Island Pride
Monday, November 30, 2009
By MIKE MATHISON- The Herald Star
The Madonna and Brooke football teams are 13-0 and are playing on Saturday at Wheeling Island Stadium in their respective West Virginia state championship games.
The two took different paths to get to the ultimate destination.
The Class A ranks knew Madonna, which will play at 7 p.m. against Man, was going to be good. The Blue Dons had a ton of kids back from the group who came up short in the 2008 state title tilt against Williamstown.
The Class AAA teams had no idea about Brooke, which will play at noon against defending champion South Charleston. The Bruins had a new coach (Tom Bruney), a new system and a ton of unanswered questions.
This season was back to business for the Blue Dons.
It was a new business for Brooke.
Senior Jake Lilly and juniors Tripper Narigon and Ryan Lazear talked about Bruney and what he has brought to the program after Saturday's 32-15 triumph over University at Brooke Memorial Stadium.
"Once coach Bruney came in and we all got under control and we got on his program, I thought for sure we would go all the way," Lilly said. "With him as a coach leading us, guiding us, I knew he would lead us this far."
"Coach just told us that no one could beat us and we believed him," said junior Tripper Narigon. "This ride has been amazing."
"The first day coach Bruney walked in the doors and we had a meeting and he said 'there's no one on our schedule that we can't beat,'" said running back Ryan Lazear.
Those facts were punctuated the first week of the season when the Bruins, down 42-41 at Parkersburg, went for a two-point conversion with 3:18 left in the game, converted and came home with a win that sent messages throughout the Class AAA ranks.
"I think the moment in our season that set the tempo for the rest of the season was when we went for two at Parkersburg," said Bruney.
"When we converted that two-point conversion I think that was the point when everybody said, 'look, we play hard every week and prepare hard every week, there's nobody on our schedule that can beat us. The only way we're going to get beat is if we beat ourselves.
"We've gone through the season with that in mind and, so far, it's worked."
This is Brooke's eighth appearance in the state title game and first since a 36-7 loss to DuPont in 1992. That contest capped a streak where the Bruins were in the championship game six times in eight years. Brooke is 3-4 in the game, winning it in 1985, 1987 and 1990.
Senior standout quarterback and Kennedy Award finalist Cotey Wallace led the Bruins last week with 195 yards and three touchdowns through the air. He also added 94 yards on the ground to surpass 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing this year.
Brooke's defense has been nothing short of outstanding.
After being down 14-0 to Princeton early in the first round of the playoffs, the Bruins' defense has allowed four touchdowns, three of which came after the game had been decided.
"We just come out and hit people hard," said senior linebacker Kyle Sims.
Madonna's defense, rated No. 1 in the state for all classifications, has also been known to hit people hard.
It has been brilliant.
It has not allowed a team to score in double digits. It has seven shutouts and allowed five touchdowns, three against the first-team unit.
The No. 1-ranked Blue Dons have only been behind once, 2-0 at Clay-Battelle and then scored 28 in a row for a 28-2 win in the last regular season game of the season.
Gilbert scored to make it 6-6 in the opening playoff game.
Madonna then scored 96 straight points over the next nine quarters against three opponents.
No. 2-ranked Man grabbed its first championship game berth in 25 years with a 27-20 victory over previously undefeated Richwood on Saturday.
The Hillbillies lost three championship games as a Class AA school in 1977, 1980 and 1984.
The Blue Dons are 37-3 the last three years. And, despite that glamorous record, one goal this year for the squad was to play Wheeling Central on the turf at Jimmy Carey Stadium.
The old saying goes 'be careful for what you wish for.'
But, Madonna was ready.
"This is one of the best feelings of my life, second to winning the state championship in wrestling," senior quarterback Max Nogay said after Friday's 18-7 win over the visiting Maroon Knights.
"I think we had that mental edge. We worked hard all week. We are the No. 1 seed and it was time to get over the Wheeling Central thing. They had that mind-lock on us.
"We really wanted this game at home. Our sophomore year we got beat up on. We all wanted this. We've wanted this for a long time."
"They are a strong opponent every year," Madonna's Nick Nero said of the Maroon Knights. "This is what we wanted. We've wanted it for years."
"We knew this was a big game, but we know next week is the state championship game," senior Lou Comis said after the win.
"We also know it will be against a really good opponent."
Madonna last played Man in the first round of the 2004 playoffs, when the Blue Dons made it to the state title game and dropped a 34-7 decision to Wheeling Central.
Madonna is returning to the Island for the second year in a row. It lost 23-7 to Williamstown a year ago.
The Blue Dons' only state title came in 1987.
