In his third year, Josh Evans did exactly what he hoped to at Summers County, guiding the Bobcats back to the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
After the season Evans stepped down to take a job that conflicted with coaching football.
Enter Justin Pugh.
Pugh takes over for Evans, guiding the program during a time of change. A fourth classification was added statewide in the offseason to achieve competitive balance. Summers County was originally classified in double-A but after an appeal was won two weeks before the season, the Bobcats were one of the teams bumped down a class meaning they’ll compete in Class A this season.
While standouts such as all-state QB Brandan Isaac are gone, there’s plenty of talent left for Pugh to work with.
“I coached these kids back in middle school, and even though they might not be the most talented group as far as the groups that have come through the last few years, they have a competitive spirit and brotherhood,” Pugh said. “They don’t let each other down. That starts with this senior group that you’re talking about with, with Ryan Oliveros, Tyson Adkins, Tyler Richmond, Jonah Pugh and Frankie McClaugherty. And I got 14 seniors but that core group right there are, they’re solid. They see the schedule, they see how things have changed on the schedule, and it doesn’t daunt them. I mean, they know it’s difficult, they know that they have a hard road ahead, but they’re going to take it on in stride.
“As far as building off of what they did last season, going 6-4 and making the playoffs, dropping down to single-A, that does help. As I told the boys though, it doesn’t matter if we don’t go out and perform and win the games we need to win. And I think they’ve responded well to that. We’ve had a good summer and a good preseason with two solid showings in our scrimmages at Meadow Bridge and with Nicholas County. So we’re ready to go. We’re ready for Thursday night against PikeView.”
Isaac’s shoes in particular will be difficult to fill. He threw for 2,474 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Tasked with that job will be Ryan Oliveros, a first team all-state receiver last year. Oliveros is coming off a season where he caught 65 passes for 1,177 yards and 10 touchdowns, but now he’ll move to QB.
“Losing a kid like Brandan, who’s had all that experience and that time to grow in a system is tough to replace,” Pugh said. “But so far Ryan has stepped up and adds a little extra dimension to the quarterback position, where Brandan was definitely more of a drop back, roll-out, kind of quarterback. Ryan can throw the ball. Ryan can read secondaries very well, but he’s also got that run capability when we put that ball in his hands. So he has that extra dimension. And we’re going to utilize and put him in situations where he can use his feet and his legs to get us to where we need to go. And of course, Tyson will be in the backfield. He’s gonna be our featured back, but Frankie will get some touches too. Isaiah Lott, who was a transfer last year from Georgia, didn’t see a lot of playing time last season has really come out this summer and showed us that he can jump into that backfield and put some carries in with, with Tyson and Frankie.”
Pugh’s confidence in his run game comes in part because of an experienced, tough line.
“It starts up front,” Pugh said. “We’ve been able to work our run game between the tackles, and what we do between the tackles sets up what we can do with Ryan and what we can do in the air. So you know, with Jonah returning at center, he’s that anchor on that offensive line, and then having Chris Thompson back and Tyler Richmond – those guys really get things going up front. And no matter what you have in that backfield, you got to have some guys up front that are willing to get down and dirty and do their jobs.”
Getting to the postseason won’t be easy. Summers’ schedule features just one Class A team and that’s the Class A runner-up in Greenbrier West. The slate also features a pair of semifinalists from a year ago in James Monroe and Independence as well as two Class AAA teams in Shady Spring and Greenbrier East.
“The schedule is definitely an uphill challenge for a school of our size,” Pugh admitted. “I mean, we are a single-A school in size, and we were reclassified to go double-A where we really had no business being there, but we were going to do what we had to do and compete how we had to compete. Those games do offer us a lot of experience, a lot of challenges. And it does open up doors for us to gain points from those teams the way they’re redoing the rating system. And so it is an uphill battle, but if we can make it through the gauntlet, if we can pick up the wins that we need to pick up and make it in the postseason, we look very good in single-A.
“Looking at local schools and across the state, I feel like we are definitely a top-eight school. I would love to be able to have a chance to host a game here in the postseason. It hasn’t been done since Nate Tanner hosted Richie County down here (2013). So that would be something that these kids, these seniors, would probably relish to have the chance to represent their community once again here at home in the postseason.”
Summers County will open its season Thursday, Aug. 29 at PikeView.
