MADISON- When the Scott Skyhawks hit the field Friday night for their first round playoff game with Class AA No. 8 Robert C. Byrd, it will be their first playoff appearance since 2014.
Whether they win or lose, they will have far exceeded the expectations of success in coach Jeremy Dolin’s first season on the sidelines.
The Skyhawks, who had won just 13-of-57 games since 2015, finished the year with a 7-3 record, including wins over rivals Chapmanville and Sherman, and wins over Class AA ranked teams Liberty (Raleigh) and Winfield.
Dolin, who was one of eight candidates to apply for the job after the school’s all-time wins leader Shand Griffin stepped down following the 2020 season, was hired as the school’s 23rd all-time coach by the Boone County Board of Education on Dec. 21, 2020.
Once hired Dolan began searching the hallways and could be seen at Scott High School basketball games recruiting Scott athletes to join the football team. At the time of his hire, Dolan never envisioned that the Skyhawks could compete for a playoff berth, but as players reported for July workout sessions Dolin saw that the talent was there, and the team’s seven-on-seven performance was something to build on.
“If you would have asked me December 21 about the playoffs I would have probably said not,” Dolin said. “Around July we knew that the athletes that we had could come in and contribute.”
“We went down and played some seven-on-seven and we realized really quick that our skill positions were pretty solidified and could compete with other skills,” Dolin said. “We had a lot of returning linemen, pretty much our returning starting front five and we were excited at that point.”
Once summer camp was completed the coaching staff went to work and started to compare notes and results from the seven-on-seven camps where the Skyhawks had success against teams on their schedule and excitement filled the room.
“Looking at the schedule and some of the competition that we had seen,” Dolin said. “We knew that six to eight wins wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.”
Following an opening week loss to Herbert Hoover, Scott reeled off four straight victories to accomplish Dolin’s goal that he set at the beginning of the year.
“Expectations weren’t high to begin with and one personal goal had was to win four games,” Dolin said. “The returning seniors on the team have won four games in three years. My goal was to make sure that we match that.”
A loss to Logan was followed by a win over Liberty (Raleigh) and then a loss to Poca before the Skyhawks closed the season with wins over Winfield and Nitro to clinch the school’s first playoff berth since 2014 and because expectations weren’t high Dolin says the Skyhawks are playing with house money ahead of Friday’s match up with Robert C. Byrd.
“I don’t want them to feel like there is a bunch of pressure,” Dolin said. “We are playing with house money at this point.”
“We have already exceeded all those expectations, which weren’t all that high to begin with,” Dolin said. “I want them to just enjoy the moment. Football is supposed to fun anyways.”
The Skyhawks must find a way to contain Robert C. Byrd senior running back Jeremiah King. King, the state’s third all-time leader rusher, has rushed for 6,492 yards in four years at Robert C. Byrd.
“I don’t think there is any secret as to what they like to do,” Dolin said. “They run a lot of power, a lot of inside zones and they are going to get the ball in his hands probably 75 or 80 percent of the time.”
“He has got great field vision and he is tough,” Dolin said. “We are going to have to come out and be the aggressors and not arm tackle.”
