As his team is poised for a second straight Class AAA state championship, something that's only been done six times in 51 years in West Virginia, South Charleston coach John Messinger openly worries about conditioning.
He's concerned that Brooke's players may be fresh for today's noon title game at Wheeling Island Stadium, and that his might not be in tip-top shape.
Messinger has noticed that, unlike his squad, the top-ranked Bruins (13-0) don't have many athletes who play both offense and defense.
"They're practically a two-platoon system,'' Messinger said. "They've only got two, three kids playing both ways consistently - and that, to me, is going to be tough to overcome.''
Messinger isn't so much worried that his players aren't fresh, but that they might not be prepared for the rigors of four full quarters. The No. 2 Black Eagles (12-1) tore through a slew of one-sided games following their lone loss to Capital 8-6 on Sept. 25.
In the seven games that followed, SC won by margins of 35, 45, 49, 41, 14, 39 and 27 points, and the regulars seldom played in the second half. Then came back-to-back thrillers against Martinsburg and Bridgeport in the playoffs.
Messinger was so concerned about his team's conditioning after the row of routs that he had them do extra running before the semifinal with Bridgeport.
"In the middle of our season,'' Messinger said, "we had three, four games where our kids didn't play but one, two quarters of football. It was a great thing because we got the opportunity to see some young kids and get some experience, but it hurt us at the end of the season because you can play your way out of shape. And that's what we did at one point.
"We didn't get enough quarters with our [first-teamers] to keep them in shape, and actually we probably ran more last week at the beginning of the week than we've ran in the past four football games.''
Messinger thinks his team's near-collapse in the quarterfinals against Martinsburg - in which it blew a 28-0 halftime lead and was tied in the fourth quarter - was partly to blame on its long stretch of not being tested.
"We told them going in at halftime [against Martinsburg] that there was a very real possibility that this football team can come back on you,'' Messinger said, "but they didn't believe us based on that middle of our season where it was too easy. And Martinsburg came back, and we got in trouble.''
But out of desperation came dividends for the Black Eagles. Messinger pointed to five players who took leadership roles upon themselves, which helped right the ship that night.
"The greatest thing about that was that Blake Brooks, Austin Vickers, Wayne Wurster, Tyler Harris and Napoleon Gregory showed more leadership in one quarter of football than I have seen in eight, nine years of football at South Charleston High School,'' Messinger said.
"[Coaches] cannot be out on the field and in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. You've got to rely on sound leadership. It's the first time I've seen a unified effort by leaders to get things on track, and that was great. It's probably what won the ballgame for us against Bridgeport. Our kids had that refuse-to-lose attitude because they knew those four, five kids were going to stay right up their hind ends for four quarters.''
Messinger hopes that mindset carries over to today's game, because he knows the Black Eagles may be walking into a stadium packed with frenzied Brooke fans. Island Stadium seats 10,200, but the Super Six committee in the past has trucked in portable bleachers that seat about 2,000 when overflow crowds are expected.
"We've had a little bit of experience this year and last year - rarely this year - of playing from behind,'' Messinger said. "But we don't want to go up there and get in that situation because, truthfully, this may be a sellout from what I'm hearing.
"They're going to fill it up. They're only 15 miles away. It's not only going to be a home game on the scoreboard, it's going to be a home game. I guarantee you we're going to have a patch of Orange and Black there, but it's going to be surrounded by Green and Yellow. That plays a part.''
Messinger said he sees "a lot of Division I and Division II football players'' in Brooke's lineup. He's impressed with running back Ryan Lazear, slotback Ian Morris, receiver Joe Di Nardo, and especially with lineman Jake Kelly (6-foot-2, 250 pounds).
"To me, he's maybe the best football player on their team,'' Messinger said. "Offensively and defensively, he's everywhere and they move him all over the place, up and down the defensive line of scrimmage.''
Of course, the Bruins' most valuable weapon is quarterback and Kennedy Award candidate Cotey Wallace, who's run for more than 1,000 yards and passed for 2,000-plus.
"He's really a good athlete,'' said Tevin Spurlock, SC's defensive back and receiver. "He makes plays and gets away from pressure, and does a lot of things well. We've got to be prepared for whatever they have coming. Any time we have a chance to make a big play, we have to score.''
Brooke first-year coach Tom Bruney, who has guided his program from a 3-7 finish last year to 13 straight wins and a title-game appearance, lauds SC for having "skilled athletes who are also football players.''
"I think that makes a huge difference,'' Bruney said, "because it's not something you see from a lot of teams at the high school level. They're loaded with skilled athletes, but they're also football players.
"For instance, the wide receivers all catch the ball real well, and they're big and they're fast, but they're all well-coached. They know how to read zones and sit down in the hole and allow the quarterback to throw through windows. I'm really impressed with what they put on the field, very impressed. They're the best team we're going to see all year.''
Junior quarterback Harris, who was voted his team's MVP in last year's title-game win over George Washington, leads the SC offense with 2,202 passing yards and 26 touchdowns.
