BAKER, W.Va. — In the last 16 seasons, East Hardy has missed out on postseason play just once. There is every expectation in Baker that the Cougars will not only earn an eighth consecutive playoff berth, but also make a lengthy run in the Class A bracket. An overtime loss at Pendleton County kept the Cougars from a semifinal spot in 2025. East Hardy rallied from an 0-3 start to finish at 6-6 against one of the state’s toughest schedules.
“We went 5-5 [regular season] last year, and four of those losses were one-possession games in the fourth quarter,” said East Hardy head coach Devon Orndorff. “That could have easily been a 9-1 season if we executed two-minute drills during the course of those things. There were a lot of lessons learned. The whole plan is to have that translate into this season.”
“We relied on our defense more. They came in and played better ball,” said East Hardy senior quarterback Trevor Roof. “We had a lot of young guys that got better as the season went on.”
Senior quarterback Trevor Roof returns to lead the East Hardy offense after a junior season where he tossed 30 touchdown passes and ran for 13 more scores.
“We have taken our offense and tweaked it to fit what Trevor can do and what Trevor does well,” Orndorff said. “That’s a lot of different things, yes. So he has kind of refined and we have honed in on the plays that he likes and built off of those. The play trees have kind of changed a little bit. He is a next level talent and we are happy to have him.”
Fellow senior Dayton Dove is one of Roof’s top targets on the outside with younger players ready to contribute at receiver as well.
“Dayton Dove, he is great,” Roof said. “He will catch everything you throw to him. Brinn Childers, he is great. All of them, just throw the ball in their direction and they will catch it.”
Junior Nehemiah Graham will join Roof in the backfield after earning significant snaps at running back last fall.
“Nehemiah took over last year for Garrett VanMeter. He spelled him for injuries and games he had to sit out, things like that,” Orndorff said. “In the quarterfinals, Nehemiah basically put us on his back and almost took us to the semifinals.”
A mix of veterans and newcomers can be found on the East Hardy offensive line with a trio of returning starters leading the way.
“You might see some young names there but we are going to be anchored with Nick Roomsburg, Hayden Baker and Connor Henderson. Some of our best linemen last year, they are still holding down the fort up front,” Orndorff said.
East Hardy is annually one of the smallest schools in the state to field a football team, meaning contributions in some form are required from everyone on the roster.
“We have to make sure that we have 15, 16, 17 guys ready to play on a Friday night. But we are comfortable playing with only 16 guys,” Orndorff said. “We’ll get those guys in on special [teams]. We’ll give guys breaks when we can. But we call it ironman football. We are no stranger to it. Going on behind you right now is the conditioning. I am not sure anyone conditions as hard as we do and as much as we do. The boys don’t complain because they know on Friday night, it is going to lead to victory.”