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It might be the last week of summer, but it already feels like fall.
The past week has been quite a whirlwind with Mother Nature and the gridiron season heating up.
There are numerous big showdowns this week in the Mid-Ohio Valley, but during last Friday’s game in Elizabeth where Calhoun County upended the host Tigers of Wirt County I witnessed something I’d never before seen.
Calhoun County’s Nic Butler recovered a fumble on the opening drive of the affair after the orange and black won the toss and elected to receive.
After taking possession, the Red Devils threw an interception that Andrew Lemley nearly housed from 60-plus yards away, but he was stripped at the 5 by Chase Schoolcraft and it was none other than Butler being Johnny-on-the-Spot who pounced on it after running all the way down the field.
A pair of fumble recoveries on the first two series of the game is quite a feat.
It appeared the Red Devils might not have a game this week after Van folded its program on Monday, but Jeff Goodrich’s 3-0 squad was able to get a contest at Sherman, which also had the Bulldogs on their schedule and happened to have a bye this Friday.
Wirt County, which had knocked off the Red Devils the last five meetings, will be out to even its record at 2-2 this Friday when Gilmer County invades Wilson-Eismon Field.
The Titans, who are 0-2 after an opening week loss to Calhoun County and then a setback to Braxton County, have had a week off to prepare for the Tigers’ Hall of Fame game.
There are six inductees going in this year and that includes two-time Class A all-stater Dalton Brindo, who finished his career as the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer (392) while also holding marks for receptions (107), yards (1,900) and touchdowns (29).
Danny Life stepped down this year after coaching the WCHS wrestling program for a decade, which included winning the 2017 single-A state crown. Life was a two-time state runner-up and won back-to-back 119-pound individual titles as a junior and senior.
Mike Lucas coached 10 all-state first team selections during his football coaching career at Wirt County. The Tigers finished 9-1 thrice under his leadership and also had a 10-0 regular season in 1992.
Christy Roberts, who graduated in 1980, has her No. 34 jersey retired and was a two-time Class AA all-state basketball honoree for the Tigers. She finished her career as the all-time leading scorer with 1,651 points.
Kevin Sees, who is being honored posthumously, started as a freshman on the hardwood for then head coach Roy Alltop and was a four-year letterman. The 6-foot guard, who passed away in 2013 from Lou Gehrig’s Disease after fighting a strong battle following his diagnosis in 2009, averaged 10.5 points a game and earned second team Class A all-state status as a senior.
The contributor this year is Adair “DA” Wilson.
While I have a lot of “favorite” people in Wirt County, one of them always has been coach Wilson, who tried as hard as he could to make me the best junior varsity hoops player he could.
During his senior year, Wilson averaged a then school record 21.2 points a game and tallied double figures in all 21 contests.
Wilson went on to compete in roundball and wrestling at Glenville State and has been a mainstay as a coach at Wirt County in numerous capacities for five decades.
“Our Hall of Fame class, again, shaped up to be an absolutely stellar class,” admitted WCHS HOF President Joey Vincent. “Coach Lucas, my former coach, obviously who I hold in the highest regards and one of my dearest friends, Kevin Sees.
“Christy Roberts is just elated to be a part of it with her sister and her dad. Going down to Danny Life, Dalton Brindo and DA, coach Wilson, it’s a phenomenal class. Very well deserved. A lot of work went into this from those individuals and we’re proud of every last one of them.”
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com