The scene Friday night in Coal City was reminiscent of the one that took place Nov. 26, 2021 at that same location.
It was 25 degrees both days and Indy fans stormed the field following a huge win. Friday’s came against two-time defending champion Fairmont Senior and last year’s came against area and state power Bluefield. Both signified hurdles for Independence.
The Bluefield win legitimized the Patriots as a power in Class AA and Friday’s was the exorcism of two years of frustration as the Patriots saw their last two seasons end at the hands of Fairmont Senior with last year’s loss coming in the Class AA state title game.
This year’s path back to Wheeling has been more difficult than last year’s with matchups against Bluefield and Fairmont having come earlier than expected (they’ve combined for four of the last five titles and have played each other three times in title games).
Still the Patriots have legitimized their claim as the top team in Class AA which feels none more so supported than it does now. Despite Fairmont’s rating as the No. 7 team in the classification, there was a belief the Polar Bears were still the best. After all they won the title last year as the 16 seed.
There are those that declared Friday’s game the state championship and thus would crown Indy the champ now.
That’s a pitfall the players in Indy’s locker room must avoid.
Fairmont may very well be the best team Independence faces this year but the reality is the Patriots only have half the playoff wins necessary to host the state championship trophy.
When they huddled after the game to go through their Patriot Glow, a tradition in which teammates praise actions or performances that occurred during the game, win or lose, one player was quick to point out ‘First double-A team to beat Fairmont in three years.”
That shows just how much the win means to the program and how hunted Fairmont has become. But in an effort to keep a level head, it will probably serve the Patriots well to remember the aftermath of Fairmont’s last playoff loss, the one referred to postgame.
After meeting in the title game in 2017 and 2018 and splitting those matchups, Fairmont and Bluefield were pitted against each other in the 2019 semifinals. The Beavers won that game 40-24 at Fairmont which was the Polar Bears’ only loss that season.
Many, myself included, assumed that was the title game. Fairmont was arguably at its best and Bluefield was loaded with stars such as current WVU defensive end Sean Martin and all-state running back J.J. Davis. Compounding that confidence was the eventual matchup in the title game. Bluefield was set to see a Bridgeport team that lost 34-15 to Fairmont  earlier in the year.
The topper? Bluefield had beaten Bridgeport in the semifinals in 2017 and ’18 by scores of 37-14 and 35-14. The Beavers couldn’t make it three seasons in a row, falling 21-14 in the title game with mistakes such as a fumble on the goal line haunting them. All of this to say there’s no guarantee.
An example that’s closer to home? The 2000 Independence basketball team.
The Patriots pulled out a narrow 52-49 win in the opening round over Braxton County before stunning No. 1 Tug Valley with a 58-57 win in the semifinals. The Patriots then fell the next day in the title game to a Magnolia team that was 10-11 coming into the postseason.
Even this Patriot team has seen how the game can change from week to week. They annihilated Bluefield 44-16 in their regular season matchup but when the two met last week in the opening round of the playoffs it was a 14-12 game in the fourth quarter.
Independence head coach John H. Lilly has seen it happen numerous times across his 50 years in sports and knows overconfidence is something to guard against.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge I can tell you that,” Lilly said. “When we got that draw everybody said ‘You’ve got Bluefield and Fairmont’ but they forgot to say that third team’s pretty good. I know North Marion’s a pretty good challenge but I think it’s going to be a real big challenge mentally for us.”
All-stater Judah Price echoed his coach’s sentiments after Friday’s win. He’s been a victim of the Polar Bears the last two seasons and will relish the victory as much as any other player in the Indy locker room but also sees the end goal.
“This win is crazy,” Price said. “They ended our season the past two years. It’s going to be hard to come down from this but once we know who we play and once we dial back in to what we really want to do I think we’ll be fine.”
