Three weeks ago it seemed unlikely Independence would sustain its recent playoff success. But despite an unfavorable seed that ensured the Patriots would be on the road throughout the playoffs, they’ve become the ultimate road warriors knocking off two of the top teams in Class AA.
Now they’ll face their toughest foe, albeit a familiar one.
For the fourth consecutive season Independence will face Fairmont Senior in what has become one of the state’s best playoff rivalries.
Fairmont won in 2020 at East-West Stadium and added another notch in its belt beating the Patriots 21-12 in the Class AA title game. Independence earned its first win in the series in 2022, pounding Fairmont 42-7 in the quarterfinals and handing the Polar Bears their worst loss in eight years.
Now the seniors on both sides will meet one final time with the winner earning the right to play for a Class AA title in Wheeling.
Both teams have taken different routes to this point over the years. Fairmont was a top seed in 2020 and is again this year while Independence was a top seed in 2021 and ’22.
The Patriots enter as heavy underdogs this year but are familiar with what they’ll see.
“I think they’re a little bit different, especially offensively than they’ve been,” Independence head coach John H. Lilly said. “I think they’re more wide open than they’ve been in the last three times we played them. You know, they’re airing it out a lot more, playing a little bit more one-on-one matchups and that kind of thing. But defensively, they’re pretty much the same. But offensively they’re a little bit different than they’ve been in the last couple times. They really spread out and create seams.
“I think the only team that has the skillset that they have that we faced would be Bluefield. (Fairmont) will throw the ball or do whatever they got to do to win. They’ll throw it 50 times and they’ll run it 50 times. So they’re pretty versatile in what they do. (Assistant) Coach (Mark) Sampson does a great job on offense. I’ve always enjoyed watching his teams play and we’ve coached against each other. You know, not only in the post season but we’ve gone after each other a couple times with North South game, that kind of stuff.”
Leading the charge on offense for Fairmont is QB Brody Whitehair who has 33 touchdown passes to just eight interceptions with over 2,500 yards to boot. Cameron Dinger is his top target with over 800 yards and nine touchdown receptions. Rounding out the productive trio is Dylan Ours, a two-way star with over 700 yards rushing and nearly 500 more receiving to complement 17 offensive scores.
Dinger and Ours are both stars on defense as well. Dinger has nine interceptions on the season and holds the program record with 14 in his career.
Add in Gavin Michael, and the Polar Bears have an intimidating defense.
“They’ve been similar to us,” Lilly said. “They battled the injury bug, pretty good. When they got their full group together they’re pretty dang tough. The Michael kid has been out. I expect him to play Friday night. You know, Dinger, Michael and Ours – they’re three dynamic athletes that they have and they got a couple others as well. So you know, they’re just blessed with a vast, lot of great athletes.”
The Patriots, led by 1,000-yard rushers Trey Bowers and Tyler Linksweiler, are younger, less experienced and barely holding up physically at this point. They came into the postseason with a slew of injuries to key starters and have advanced this far on sheer will. The injuries were so impactful in a 13-0 win over Winfield last week that Lilly needed starting linebacker D Hypes to step in and play offensive guard. It was the first time he ever played guard in his life. Despite that they’ve persevered, earning the right to practice on Thanksgiving.
“Well, we were beat up before we even got in the postseason,” Lilly said. “You know, we’ve got one starter that’s probably out. We’re trying to – we haven’t really been able to have a full practice the last few days, because we’re just trying to get everybody healthy for Friday night. So you know, we’re pieced together with duct tape and bubble gum. Last week we had to put some JV kids in for a couple snaps here and there and they held up well. But we’re not going to use any excuses.”
Despite the amount of inexperience, there is some familiarity for Independence. Hypes, Bowers and Linskweiler are amongst the players who have played in those wars against Fairmont.
“I think experience and playing against them helps a lot,” Lilly said. “And you know we also have experience in playing in big games. You put those two together and it really does help. I think the first time we went to the state championship (2021) it was a tough adjustment for us to play under that kind of pressure cooker. But you get used to it the more you do it and a vast majority of our kids have been in that pressure cooker. And so I think it’s helped us even in playing those away games that our guys, they were used to playing in playoff situations. Playoff situations are rough because finality sets in. The loser goes home for the year – you don’t get to come back on Monday. So I do think experience helps not just in playing the Fairmonts but playing in these type of big games in general.”
The Polar Bears will host the Patriots on Friday at 7:30.
