South Charleston wary of the Bruins
Friday, December 4, 2009
By MIKE MATHISON- The Herald Star
South Charleston coach John Messinger does not expect the road in the Class AAA state championship game at noon Saturday against undefeated and No. 1 Brooke to be as easy as last year's 39-8 win over rival George Washington.
"Brooke is a really good football team," he said. "They are undefeated and No. 1 for a reason. And, they might at well be a member of the MSAC since they play a lot of those teams.
"We feel like from top to bottom the MSAC might be the best football conference in the state. Brooke, Morgantown, University, Bridgeport, any one of them can win the MSAC year in and year out and to say that we are facing an inferior team - that's the farthest thing from the truth.
"They're good."
The 13-0 Bruins have victories over Mountain State Athletic Conference members Parkersburg, Beckley, Riverside and Ripley, the final two in the playoffs.
Messinger also pointed that Brooke is the home team because of the No. 1 seed and the fact it is playing some 20 minutes from the Wellsburg campus.
"That football team has it all. The greatest thing about Brooke that I see is their will to win. They refuse to lose and refuse to quit and they proved that in the first football game of the year at Parkersburg," said the Black Eagles coach.
"They are going to play in their back yard. This is definitely a home game for them."
Brooke's offense begins with Kennedy Award finalist Cotey Wallace, who has thrown for 2,026 yards on 133-of-211 passing and has rushed for 1,045 yards. The senior has been a part of 41 total touchdowns.
South Charleston signal caller Tyler Harris, also a Kennedy Award finalist, has run the ball for 881 yards, thrown for 2,666 yards and has accounted for 39 touchdowns.
The quarterbacks are also on the field playing defense.
Wallace's favorite target is 6-foot-3 Joey DiNardo, who has 889 yards on 44 catches and nine scores. He also plays defensive back.
"Tyler didn't start the season for us at quarterback," said Messinger. "He has stepped his game up on the field as a leader.
"It's also great to know going into this game that you have some experienced players back from a team that was able to go to a championship, and they can fall back on that experience.
"You're looking at two teams from top to bottom that are talented in a lot of positions. We are similar on so many repsects, but we are also different in other aspects.
"Defensively Brooke has stepped up and done some wonderful things. The semifinal game (a 32-15 win over University) proved that. I gave University a little more chance than that and Brooke shut them down from top to bottom."
