ELIZABETH, W.Va. — Wirt County collected their first playoff victory since 2010 last November and they did so by flipping the script in the span of one week. After losing to St. Marys by 33 points in the regular season finale, the Tigers turned around and defeated the Blue Devils in their playoff opener, 27-14.
“Our kids were like, ‘OK, we can do this’. Their attitude was great,” said Wirt County head coach Jason Hickman. “We took that mindset and we changed our uniform, we changed the game time, we changed everything we possibly could to make it a different feel than it was the previous week. Our kids just bought in and executed really well.”
As the Tigers go in search of their fourth consecutive playoff appearance, they will have a mix and new starters and established veterans in the lineup. Sophomore Luke Hickman is set to step in at quarterback, taking over for multi-year starter Tyler Smith.
“Hickman is doing really good,” said Wirt County senior RB/LB Peyton Dye. “He’s got a lot of big stuff on his plate right now. He’s got to run the offense right now as a young quarterback. He is doing a really good job.”
“He’s my kid. He understands the program,” Jason Hickman said. “He understands the offense. He has known it since he was just a little guy. He understands where the ball needs to go. He is a sophomore, so he is going to make his mistakes and he is going to have his growing pains. Overall, he is making the right decisions with the football.”
Hickman’s top target on the outside looks to be sophomore Andrew Lemley. As a freshman last year, Lemley led the Tigers with 49 receptions for 739 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“He turned out to be one of our most dependable receivers as a freshman,” Hickman said. “He exceeded expectations. But now, he’s got to handle that and handle that success the right way, continue to work, continue to grind and continue to get better.”
The Tigers also welcome back their leading rusher from last season. Adryon Hartford rushed for 891 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore.
“We want to continue to try to be a balanced football team and spread people out, throw the ball and run the ball,” Hickman said. “When we get a defense spread out and they have to cover the pass and deal with that 185-190 pound running back up the middle as well, that’s kind of where we want to live.”
Senior Peyton Dye is one of the top veterans on the defensive side of the ball for the Tigers. He made 76 stops a year ago while leading the team with 13 tackles for loss.
“He is doing a great job on both sides of the ball,” Hickman said. “But on the defensive side, absolutely he is one of our leaders over there. If we had the technology and the communication, he would be wearing the green dot [communication system].
As Jason Hickman enters his 17th season spread over two stints leading Wirt County, the Tigers are welcoming elevated expectations after last year’s 8-4 season.
“There’s a little bit of pressure, I would say,” Dye said. “But not too much pressure because the community is great around here. Coach Hickman is doing a heck of a job getting us prepared for Greenbrier [West].
“Every year when we start new, everything is fresh and you start over, it doesn’t matter what happened last year. It is about this year’s team,” Hickman said. “It just brings some kind of youth and exuberance back to you. I am feeling that right now. Hopefully, that will keep me young, maybe, I don’t know. We’ll see.”