HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Spring Valley has qualified for postseason play in each season under head coach Brad Dingess dating back to his first year in 2008. Last year’s run to the Class AAA semifinals may have exceeded expectations for the Timberwolves. After a 4-3 start, Spring Valley hit their stride with five consecutive wins before seeing their run come to an end against the eventual champions from Princeton.
“I was so proud of those kids,” Dingess said. “I thought we really came a long way. At the beginning of the year, I didn’t really think we were a good football team. We were just kind of trying to piece stuff together. But we found ourselves and found some things that we were good at. We kind of peaked at the right time and made a pretty good run at it.”
As the Wolves put the pieces in place for 2026, just four starters return and the coaches are looking for younger players to make the sizable jump from Monday night football at the JV level to Friday night football.
“We’ve got three starters coming back on offense and one on defense. There’s a lot of green kids out there. A big thing is how those kids are going to react when the lights come on. They played pretty well last year in freshman and JV football. Both had very successful years and there’s some talent there. But there’s a big difference between a 15-year-old and an 18-year-old. We’re going to have to grow up quick.”
Pressed into the starting quarterback spot just before last year’s season opener, Caiden Lovejoy took almost every meaningful snap for the Wolves in his junior season while accounting for eleven total touchdowns.
“We’re going to try to move him around a little bit this year. It is kind of like what we had with Graeson Malashevich, who could play multiple positions. He is going to have to play defense too. He is a kid that I love and he is a team leader and a kid that is going to be all over the place for us.”
Senior running backs Zeke Lewis and Miguel Cain combined for almost 2,300 yards and 17 touchdowns last fall. Dingess is hopeful that a number of younger backs will stake their claim for carries over the next three weeks.
“There’s some kids where we feel like we can be more of a running back by committee early until one of those guys kind of take a stride and take the lead.”
In Spring Valley’s run-heavy offense, several new linemen will be counted on to take on increased roles.
“I feel pretty good about seven or eight of those guys up front. They just don’t have a whole lot of experience. But a kid like Judson Rich, he played both sides of the ball on the line and didn’t come out of the ball game last year. We’re going to kind of weigh on him a little bit.”
As Dingess enters his 19th year leading the pack in Huntington, he says continuity on his staff is one of the biggest reasons that Spring Valley has remained one of the state’s most consistent programs.
“If you do all the right things, the wins will come. I think we have done a pretty good job of that. It has been good. I have kept the nucleus of my staff throughout the whole time. It is good to get out here with these guys.”