High hopes are not uncommon as the opening night of high school football approaches.
In the small town of Meadow Bridge there is good reason for the increased excitement.
With roster numbers up and a veteran team returning, the Wildcats once again consider themselves to be playoff contenders.
“We are pretty excited about the year,” head coach Dwayne Reichard said. “We graduated four seniors, so we are returning almost everyone. There are not a lot of holes that we have to fill and we are excited about that. I am also excited to see a few more lineman in camp.”
After starting the season last year with 27 players, the numbers are over 30 and while Reichard is more concerned with quality over quantity, Meadow Bridge has both.
“Last year we only had about eight or nine in our lineman group and that has increased. Skill people are all back for the most part and we spent June working on the passing game to try and get a little more multi-dimensional this year,” Reichard said. “It looks like things are fitting together for us. We have high expectations as to what this team can do. We were 5-5 last year and you hope they are a year better. Ultimately the goal is the playoffs.”
Due to some youth and inexperience at some key positions, the quest for a balanced attack on offense did not exactly work out like Reichard had hoped a year ago.
“We relied very heavily on the run again,” Reichard said. “This year we feel like we have some receivers and (quarterback) Braydon Thomas is back at quarterback. He has developed and we feel like we can throw the ball down the field a little bit more.”
Even with teams game-planning to stop the run, tailback Kaiden Sims found a way to pile up over 1,600 yards rushing, while battling a nagging ankle injury.
“Several years ago when we were run oriented, teams just stacked the box on us,” Reichard recalled. “It was a goal of mine to get multi-dimensional so we could throw the ball and open things up in the run game. That way no one can just stack the box on us now.”
With Thomas a year stronger, faster and more experienced, if the line can do its job, the Meadow Bridge offense could be a nightmare for opposing defensive coordinators.
Lineman Blake Bennett was lost to graduation, but five other players return with plenty of game experience under their belt.
“The offensive lineman we have coming back, we feel like will be better. They have the experience, but we could shuffle some people around,” Reichard said. “I hope to be solid. Charles Bragg, Jadon Butcher, Silas Adkins and Tucker Pugh return, along with Leland Vandall who played some as well.”
The Wildcats also have a newcomer in Nick Hammons, who moved in from Greenbrier West, that can play several positions across the line.
“With this team, we feel like we are best in the traditional Power-I stuff,” Reichard said. “However, we feel like we can do some Air Raid stuff too. We want to go in and out from being a spread style and being under center.”
After playing more as a blocking back last years at 205 pounds, junior Trip Roles is back down closer to 185 where he was a weapon as a freshman.
“Trip Roles did some good things for us as a freshman in a limited role,” Reichard said. “He is moving better than he did a year ago as a sophomore and I really want to work him into the run game and take a little off of Kaiden. Trip is a big strong kid that is probably the hardest weight room worker we have.”
Younger brother Trent Roles is a sophomore and is expected to be the answer at wide receiver with his big play capabilities.
“He has very good hands. We want to get him the football and give him opportunities to make plays in space,” Reichard said.
Defensively, as with most Class A schools, the name will be familiar with most players going both ways.
“Kaiden and Trip are going to make a lot of tackles because they will play on the edge as defensive ends or linebackers,” Reichard said. “Silas Adkins is a kid that we hope can come along for us to make some tackles. He came on in the latter part of last year. Charles Bragg is a big defensive tackle that will be a three-year starter for us. He has to give defenses fits and make them have to double-team him.”
Meadow Bridge opens on the road at Van before playing Pocahontas County in week two for the home opener.
“We feel like if we can win some ball games early, get on the right track and get a little luck to stay injury free, we have a chance in November to be in the right place,” Reichard said. ” We will see what happens.”
