St. Marys’ Eli Wilson (44) carries the ball during a game against Frontier last season. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The coaching staff under East Fairmont’s Shane Eakle should be worth a few points by itself for Friday’s Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Football Classic at St. Marys High School.

Eakle, who completed his seventh season at his alma mater last fall, brought Doddridge County’s Bobby Burnside and Tucker County’s A.J. Rapp on board to join his own staff from East Fairmont.

Rapp and Burnside have a combined 22 playoff appearances between their respective schools.

“My connection with Bobby Burnside goes back to track and field, and football for many years,” Eakle said. “I was a defensive coordinator under A.J. Rapp for 10 years before I took over as head coach at East Fairmont.”

Eakle was an assistant coach under Burnside for the 2023 BACF Football Classic.

“First and foremost, it’s awesome to coach an event which is being held for a good cause, and that’s to raise money for cure for Cystic Fibrosis,” Eakle said. “Everything that we raise is going to the fight and help people live with that on a daily basis.”

Prior to Eakle arrival at East Fairmont, the Bees’ football program struggled – winning a total of one game in the previous two seasons combined – including a winless showing leading up to Eakle’s debut.

“As far as the culture I want here at East Fairmont, I don’t think we are quite there yet,” Eakle said.

Competing in the Big 10 Conference was a grind week in and week out, and Eakle managed to lead East Fairmont to the postseason three straight years beginning in 2022. Since the inception of the football program at the school in 1921, the Bees had qualified for the playoffs on three previous occasions.

“When I accepted the job, yes, everyone welcomed me with open arms – I hope,” Eakle laughed. “The program was kind of in a rough spot and hadn’t been real successful. Since I’ve been here, the approach has been trying to get our kids involved with the community. That’s job one.

“You still have your ups and downs. We play in the Big 10 Conference and last year six members were playoff teams. We are now in Class AAA. When it was the three-class system, we were Class AA, and that was OK.”

In addition to his own coaching staff at East Fairmont, three seniors from Eakles’ team which finished 3-7 last fall will make the trip.

Karson Church earned second-team, all-state honors as a punter. Church has a leg capable of making field goals from 50 yards.

Gavin Murphy at 5-foot-7 was the Bees’ swiss army knife and rarely took a play off. Murphy received honorable mention as a wide receiver and defensive back, who also returned kicks.

Larry Nichols played on both sides of the line of scrimmage, including long snapper. With the BACF players at Eakle’s disposal, Nichols will primarily line up at defensive end.

“They are excited to play one more time,” Eakle said.

“We are putting the pieces together one day at a time and keeping things simple,” Eakle said. “We have an idea what we want to do Friday. These are all good players and we are trying to get everybody to understand common terminology.

“These players get an extra week of football. We want them to have a good time.”