Football Preview 2017

Moses Has Edison Looking to the Future

By AARON PETCHAL RICHMOND — Edison is looking to the future, not the past. This season, the Wildcats are under the guidance of first-year head coach Nate Moses. “We are going to work hard,” Moses said. “The kids and the coaching staff are going to work hard and try to make the most out of every day. The key thing is to work hard and improve every day.” Moses was hired to take over the program after former head coach Derrick Stickles resigned July 20. “The transition has been pretty smooth,” Moses said. “I have got great guys around me. We all have the same ...

Monroe Central Must Improve on Its Defense

By RICK THORP WOODSFIELD — The story of the 2016 Monroe Central football team can best be told using one number — 40.7. That’s the average number of points allowed by the Seminoles in each of their nine losses a year ago. When you figure in their one victory — a 37-0 pasting of Frontier — that figure drops to 36.7. Still, it was too much for the team’s long-time coach. ‘‘The biggest thing was we couldn’t stop anyone defensively, especially against the run,’’ veteran Monroe Central head coach Jay Circosta said.. ‘‘That’s going to be a big challenge ...

Deem Has Building Blocks In Place at Beallsville

By BUBBA KAPRAL BEALLSVILLE — These are exciting times for the Beallsville program. A new and much-needed million dollar fieldhouse will be ready for the 2018 season. Already in place is a state-of-the-art video scoreboard. And most importantly, the roster is growing in numbers and talent. Larry Deem is in his third season at the Blue Devils helm. He virtually saved the program from extinction when he took over in August of 2015. In his initial two seasons, Deem has had to deal with a brutal and nonsensical schedule and a lack of manpower. He and his Blue Devils have shown ...

Excitement Abounds at Harrison Central

By SETH STASKEY CADIZ — There are certainly a lot of things to be excited about as it pertains to Harrison Central football. But, coach Justin Kropka, who is entering his 13th season at the helm, prefers to temper the excitement and focus on the process because he knows there’s a long way to go. Though many of the faces will be different on the field this season, Kropka admitted the goals and approach do not change. “We’ve gotten (this program) to the point where we want to be competitive for postseason berths,” Kropka said. “Last year, I think we would have made ...

High-Profile Coaches To Debut in Conference USA

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Butch Davis is back on the sideline, and Lane Kiffin is again leading his own program. While those high-profile coaches get ready for their Conference USA debuts — Davis at FIU and Kiffin at Florida Atlantic — coach Bill Clark stayed in place for UAB’s football revival. With the return of the Blazers , C-USA again has 14 teams split into seven-team divisions. Clark had just finished his first year at UAB, going 6-6 in 2014 for the school’s first non-losing record in 10 seasons, when the program was briefly shut down for financial reasons. Skip Holtz ...

Low Number, High Expectations at Tyler

By CODY TOMER SISTERSVILLE—The number of players are down somewhat this year at Tyler Consolidated, but the expectations heading into the 2017 campaign are very high. The Silver Knights are coming off of a 6-4 season last year and a playoff appearance. In fact, they have reached the playoffs in two of the last three years but have been unable to advance into the next round. Head coach Ryan Walton hopes to change that this year. “Things are going OK so far,” Walton said. “Our numbers are down this year but the guys that we have, want to work and get better. They are buying into ...