Wayne Hopes 'to Do Well'
Friday, December 4 , 2009
By JIM ELLIOTT- The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register
Wayne High School Assistant Principal Joe Brumfield said he felt a sense of calmness when he discovered who the Pioneers would be playing tonight for the West Virginia Class AA state championship.
Sort of.
''When I found out we had to play Bluefield again, I slept like a baby,'' he said Thursday night during the Super Six Kickoff Dinner at the McLure House Hotel. ''I woke up every two hours crying.''
Bluefield, which hopes to celebrate the golden anniversary of its first state title by winning the 10th in school history, made the Super Six Field as a No. 6 seed and a record that is marred by two losses -though both were to out-of-state teams.
Meanwhile, Wayne, the 2006 state champion, enters the Class AA fray as the top seed, having beaten everyone its path on its way a perfect 13-0 mark.
So why all the tears?
''We had the pleasure of playing Bluefield up here two or three years ago, and they kind of put one on us,'' Brumfield recalled. (Bluefield defeated Wayne 69-24 in 2004, the largest margin of victory in Class AA title-game history).
''We're hoping to get maybe a measure of revenge,'' Brumfield added, before quickly cutting himself off. ''Well, I shouldn't say revenge. I don't want say payback either. We hope to do well.''
The Beavers, if interested, will have to look elsewhere for bulletin-board material, perhaps no further than the pages of their own history books. With nine football titles, they're already in elite company statewide, with their first title team beating Parkersburg 20-13 while a member of the AAA field in 1959.
A tenth in 50 years would make for some nice symmetry at the state's southern-most school.
''We've been very fortunate over the years to have successful teams, and this year is no exception," said Dr. Judy Black, assistant principal at Bluefield.
Black then rattled off the names of some of the Bluefield assistant coaches - Freddy Simon III, the head coach's son, Randy Albert, Bill Albert and Rusty Coeburn.
''What do all these coaches have in common?'' she asked. ''They were all on state championship teams, so they know how to win, and they know how to play.''
In what was a first for the Super Six dinner, two schools - Brooke and Man - had no representatives on hand to highlight their respective schools and football teams.
Meanwhile, defending Class AAA champion South Charleston sent a new representative this year in Vice Principal Trecia Peterson, who was subbing for Principal Michael J. Arbogast. Arbogast stayed back to attend to a death in his family. Peterson, celebrating her 26th wedding anniversary Thursday night, wasn't sure of the protocol, so she asked a friend from George Washington High School for some advice.
That individual said she began her speech by recalling it had been 26 years since GW won a championship, then she quickly stopped herself, knowing that hardly applied to South Charleston.
''But I can say it's been 363 days since we played for a championship,'' Peterson said.
South Charleston defeated George Washington, 39-8, last season, extending that particular championship drought.
John Mihalyo, principal at Weirton Madonna, repeated what is quickly becoming his school's reputation.
''We've been referred to as the small school with the giant heart,'' he said.
Back in the Class A championship game for the second year in a row - and searching for their first state championship since 1987 - they'll test that against Man on Saturday evening.
Never during the years Wheeling has played host to the games has an OVAC team from each of the state's three classes advanced to Super Six in the same season.
Two local teams have reached the finals in the same season six times, including Brooke and Madonna this year. Others were John Marshall and Valley in 1996; Weir and Valley in 1998; Wheeling Central and Weirton Madonna in 2004 (when they played against each other in the title game); Weir and Wheeling Central in 2005; and Magnolia and Madonna last season.
Notes
The honorary referee for tonight's Class A final is Warren Grace, longtime principal at Paden City High School. George Krelis, superintendent of Ohio County Schools, will flip the coin prior to Saturday's Class AAA final. Tom Burgoyne, retired Ohio County Sheriff, is the Class A honorary referee.
