By Tom Bragg, For Lootpress.com
MADISON, W.Va. – Carson Brinegar is fast.
Nothing fancy about it, the Scott junior receiver is just too quick for most opponents to handle.
With the unbeaten Skyhawks trailing visiting Winfield by a touchdown late in the first half last week, Scott started a drive on its own 20-yard line. It only took one play, a screen pass to Brinegar who beat the Winfield defense to the corner then it was a race to the endzone.
The trouble for the Generals was Brinegar doesn’t lose many races, and the defending Class AA 100-meter state champion didn’t lose this one either. The Skyhawks got the ball back before the break, and Brinegar was back at it making catches to move the chains time and again as they scored to take the lead for good just before halftime.
Brinegar finished with 14 catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns as Scott beat the Generals 47-28 to claim the program’s first Cardinal Conference football championship. For his efforts, Brinegar has been named the Lootpress Kanawha Valley Player of the Week.
The award is presented by Dutch Miller Auto Group.
“[Brinegar] is the state champion in the boys 100-meter dash, so he’s pretty fast,” Scott head coach Jeremy Dolin said. “I’ve been coaching him since he was eight years old, and he has pretty much always been the fastest kid on the field no matter who we’ve played.”
The Scott junior is one of several solid weapons Dolin and senior quarterback Matt Frye have to choose from, but nobody on the Skyhawks roster is as versatile as Brinegar. The key is to just get the ball in his hands. It doesn’t matter where he lines up, just get the ball to him.
“We can work Carson in space,” Dolin said. “He’s a dynamic player that we can use in multiple ways. He’s a Swiss Army Knife for us on offense. We line him up at receiver, we can put him in the backfield, bring him across in jet, he can catch the swing passes and the passes across the middle. Any time it touches his hands there’s a good chance he can take it to the house.”
With one game remaining in the regular season this week at Nitro, the 9-0 Skyhawks are the only remaining unbeaten team in Class AA and ranked No. 2 in this week’s WVSSAC Class AA state playoff ratings. Brinegar has been a huge part of that success, with 55 receptions for 996 yards and nine touchdowns while also carrying the ball 19 times for 241 yards and five more touchdowns and big plays, it seems, every week.
“He had an 80-yard reception the other night,” Dolin said. “I think he’s had a 90-yard run, and I couldn’t tell you how many plays over 50 yards he has had this season. It’s a nice weapon to have.”
George Washington’s Anthony Valentine, who carried the ball six times for 83 yards and three touchdowns in the Patriots’ win against cross-town rival Capital last week, won the Community Choice fan vote this week with nearly 28,000 total votes. Valentine advances to the Community Choice poll, which will be conducted after the regular season with the winner of that poll awarded a $500 scholarship by the Lootpress Foundation.
Kanawha Valley Player of the Week winners
Week 1: Josh Moody, Nitro
Week 2: Chase Massey, Winfield
Week 3: Dane Hatfield, Herbert Hoover
Week 4: Preston Bonnett, Poca
Week 5: Matt Frye, Scott
Week 6: Hunter Giacomo, George Washington
Week 7: Noah Vellaithambi, Hurricane
Week 8: Bryce Green, Riverside
Week 9: JacQai Long, Hurricane
Week 10: Carson Brinegar, Scott
Community Choice Players of the Week
Week 1: Trey Lester, Sherman
Week 2: Chase Massey, Winfield
Week 3: Caden Ray, Riverside
Week 4: Noah Vellaithambi, Hurricane
Week 5: Blake Fisher, Herbert Hoover
Week 6: Preston Cooper, Scott
Week 7: Carson Brinegar, Scott
Week 8: Jayce Miller, Winfield
Week 9: JacQai Long, Hurricane
Week 10: Anthony Valentine, George Washington
