MORGANTOWN — The Mohawk Bowl will not be the only action Pony Lewis Field sees the final weekend of October.
The day after Morgantown High hosts University on Oct. 26, the Mohigans will have the team’s first alumni game Oct. 27, bringing back former players that span across five decades.
The original goal was to have a Mohawk alumni game but the idea fizzled, so Winfield will head north to face MHS. WHS plays an alumni game each year and has an established base of former players that participate.
“We wanted to figure out a way to make a little extra money by doing something unique,” current defensive coordinator and class of 2005 alum Matt Kelly said. “So many teams at MHS fundraise with elimination dinners, golf scrambles, raffles and so on. It can be exhausting for the community to consistently dole out funds for the same types of fundraisers.”
With the help of Alumni Football USA, the football program is hoping to raise money for Red and Blue Football Parents Association, the team’s parents boosters group.
But another reason for the game is to showcase players from a program that has been one of the most successful in West Virginia during the past 50 years. MHS won five state championships since 1983, including winning four out of six from 2000-’05.
“Our second goal was to try and re-instill some pride in our players and community about what a rich tradition MHS football has,” Kelly said. “It wasn’t that long ago that MHS was doing what Martinsburg is doing now. We were the top dog in the state. Our current players were newborns, or not born, when this was happening. It’s crazy to think that they have lived in a world that Morgantown High once dominated. We need to remind them of that. They need to see how important this school and the red and blue mean to some people.
It’s like that old saying, ‘Tradition never graduates.’ We have to find creative ways to help teach our players this.”
Tickets will be available for pre-sale at MHS’s final two home games — Oct. 19 against John Marshall and Oct. 26 against UHS.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Not all of the roster will participate, but it currently stands at 51 members. Alumni can still sign up at alumnifootballusa.com.
Name, age, class
- Vince Lafata, 24, 2012
- Dustin Laudermilch, 29, 2007
- Devin Strope, 23, 2014
- Andrew Kief, 19, 2017
- Spencer Farley, 31, 2005
- Terry Haseleu, 37, 1999
- David Stanton, 25, 2011
- Corey Boyce, 28, 2008
- Chris Myers, 23, 2013
- Tyler Oleksa, 34, 2002
- Christopher Ryan, 35, 2001
- Alex Andersen, 22, 2014
- Mackenzie Lawrence, 23, 2014
- Mike Hopkins, 64, 1972
- Sean Fitch, 25, 2011
- Brian Petitto, 30, 2007
- Dennison Kyle, 29, 2007
- Mark Burgess, 28, 2008
- Cody Liddle, 20, 2016
- Terrence Sprouse, 18, 2018
- Dave Sackett, 32, 2005
- Jacob Workman, 20, 2016
- Derrick Woods, 41, 1996
- Brady Hatch, 20, 2016
- Mikhail Lewis, 22, 2015
- Mike Greathouse, 32, 2005
- Zayne Hern, 20, 2016
- Davis Kimble, 20, 2016
- Garrett Cain, 21, 2015
- Dempsey Friend, 33, 2003
- Neil Ironfield, 19, 2017
- Matthew Kelly, 30, 2005
- Tom Forman, 53, 1983
- Dante Carlier, 19, 2017
- Joey Musick, 25, 2011
- Dom Smith, 30, 2007
- Tyler Masters, 25, 2011
- JT Redman, 45, 1991
- Cody Maurin, 22, 2014
- Logan Compton, 22, 2014
- Jeremy Berkshire, 37, 1999
- Tim Savage, 38, 1997
- DJ Summers, 23, 2014
- Drew Hudson, 19, 2017
- Darion Good, 23, 2013
- Nick Romito, 26, 2011
- Tommy Wade, 19, 2017
- Jeff Allen, 26, 2010
- Tyler Anderson, 27, 2009
- Bernard Murray, 38, 1999
- Jesse Tichenor, 26, 2010
