around. He works his tail off. He’s got a ton of experience. He started two years for us. For him to play both ways and show a bunch of the younger guys how we do things around here, it is huge for us.”
“People like me, Bryson [Lowther] and Noah [West] all coming back, Nate Hess, they all played last year. They are all very experienced and very good,” Conley said.
Bridgeport’s top four rushers from last season have graduated. Juniors Gavin Williams and last year’s leading tackler, Gabe Martin, are both in line to take on added roles in the backfield.
“I am excited to see those kids, their growth and maturity throughout the summer to really understand the offense and where they are supposed to be,” Phares said. “That way, come August they can play with their hair on fire and ready to roll.”
Five new opponents are featured on the Indians’ regular season schedule. Heritage High School from Lynchburg, Virginia won nine games last season. Fort Hill won a Maryland state championship. Those two teams will visit Wayne Jamison Field, while the Indians will visit Spring Valley.
“It is fun to get on a bus and go to a different place,” Phares said. “It is fun to have a new team come in and it is exciting for our fans, I believe, to see some different teams come up and show up to this field. Hopefully we will pack the stands pretty well and those new games will really pay off for us.”
As Phares enters his fifth season leading the Indians, continuity on his staff is one of the major reasons for the program’s continued success.
“Coach [John] Cole is an echo of Wayne Jamison, of Bruce Carey and all the guys that have come before,” Phares said. “We just want to continue that same tradition of running the football, taking care of the ball, blocking and tackling. The kids know the expectations right from the get go. When you don’t have a lot of turnover on your coaching staff, it is nice because they already know the expectations. They know how to echo that. I am lucky with the staff that we have and the guys that we have that are willing to come in and put in a lot of time for these young men.”