Welcome back to The Deep Post where we’ll work through the rumblings and standout accomplishments of the week.
Run on Records
Offenses are scoring more points than ever before and its led to the fall of numerous school records. As we approach the end of the regular season we’ve already seen at least five different players set or tie program marks. Here’s where we’re at so far and what we have on the horizon.
- Jackson Danielson, River View – Danielson broke the school record for most touchdowns in a game with three passing scores and two rushing. Receiver Cody Howie previously held the record with four against Man in 2014.
- Tyler Linksweiler, Independence – Linksweiler scored seven touchdowns Friday, tying the single-game record. Judah Price also had seven touchdowns against Shady Spring last season.
- Brandan Isaac, Summers County – Isaac broke the single-game passing yards record, and sits about 40 yards away from the single season record (2,287) set in 2016. Isaac has 2,249 yards and 24 touchdowns passes, sitting three shy of breaking the record Nathan Grimmett set in 2016 (26).
- Ryan Oliveros, Summers County – Oliveros has 1,085 receiving yards on the season, a program record.
- Chance Barker, Princeton – Barker’s 30 touchdown passes are the most in a single season, breaking the record of 29 set by Grant Cochran last season who did that in 10 games (playoffs included). Barker sits 216 yards away from breaking the single-season passing yards record.
- Dominick Collins, Princeton – Collins has already broken the single-season receiving yardage, receiving touchdown and career touchdown records. With 20 receiving touchdowns he sits four away from tying the regular season statewide record and needs eight to break the single-season record (including playoffs) of 27 set in 1998.
- Cole Vandall, Greenbrier West – Vandall has thrown for almost 1,400 yards with 23 touchdown passes, a single-season program record.
- Kadien Vance, Westside – Vance has 1,549 passing yards with one game to play. The regular season passing yardage record is exactly 1,600, set by current Westside head coach Justin Cogar in 2014. Cogar also threw 23 touchdown passes that year. Vance sits at 21.
Those are just the highlights. It’s been a prolific season for area players but it also shows the evolution of the game. Almost all of those records involve the QBs or receivers and it shows the emphasis teams have put on being multidimensional. When Isaac was named our POTW last week, he noted that the program realized how important it was to be able to pass and run the ball at will. That’s reflected in the balance teams have shown in recent years.
300
It’s a neat little nugget that Bluefield head coach Fred Simon earned his 300th career victory against a team whose mascot is a Spartan (Giles, Va.) but let’s talk about that number for a minute.
It would take almost 24 14-win seasons to reach 300 career wins and nobody has ever won 24 state championships. What makes Simon’s success so fascinating isn’t just the fact that he’s hung around long enough to win 300 games, but the fact he’s done it at one place.
There’s a lot of history at Bluefield. The Beavers have won 11 state championships, five of which Simon has delivered during his tenure which began in 1986. He followed legendary coaches Merrill Gainer and John Chmara. Gainer led Bluefield to four titles across nine seasons while Chmara succeeded him with two titles in an 18-season span.
Simon didn’t make the playoffs until his fifth season and in his seventh the program suffered its only winless season since it started playing football in 1909. Imagine being the guy tasked with succeeding those legends and finding yourself on the wrong side of history seven seasons in. Two years later he had the program in the state title game for the first time since 1984 but again ended up on the wrong side of history when Musselman became the first 16 seed in state history to win a championship, beating the Beavers 17-13 in the ’95 title game.
Fortunes turned for the now legendary head coach who claimed his first title with an undefeated season in 1997 and collected championships in 2004, ’07, ’09 and ’17 with title game appearances in 1999, 2002-05, ’18-19 and unofficially in 2020.
Coaching in 300 games is a remarkable feat. Winning 300 is unfathomable but Simon, who sits behind only Martinsburg’s Dave Walker on the all-time career wins list, has crossed that threshold and is the only coach in state history to do so at one school.
Winning that many games is remarkable enough but Independence head coach and Bluefield graduate John H. Lilly best described Simon and his tenure two years ago.
“The old adage is don’t follow the legend,” Lilly said. “He had to follow two legends and that’s tough to do. I don’t know if anybody could give him enough credit for the transition of taking the school from 1,200 or 1,300 students to 500 students. In doing that, he kept the same level of excellence if not better. Some would argue he’s had more success than the previous two coaches. But you’ve seen schools in southern West Virginia, for instance a Mount View, that once had great football traditions but because of loss of population totally lost their identity and the clout, for lack of a better word. I don’t think people in southern West Virginia give him enough credit for that. I don’t know anybody that I know that could’ve done that.
“To win all those state championship in triple-A, lose almost 1,000 students and still continue to go to 12 more state championships. People always say they’re always blessed with athletes, and yeah but so are the people they play. It’s not like Fairmont, Weir and Bridgeport don’t have athletes either. I think that’s something that should be a part of his legacy. I don’t know that anybody can follow him, I really don’t. That standard is so high and you see it and you smell it when you walk into the building and you see all the state championship teams and award winners. I don’t know that anybody gives him enough credit for it. I Think he’s the best coach in the state of West Virginia.”
Gold Stars
Gavin Davis, Shady Spring – Davis has been a regular in this spot and deservedly so. He finished his senior season with 1,554 rushing yards and 26 rushing touchdowns. He piled up 846 of those yards in the final three weeks of the season after the Tigers lost their starting QB and top WR.
Brock Parker, James Monroe – Parker has been more of a short-yardage back for James Monroe but proved to be a reliable rusher in his 131-yard rushing performance Friday at Nicholas County. The Mavericks now have three legit backs that bring different skillsets to the table.
Malachi Lewis, Oak Hill – Lewis kept a scoring drive alive before the half and broke up the tying two-point conversion attempt after giving up the touchdown in coverage the play before. The performance secured Oak Hill’s playoff spot while putting rival Beckley’s postseason hopes on life support.
R.J. Hairston, Bluefield – It would be easy for Hairston to move on from football given his basketball talent. Instead he’s stayed the course, registering three tackles for a loss and 189 receiving yards and two touchdowns in Bluefield’s win over Giles.
Final Thought
This isn’t sports related, but if you’re driving Tuesday night keep an eye out for the trick-or-treaters. You probably see it almost every day – people drive while looking down at their phones. Attention spans have dwindled and every time our phone lights up we check it. If you’re driving, just ignore it. Tuesday’s a night kids look forward to all year as they get to dress up and go door-to-door collecting candy. Kids can be overzealous as well and run out in front of vehicles in excitement. Be diligent and aware this week. That notification will still be there when you park your car.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
