’Jackets, Bulldogs battle for LKC supremacy
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WEST UNION, W.Va. -- A lot will be on the line come 7 p.m. Friday inside Cline Stansberry Stadium when Williamstown invades Doddridge County for a key Little Kanawha Conference Class AA showdown.
The No. 2 Yellowjackets of head coach Chris Beck can lock up the double-A portion of the LKC title with a win versus the 6-1 Bulldogs of head man Bobby Burnside, who enter the fray rated seventh.
“I like the way we’ve progressed,” admitted Burnside. “I mean I think we’ve come a long way and we’ve beat some good teams since we started 0-1. Won six in a row, but I think the caliber of competition goes up real far. We’re playing a team that defeated our only loss, Roane County, but that’s kind of exciting.
“A little measuring stick to see where we are currently at and what we got to work on, and our guys are excited for the challenge. It’s been a season where we’ve just tried to get better day to day and week to week. We’ve made a lot of progress and there’s still a lot of progress to be made.”
Senior Evan Cross has taken over the quarterback duties after the Bulldogs graduated first team all-stater Brysen Dixon.
“Evan’s done a real good job. He has,” Burnside said. “He’s done what’s asked of him. There’s been some games where he’s done a good job just controlling the game and he’s had a few games where he’s just ran the ball pretty good for us.
“Just overall as a team I think the work that they’ve put in and just staying the course with the team first goals, not getting worried about the stats or anything like that. Whatever helps the team and I think this year, it’s been like some years, we’ve leaned heavily on our offensive line and our defense.”
Williamstown, which had its closest game with a 34-26 win at Chapmanville, knows the task at hand isn’t going to be an easy one to reach 8-0.
“They are good,” stressed Beck. “I mean typical Doddridge in terms of being very physical, run the ball, well coached and play great defense. I mean kind of what Bobby has hung his hat on and this team is true to that. Defensively, they’ve been phenomenal. Their defensive line and linebackers have done a great job – 53 (Jacob Britton) and 10 (Dayne Murphy) are really good players.
“Offensively, it kind of starts with 1 (Corben Hall) and 4 (Brandon Davis). They got other guys who can do stuff, but those two guys are pretty dynamite. (Davis) 4 is a senior and he’s a tough physical runner, 1 (Hall) is too, but he’s kind of more the home run threat really. He can make a lot of people miss and for a freshman he’s a phenomenal player.”
The Bulldogs will be out to stop a dynamic Yellowjacket attack that’s keyed by quarterback Breck Allen and tailback Daniel Cunningham.
“He’s emerged. He’s emerged as a real threat,” Burnside said of Cunningham. “They do a good job. They attack multiple areas. They will throw the ball successfully. They run the Q. They run Cunningham. They run some nice reverses, jet sweeps. It’s a lot of prep for the defense. They return a lot of people. You got to be in the correct position. You can’t get misaligned. They are capable of the big play. You got to stop that.
“There’s a lot of prep. (Last year) They were pretty young. They are a lot more experienced and I think it’s showing. They present some challenges. They formation you to empty the box out and get some mismatches and then anytime you run your quarterback you gain the extra person, and they got an offense built around that. A lot of people contributing, but it starts there.”
Although the Bulldogs have been more ground oriented this season, Beck knows the WHS defense has to say on point at all times.
“Can’t fall asleep,” Beck added. “It’s like a Roane and others we’ve played. They are very run heavy, but they are going to take their shots. It’s like with Dixon the last year or two they had gotten more balanced. I think that was indicative of Dixon and the receivers they had. This team is much more like the other teams they’ve had with a Hunter America and those type of guys where they are pounding it away.
“It’s kind of Doddridge from three or four years ago, not the last year or two. They were still Doddridge last year, too, but you’d see more variety. We know we’re in for a dog fight. We’ve played each other enough over the last six or seven years. I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of secrets. It’s about what kids can go out there and execute and make plays.”
Returning first team all-stater Christian Hoosier, who leads the Mid-Ohio Valley with four blocked kicks, has joined fellow starters Miles Flanagin, Isaac Harshbarger, Colin Jones and Christian Stull on the offensive line thus far in each contest.
“This year we’ve had the same five,” Beck said of his O-line while noting the ‘Jackets play six or seven guys on the D-line each night. “I’m really happy with our group up front. They’ve done a great job of getting better every week and most games we’ve been able to control the line of scrimmage. That will be key Friday.
“You can say it about most every game, the line of scrimmage is where the game is won and lost, and I think there’s extra weight with that this Friday because I think you have two teams that want to run the football, stop the run and really pride themselves in their line play. Those five guys got to come and 53 (Britton) for them on both sides of the ball is phenomenal. We’re going to be challenged.”
Burnside just wants his team to continue doing what they’ve done all season.
“It’s being patient,” said the coach. “Just continuing to play physical, get the extra yard, get the block, stay on the block. Sometimes, I mean Xs and Os play a factor, but a lot of times it’s about defeating the block, making a block, making a tackle, giving great effort and those things throughout the entire course of a game. It’s going to take that kind of effort.”
Injury-wise, the Bulldogs are “pretty good” according to Burnside, who added “we got some typical bangs and bruises like every team does have this late in the year, but overall health of the team is good, knock on wood. It’s always a factor for every team. It really is.”
Coach Beck also noted “we got a couple bumps and bruises and one guy questionable, but we’ll see how that goes. It’s pretty simple. If we win we’re LKC champs.”
Burnside noted of the LKC implications “we’re trying to work our way into that conversation. It should be an exciting atmosphere. Williamstown is undefeated. We have one loss.
“There’s the conference. They have defeated Roane County so they are undefeated in the LKC. It could get interesting and all that stuff.”
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com