The West Virginia all-star team will compete in the Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Football All-Star Classic Friday at Bill Hanlin Stadium. (Photo Provided)

ST. MARYS — Not even the most arduous fiction writer could create a storyline describing the unusual path Rob Price has followed within the past calendar year as a high school football coach.

Price, who completed his first season as an assistant on Jodi Mote’s staff at St. Marys High School last fall, will serve as head coach for Team West Virginia for Friday’s 30th edition of the Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis All-Star Football Game.

What awaits him for Friday’s game at St. Marys High School is tame compared to his adventures beginning with last summer’s phone call informing him that Paden City High School was closing. The news arrived as he was coaching the Wildcats during a 7-on-7 competition.

“In June of 2024, the Wetzel County Board of Education closed Paden High School for like 4 ½ weeks,” Price said. “At that 7-on-7, I’m looking at the kids and having to tell them their school is closed. I was named Coach of the Year for Class 1A the previous year and now I am being told I can go to Magnolia and be an assistant coach. I had just turned around the Paden City program and now I don’t have a job.

“Jodi Mote invited me to be an assistant – he has been a long-time successful head coach, so I said absolutely. I watch how coach Mote operates and how he responds with his players. His leadership has been neat to watch.”

Fast forward to the 2024 postseason for high school football in the state of West Virginia. Following a series of injunctions by schools throughout the state, St. Marys prepares for a first-round matchup and arrives at Herbert Hoover High School on game night. Shortly after pulling into the parking lot, players and coaches are told playoff pairings have changed and the Blue Devils are not part of the bracket.

“I’m arriving in my car and the players are already there – Herbert Hoover has the hot dogs made and the officials are pulling in,” Price said. “Needless to say, it’s been a roller coaster.”

The 36-year old Price is a graduate of Burch High School, which consolidated into Mingo Central. He later joined the Marines before pursuing a degree in education.

He became the Paden City athletic director in 2018 and was named the school’s head football coach three years later. After Paden City mustered up a total of five wins in Price’s first two seasons, the Wildcats enjoyed an historic year in 2023 – finishing 8-2 and setting school records for most points scored in a single season (430).

The Wildcats featured a loaded backfield with the duo of Joey Baker and Brayden Neff. His quarterback was a sophomore, Kayden Myers, who will reunite with Price on this year’s West Virginia team at the BACF All-Star Game.

“One thing we relied on heavily were our relationships with the kids,” Price said. “We were very blessed with talented players who bought into what we were teaching. Joey Baker was a phenomenal athlete. Brayden Neff rushed for more than 1,000 yards and had over 20 touchdowns. We moved the football well.”

Price and his family have rooted themselves within the St. Marys community and has a teaching position within the Pleasants County school district.

“I’ve gained so much working for the staff at St. Marys,” Price said. “They’ve had success. Coach Mote is a great person and great mentor.”

But if the right job comes along, Price is hungry to return as a head coach once again.

“In my heart, I would like to be a head coach again and run my own football team,” Price said.

Price and his coaching staff for Friday’s BACF game have a roster of 37 players at their disposal – including five first-team, all-staters in Wirt County’s Porter Goodwin, Brody Ewing and Trevor Jones, Ritchie County’s Braiden Haught, and Roane County’s Clay Walker.

In addition to working with Myers from Paden City, Price gets another opportunity to work with another familiar quarterback in Ryan Kent from St. Marys.

“Ryan is a really smart, young man,” Price said. “His grasp on the game from the quarterback spot is top-tier. There is nothing you could ask from him that he couldn’t mentally execute.”

A media day was held on Sunday for players and coaches.

“The BACF has been a lot of work – it’s the first time ever for me coaching an all-star game.Seeing the guys (at media day) was encouraging. We are more into football mode.

“I’m excited for Friday. This is one more time players get to play the game they love.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

Roster

Head coach: Rob Price, St. Marys assistant coach

Assistants: Ron Casto, Zach Davis, Seth Deem, Jason Hickman, Cameron Lancaster, Hunter Smitley

No. Name School Hgt. Wgt. Pos.

0 Porter Goodwin Wirt County 5-8 150 WR/DB

1 Byrus Backus Parkersburg 5-8 160 WR/DB

2 Jakel Shelton Parkersburg 5-9 190 RB

3 Braiden Haught Ritchie County 6-2 200 K/P

4 Mason Bauvelt Fairmont East 5-11 155 RB/DB

5 Aiden James Doddridge County 5-9 155 WR/DB

6 Brody Ewing Wirt County 5-8 170 RB/LB

7 Branson Winfrey Tyler Consolidated 5-8 155 RB/DB

8 Josiah Morgan Clay-Battelle 6-0 150 WR/DB

9 Leland Goodwin Doddridge County 5-9 160 DB

10 Kayden Myers Paden City 6-0 185 QB

11 Hayden Biggie Fairmont East 5-11 205 FB/TE/LB

12 Ryan Kent St. Marys 5-8 165 QB

13 Chris Jenkins Ripley 6-1 180 DB

14 Landan Savage Clay-Battelle n/a n/a WR/DB

16 Cole Vangilder Fairmont East 6-1 175 WR/DB

17 Wes Starcher Cameron 5-8 150 DE/OLB

20 Isaiah Sampson Wirt County 5-6 120 WR/DB

21 Nate Deaton Tyler Consolidated 6-0 160 WR/DE/K

22 Austin Vannest Ravenswood 5-10 185 RB/LB

23 Krystian Eidel Doddridge County 6-4 190 DE

24 Talyn Snyder Doddridge County 5-10 170 RB/LB

25 Clay Walker Roane County 5-10 170 FB/LB

33 Dom Fantasia Fairmont Senior 6-1 205 RB/OLB

35 Holen Siers Wirt County 5-8 200 FB/LB

51 Cole Waugaman Ritchie County 5-11 190 OL/DL

53 Aiden Strayer Ritchie County 6-4 245 OL/DL

54 Chris Cox Parkersburg 6-3 230 OL/DL

55 Brendan Carrol Cameron 6-4 200 OL/DL

56 Wesley Glover Tyler Consolidated 5-11 280 C/DT

68 Kolton Toler Wirt County 5-10 250 OL/DL

71 Tyler Niemczyk St. Marys 5-10 210 OL/DL

73 Zander Stalnaker Ripley 6-0 235 OL/DL

75 James Sonju Ritchie County 5-11 215 OL/DL

78 Trevor Jones Wirt County 5-9 260 OL/DL

79 Nick Barker St. Marys 6-2 240 OL/DL

88 Brody Rice St. Marys 6-1 190 TE/DE