Blue Dons Achieve Perfection
Sunday, December 6, 2009
By SHAWN RINE- The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register
Two teams, one goal, two sets of tears for totally different reasons.
Brooke and Weirton Madonna entered Saturday's Super Six at Wheeling Island Stadium hoping to keep a pair of titles in the Northern Panhandle. In the end, we'll have to live with one.
The Blue Dons capped a perfect season with their first state championship since 1987, but the Bruins succumbed to what became a back-to-back title-winning South Charleston team.
For a large group of Blue Dons, this culminated what was more than a decade-long journey.
''Eleven years with most of these guys on this team,'' fullback-linebacker Louie Comis said. ''It had to happen, and it happened the right way.
''We're going to remember this the rest of our lives. All these guys together, we're brothers.''
When Coach Bob Kramer took over this program 12 years ago, state championships weren't a part of his thought process. At that time, he was more concerned with finding enough guys that wanted to be a part of the team. Today, he's reaping the spoils.
''It's an overwhelming feeling,'' he said. ''To actually win it is a dream come true for me.
''They believed in each other all year, and they play together so well. I can't tell you how much of a pleasure it's been to coach these kids.''
Behind 156 yards passing and three touchdowns (one running) from team Most Valuable Player and quarterback Max Nogay, and two touchdowns from junior Connor Arlia, including a 70-yard punt return less than 2 minutes into the game, the Blue Dons became the first group in the school's history to win 14 games.
''Personally, Coach Kramer and I have a good relationship,'' Nogay said. ''He wants nothing more than to see us succeed.
''This is a great feeling for us and our community.''
It was a sweet reward for a program that a year ago at this time had to watch as Williamstown raised the trophy at its expense. Immediately after that loss everyone from Weirton to Bluefield started telling this group the 2009 trophy was its to lose.
''After last year we looked up at that scoreboard and felt almost pain,'' Arlia said. ''Now it's awesome - amazing.''
That's a lot of pressure for a teenager to handle, and it was intensified last week after Madonna knocked off nemesis Wheeling Central in what some were calling the de facto state title game.
''We heard that from some people, but we still had one more game - it wasn't the state championship,'' Comis said. ''It was kind of hard at the beginning of the week to get re-focused, but we did.
''(Coach Kramer) deserves it so much - our whole team deserves it.''
A Good Ride
While it's tough to put it in proper perspective this morning, what the Bruins were able to accomplish against enormous odds will not soon be forgotten by not only the residents of Brooke County, but the Ohio Valley as a whole.
Anybody who says they envisioned the Bruins' season ending in tears is a liar. This group of kids had been beaten down for so long that football seasons came in like and lamb and left the same way - with little fanfare.
But no longer.
''This run was amazing. I just wish I could come back next year and continue it, but unfortunately I've got to go on,'' Brooke senior two-way lineman Jake Lilly said. ''Hopefully these guys learned something this year and they can pick it up next year and finish where we left off.
''It was amazing to bring Brooke County back together, and to bring the pride back.''
The Bruins got behind quickly when South Charleston's Perry Henry stepped in front of quarterback Cotey Wallace's first pass and took it back for a touchdown. Save for the three shutouts (Riverside, University, Weir) Brooke pitched this season, it had a habit of getting behind on the scoreboard and rallying, so there was no panic.
''Getting behind early didn't make a difference,'' linebacker Mike Kosevic said. ''We always fought back (all year), but you've got to give it to South Charleston. We just couldn't get back.
''We were super calm - we were actually excited.
''We had more mistakes than South Charleston, and that's why they won.''
For Wallace, it wasn't the storybook ending he had envisioned. A Kennedy Award candidate as the state's top player, Wallace was limited to 72 yards rushing and 95 passing.
But he's seen more than his fair share of trials and tribulations in the last year and will bounce back like he always does.
''We made a nice run. We couldn't finish it, but we did our best,'' he said. ''They are just much bigger and much faster. The better team won. We gave it all we had, but in the end it just wasn't enough.
''We're one of the very few teams to go undefeated and 13 wins ties the school record.''
