CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Austin Scott notched his 13th career victory as head coach of Robert C. Byrd football last Friday.
Each of the previous 12 are hardly comparable to the Eagles’ 36-28 triumph against Fairmont Senior at East-West Stadium, a result that enables Scott to coach this year’s group at least another week.
In the process, No. 14 RCB snapped a 12-game losing streak to its Big 10 Conference rival, became one of four double-digit seeds to reach a quarterfinal and is the highest remaining seed still playing.
“After that first game where we had opportunities but didn’t execute, we knew we wanted them back and we’re glad we got them back in the playoffs,” Eagles’ junior quarterback Isaiah Heflin said.
Not until wrapping up the regular season with a 34-0 victory against Buckhannon-Upshur did RCB (6-5) cement its spot in the postseason.
The Eagles wound up with the same seed they had in 2024. Last year ended with a 65-point loss to unbeaten and eventual state champion Bridgeport.
This time around, the Eagles moved beyond a 35-9 regular season loss to FSHS back in Week 2 and pulled off what many statewide consider a stunner.
“It was really just like we beat ourselves. We didn’t feel like they’d done anything to stop us and that we had stopped ourselves,” said Scott, a third-year head coach and 2011 RCB graduate. “We talked about it going forward, just executing and especially on offense. Same thing on defense, and over the past few weeks, we really got better on that side of the ball. When we were going into the game last week, we were confident because we knew what we had done wrong the first time.”
The 26-point defeat in the regular season meeting wasn’t entirely indicative of how the game played out. The Eagles turned it over on downs in the red zone three times in the opening half and the Polar Bears finished with 85 more total yards (334-249).
So after securing its playoff berth win the resounding victory against the Buccaneers, the Eagles honed in on fixing what had gone wrong the first time around in Fairmont.
“People were saying we could see them in the playoffs,” said Eagles’ senior center/defensive end Trevor Dean. “We drew a good team and got what we wanted, and going into that game, knowing and seeing what we had done wrong and our coaches having a good idea of what they’re going to do, we came out ready to go.”
The Eagles trailed 21-20 at halftime and 28-20 through three quarters, but pulled even in the fourth when Heflin threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Junior Smith and tying 2-point pass to Isaac Barksdale.
Heflin’s 3-yard touchdown run with 1 minute remaining proved to be the game-winner and capped off a stellar showing for the signal-caller, who accounted for 101 of his team’s 225 rushing yards, rushed for three scores and passed for 112 yards and a TD.
After spending his freshman and sophomore seasons at since-closed Liberty Harrison, Heflin has been a welcome addition to the locker room across town.
“I had to settle in. As soon as I got comfortable with my weapons and line, as soon as we all meshed into one, we’ve done very well,” Heflin said. “We had opportunities to win more games and we let them slip away, but as soon as we’ve grown, we’ve gotten a lot better.”
The next challenge for RCB is to see if it can move forward from the emotional and notable victory that is unquestionably on the short list of best wins in school history. A Saturday night quarterfinal at No. 6 Spring Valley (8-3) awaits after the Timberwolves narrowly topped Elkins, 13-10, last Saturday.
Familiarity is essentially non-existent between two programs separated by 3 hours, but Scott is well aware of the prowess the Timberwolves generally possess up front and believes this year’s version is no different.
“That’s a good Elkins team. People kind of overlooked them as the season went on and they’re no slouch by any means, especially up front,” Scott said. “They had similar styles, so you kind of knew how that game was going to be won or lost. We know the strength of our team is up front and I think they feel the same way. Last week and this week, we have to win in the trenches on offense and defense. Our guys know that and they embody that and take this on as another challenge.”
In studying SVHS the last few days, Heflin says the Timberwolves’ physical play is a point of emphasis.
“They’re physical and big. They have some big boys,” Heflin said. “If we want to have a chance and move onto the next round, we have to play physical, too, and try to beat them at their own game with physicality. We’ll have to execute on offense and defense like we did last Friday.”
For Dean, a two-way impact player and team leader, any game from here on out could be his final one.
He’s using that for added motivation and wants teammates to as well.
“Every day is scary. You never know when it could be your last one. It could be your last practice or team dinner and we talked about that last week,” Dean said. “That’s the beauty of the game. If you win, you stay alive. Especially as a senior, that’s what you want, because after this, that could be it. That could be the last time you put the pads on. I tell the underclassmen if you’re not doing it for yourself, do it for the seniors that may never put pads on again.”
One year after no double digit seed won a postseason game with 28 opening-round possibilities statewide, the Eagles are striving to be the only team seeded 14th or higher to advance to the semifinal round in the last four years with the exception of Independence in 2023.
“Last week a great win for our program, great for our town and school, but we have to let it go at this point,” Scott said. “We celebrated over the weekend and you take it in, but we know it’s over with and we really have to move on, because we have a good opponent this week. We have to come out with the same passion and energy that we did last week. We definitely want to keep going. Our goal is to win a state championship and that doesn’t stop just because we beat Fairmont Senior.”