Preparatory Football: When practice begins, expectations remain high at Poca | Football

Recently graduated Ethan Payne, quarterback Jay Cook and quarterback Dillon Taylor helped save Poca from a 39-game losing streak (which ended in freshman seasons) and revamped the program to be an AA-class force. regular season 10-0 in 2019, the schools’ first such mark since 1978 and the first playoff win since 2006.

Ethan Payne ran 5,512 careers and 83 touchdowns with points and turned a total of 26,100 yards of scramble, and his last 16 games went over 150 yards.

Dots coach Seth Ramsey admits that such production is hard to replace.

They certainly looked a little different, Ramsey said. There are about four guys who lead football from different leagues and different lineups. We don’t have the guy we’ve had for the last four years, so we need to change some things a little bit.

Ramsey said new quarterback Jordan Wolfe, Cooks ’backup over the past two seasons, will carry the ball well, along with Toby Payne, Andrew Young and Malakai Woodard-Jones, a transfer from Winfield. They operate behind a line of attack with last year’s opening days of Gabe Keech, AJ Dunbar, TD May and Byron Cunningham.

Other key returnees include recipient defensive head Alan Withrow and kick-beater Joe Starcher.

Ramsey believes his current list can build the trust the program has developed over the past three seasons. He has seen it just completed during a three-week summer internship.

For us, expectations and standards remain the same, he said. We did our best to win the championship and be in the final discussion of the centers of excellence and everything else. This is how I really approached every day. We cannot forget the things that have put us in this position. It is clear that our expectations are higher than four years ago, and the requirements for our student athletes are higher than four years ago, and that is a good place.

Were a good mix of new faces and experiences as well as small children. This three week period has been more teaching and coaching, which was enjoyable, but we still have a lot of guys who have done a lot for us. Now they have to take the burden and do more for us. We think these guys are ready to do it and be in that position, and we trust them a lot.

Three Kanawha Valley teams will train under the new head coaches on Monday. James Boom McKinney takes on Nitron, Chad Lovejoy starts in Sissonville and Capital starts with Mark Mason.

Players across the state can practice on the pads on the first day of August 6, but live contacts are not allowed until August 10. The first series of fights and grid-o-ramos are allowed to begin on Friday, August 16 at 4 p.m. 13, and a second appointment date will be available the following weekend.

The regular season may begin as early as Monday, Aug. 23, but none of the West Virginia teams currently have matches on Aug. 26-27, Thursday, and Friday.

Buffalo again plans to start training at midnight on Sunday late Sunday, and is apparently a lone Kanawha Valley team taking advantage of the earliest possible hour to begin training. The hurricane, which has also done the same in recent years, will not leave at midnight this season.