The longer a season lasts, the better Tyler Harris gets.

The junior quarterback at South Charleston High School rose to prominence a year ago during a playoff run that ended with the Black Eagles winning their first Class AAA state football championship since 1994.

Harris (5 feet 11, 185 pounds) won Most Valuable Player honors in SC's 39-8 title win over George Washington last December as a sophomore quarterback that had taken over full-time duties only as the playoffs began.

A year later, Harris will guide the Black Eagles into another Super Six appearance. SC takes on Brooke (13-0) at noon in Saturday's Class AAA title game at Wheeling Island Stadium.

Getting there, as they say, is half the fun.

Harris has completed 31-of-51 passes for 753 yards and nine touchdowns with just one interception in the Black Eagles' playoff wins against Lewis County, Martinsburg and Bridgeport. His 245 rushing yards and two touchdowns in three games leave him just 2 yards shy of the 1,000-yard total offense mark ... in the postseason.

While Harris' game picks up steam as the weather gets cooler, he has been the leader of South Charleston's attempt at a repeat all year. His season totals are staggering, especially when taken into consideration that they were accomplished after SC lost current Marshall freshman standout receiver Aaron Dobson and 2008 West Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year Aaron Slusher to graduation.

Harris has completed 135 of 231 passes for 2,666 yards and 32 touchdowns while throwing only six interceptions. He has carried the football 242 times for 1,042 yards (including sacks) for 15 touchdowns.

His efforts have earned Harris the 2009 Kanawha Valley Player of the Year honor from the Charleston Daily Mail.

"It was a hard thing. I've always been the guy who gets yelled at every day for laughing and doing things that are obnoxious on the field," Harris said of his maturing into a team leader. "These coaches talked to me at the beginning of the season.

"They told me, 'You have to be a leader for this team. There's a bunch of young guys who are going to be filling in for a bunch of people who were a great part of our team last year. The new guys can step up to be a great part of our team as long as you push them.'"

Harris is the second consecutive winner from South Charleston. Dobson claimed the award in 2008. Harris said the leadership of 2008 seniors Dobson, Slusher and Xavier Jones, among others, showed him the way to lead.

"They told me not to be afraid to make mistakes," Harris said. "As you saw on the first play last year (in the state championship game), I fumbled. But those guys picked me up, and I have a lot of guys on this team that are able to pick me up also, but I've got to pick people up as well."

John Messinger, who has led South Charleston to 29 wins in its last 30 games, is the Daily Mail's Kanawha Valley Coach of the Year, in no small part thanks to the rebuilding effort he successfully directed after losing three All-State players and nearly the entire offensive and defensive lines to graduation in 2008.

In four years, Messinger has compiled a 39-10 record.

"I'm sure us being in the position we're in right now plays in to that," Messinger said of his program claiming a second consecutive player of the year honor. "We're the team that's carrying the mantle and the mantra for the (Kanawha) Valley right now.

"For Tyler to do this; there's nothing fictitious about the numbers. There's nothing that we have done to make Tyler a better football player. Tyler's made Tyler a better football player."

Messinger pointed to Harris' offseason effort get into better shape (he lost 20 pounds from his 2008 weight) and his all-around focus from the classroom to the locker room as reasons for increased output.

"He's an example of everything we want our program to be," Messinger said.

George Washington freshman Ryan Switzer is the Kanawha Valley Rookie of the Year. The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Switzer rushed 60 times for 435 yards and four touchdowns, and averaged 34.2 yards per punt on 35 attempts.

For the second consecutive year South Charleston and George Washington dominated play in the Kanawha Valley. As a result (GW finished 9-3 and reached the Class AAA quarterfinals) the teams each landed six players on the All-Kanawha Valley team.

South Charleston is represented by Harris, senior offensive lineman Blake Brooks (6-3, 295), senior wide receiver Tevin Spurlock (5-9, 170), senior defensive lineman Wayne Wurster (6-2, 230), junior running back Ray Coleman (6-0, 200) and junior defensive back Perry Henry (6-4, 185).

Coleman fought off injuries in the first half of the season to lead the Kanawha Valley in yards per carry (9.35), and has 1,375 yards to his credit entering the title game.

Spurlock and Henry were key parts in SC's successful attempt to replace Dobson's production in the passing game. Spurlock has 22 receptions for 623 yards and seven touchdowns, while Henry has 29 catches for 469 yards and six TDs. Henry's eight interceptions lead the area.

George Washington is represented by the Kanawha Valley's leading rusher, junior Felix Mollett (5-6, 165). Other Patriots on the squad are senior offensive lineman Todd Battle (6-4, 230), senior linebacker Eric Davidson (5-10, 190), senior utility player Shaquille Williams (5-11, 160), senior kicker Ansh Kumar (6-2, 215) and junior defensive lineman Cody Clay (6-4, 225).

Repeat selections from 2008's All-KV team include Harris, Brooks, Battle, Capital junior running back Keion Wright (5-8, 180) and Poca senior utility player Caleb Arthur (5-8, 185).