Army....Enjoy. Talk to you soon.
Rockets try to follow ‘Belpre blueprint’
By PAUL BOGGS
Sports Editor
WELLSTON — When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Or, in this case, when in the same league as Belpre, do as the Golden Eagles did.
The Wellston High School football team, under the direction of second-year head coach Jason Mantell, will try to follow the Belpre blueprint and make a worst-to-first type turnaround as far as this season is concerned.
Mantell made that quite clear at the team’s annual media day on Saturday.
“We just want to win,†he said. “If that means following a pattern, that means following a pattern.â€
That pattern is a page from Belpre’s book, as the Golden Eagles — with only 23 varsity players — turned around a 2-8 season from two years ago into a Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division championship and a Division V, Region 19 playoff berth.
In addition, head coach Curt Shriver inherited the program in July after then head coach Bill Cieslewski left the team for another job.
Last season, the Golden Rockets were winless on the field for the first time since 1995 and only the third time in school history.
After the season, Wellston was awarded a forfeit win as Nelsonville-York had used an ineligible player.
Still, the Rockets’ record was a lot more losses than wins.
This year, Wellston has the opportunity to follow the flight of last year’s Golden Eagles.
“I told our kids that we have a chance to do something special this year,†said Mantell. “I don’t think anyone in this area has turned around 0-10 to a league championship and made the playoffs in the same season.â€
The Golden Eagles came close to that last fall.
After two close losses by a combined four points (14-13 to Warren and 10-7 to Fort Frye), Belpre reeled off seven straight wins and got defensive in doing so.
The Golden Eagles ended Williamstown’s (W. Va.) long winning streak (14-7), locked down Federal Hocking (6-0) and Vinton County (7-0), and finally upset four-time defending champion Nelsonville-York 10-6.
For the season, while scoring only 149 total points, Belpre bottled up its opposition for a combined 167 total points.
Last year’s Rockets, conversely, allowed 458 points and scored only 117, scoring 20 points only three times while giving up 43 at least eight.
“I know a lot of people outside aren’t going to see the optimism and I understand that,†said Mantell.
While Wellston had little defense on the field, it did have the defense of a difficult schedule.
Of the Rockets’ 10 losses, four came to playoff teams, including 10-0 West Jefferson, 8-2 Minford and 7-3 Belpre and Rock Hill.
Jackson and Meigs both finished 6-4, as did Nelsonville-York before its two forfeitures.
“Sometimes, the other team is better than you. That’s a fact,†said Mantell. “Sometimes, you run into a season where you just aren’t the better team. There are excuses and there are facts, and I think the fact is that — realistically — when we walked onto the field last year, we were physically outmatched.â€
Mantell added that some of those squads’ records could have been even better, and expects nothing less from the Ironmen and Minford in the opening two games.
“Jackson was an overtime loss to Ironton away from being 7-3, Minford was a fumble away from beating Wheelersburg and being 9-1,†he said. “Jackson has a lot of kids back, they do what they do, they’ve pretty much run the same stuff since Coach (Jim) Reynolds was there, and they do it well. They play hard, they come at you, and that’s not going to change. Then they’re buying into Coach (Brent) Daniels’ system at Minford after making the playoffs last year.â€
Despite the loss of West Jefferson on the schedule, the Rockets go to Waverly for a week three game.
All the Tigers have done is gone 19-1 the last two regular seasons with a pair of playoff berths.
Moreover, this year’s Tigers are highly-touted too.
“We lose West Jefferson, but we add Waverly,†said Mantell. “That’s pretty much an even trade. The (Derek) Roback kid could be the elite athlete in Southeast Ohio. He’s getting the ball every down now after going from receiver to quarterback.â€
The Rockets then enter league play, and get Nelsonville-York off the bat.
It will be the Buckeyes’ first TVC-Ohio tilt since forfeiting the co-championship with Belpre.
Nelsonville-York had won four straight outright division championships.
Wellston will then travel to defending champion Belpre in week five.
With the addition of Athens to the TVC-Ohio, the division rotation was completely altered.
“I mean our first five weeks…we go from a difficult 1-2-3 non-league start to Nelsonville-York, who has been the king of the TVC, and Belpre, who is last year’s champion,†said Mantell.
Vinton County ventures to Wellston in week six, followed by three straight trips to Athens, Gallipolis and Meigs.
The Vikings vanquished Wellston 54-20 last season, while Gallipolis is a playoff regular and usual contender in the Southeastern Ohio Athletic League.
“Vinton County handed it to us in the last week of the season last year, Athens has been in a very tough conference and are getting better, Gallipolis has been a playoff participant almost every year for the last decade plus, and Meigs has a lot of kids back from last year,†assessed Mantell.
“There’s just not a break,†the coach added. “But we have to take it week by week.â€
And, in the end, the Rockets may be this year’s Belpre.
It can be done, Mantell explained.
When you see an 0-10 team, you ask just how much better can an 0-10 team be,†he said. “Well, take a look at 2-8 Belpre becoming league champions. It happens and it’s not impossible. In high school football, there are huge developmental years. Teams are going to underestimate us, and that’s fine. We need to use that to our advantage.â€
Still, Mantell cautions that Wellston has many areas in which to improve upon.
“I’ve had a lot of people ask me what I think about this season, and I think that we need to improve on a lot of things,†he said. “If we do, I think we can beat anyone on our schedule and if we don’t, we can lose to anyone on our schedule. I guess that’s a simplified way of putting it.â€
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