Wirt County Tigers have big opportunity with ’Jackets visiting
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ELIZABETH -- When the defending state champs are rolling into town, the host team usually takes notice.
That's the case for Wirt County and head coach Jason Hickman's Tigers, who welcome in the stalwarts of Class A -- the Williamstown Yellowjackets of boss Chris Beck for a 7 p.m. Friday kickoff at Wilson-Eismon Field between a pair of 2-0 Little Kanawha Conference programs.
"I mean they are all very solid. The (Max) Molessa kid, he is where it starts and ends with him," Hickman admitted. "We have to try and slow him down a little bit. He's not had a lot of plays, but the plays he has he's just getting chuck yard plays.
"We got to try and slow him down a little bit, but you can't put all your focus on him because they got guys everywhere. It can't just be about him, but he's the first one we are going to try and slow down somewhat because if you can't slow him down you don't have a chance."
Molessa, the senior quarterback who will be heading to West Virginia University to play baseball, has a combined 21 rushes and passes, which have accounted for seven scores.
"I think we are getting better every week. Some new guys are stepping in every week and we are seeing progress every week," admitted Beck, who was stoked to finally have a home game last week.
"I really enjoyed it. We had a good crowd. It was just a good evening. Wirt is spread, gun and no-huddle. They are snapping it quick this year. We haven't played them for a while. It's a very fast offense. They have some weapons and are pretty balanced."
Chase Lowe leads the way for the orange and black in the backfield. Twin brother Channing Lowe is expected to return this week, and the Tigers have had solid success through the air with first-year QB Tyler Smith using targets Isaiah Sampson, Porter Goodwin and Brody Ewing.
"You can't be better than 2-0 right now," Hickman quipped. "Feel pretty good about the way we've played. We're making some mistakes and have to clean up some penalties. We've actually had seven touchdowns called back in two games. Four against South Harrison and three against Magnolia.
"It's just aggressive stuff. We're trying to block on the edge. Chase Lowe is breaking one off and we're blocking a kid in the back. It's aggressive mistakes, but things we have to clean up. That's a point of emphasis for us this week in practice."
Louis Goodnow leads the 'Jackets in receiving yards. Not only will the Tigers have to keep him in check, but Williamstown also boasts tailbacks Lynken Joy and Cooper Billingsley.
"Pretty happy the first couple weeks. We've had different guys stepping up and been able to give different guys opportunities," admitted Beck, who has received a pair of sacks from Aiden Corbett in the early going. "It's about improving again this Friday."
Albeit just two games into the campaign, coach Beck also would like to see his team become a little more opportunistic.
"We've only caused one turnover each game. We're up 2-0 on the turnover battle," said the coach. "We'll see how that goes."
The Tigers' 3-3-5 base stack defense is another area where WHS has been concentrating a gameplan to figure out how to exploit it best.
"It's not a defense we've seen all the time," Beck added. "I think they will be the only team we play, unless we see someone in the playoffs. It's unique. It definitely grabs our guys' attention. They can jump into a couple different fronts depending on what you give them.
"It will be challenging in regards to getting ready for three or four different fronts rather than one or two. I'm excited to see how they respond and if they are up to the challenge, up to the test and see how far we've progressed."
Coach Hickman understands the tall task in front of his program, but no matter the result the Tigers will have at least seven games still to play.
"Win or lose, learn from the experience and try to keep improving," Hickman said.
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com