BLACKSVILLE, W.Va. — The Clay-Battelle football team didn’t end 2018 on a great note.
With a split 5-5 overall record, the team missed the Class A playoffs by a hair. Heading into the final two weeks up two games, 5-3, two-straight disappointing road losses put it on the wrong side of the postseason ticket.
Veteran coach Ryan Wilson and his staff are making the necessary changes that they hope will rewrite the too-familiar four-year script once the new season kicks off, but the best thing the team has going for them thus far isn’t in the public eye — it’s in Wilson’s mind.
The last time C-B saw the playoffs was 2014, and Wilson sees that group reborn in his current group.
“That (2014) ball club was something special,” Wilson said. “One of the things I think this team resembles 2014 is their togetherness.
“You go back in memories, and I can remember the 2014 group’s breaks during two-a-days — they played ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’. There were my seniors playing with freshmen. They were a very together group. They formed their own film watching group (and would say), ‘Hey we’re having pizza tonight and watching film, and you will be there,’ ” Wilson said, laughing.
But as soon as he began cracking up remembering those bonding moments, Wilson came back to his stoic yet serious demeanor.
“This team, right now, I see that togetherness,” he continued. “It’s about the ‘team.’ The coaches and I were walking the field setting things up for practice and I compared this team to the 2014 team, and the one coach that was there that year said, ‘Yeah, the 2014 team was really bonded like this year’s team.’ I thought it was ironic that without saying anything that we had the same thoughts.
“My state playoff teams in the past overachieved. They brought it to practice and the games everyday and played above their head every play. I see this team having some of that — they want to overachieve. How’s it all going to pan out? I don’t know. But this team will play up to their potential and try to overachieve it.”
‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ may be outdated by today’s standards, but it doesn’t matter what medium a team chooses to bond and grow together and rather is about them just generally bonding. One idea Wilson and his coaching staff had was to incorporate a camp-like event to their two-a-days.
Now four days in, the 2019 Clay-Battelle team kicked off its August practices in a different way. Starting with morning work, it took a break during the hot hours to go bond over bowling. After knocking down some pins, the team picked back up where they left off from 7-10 p.m. before spending the night at the school. The next morning, it rolled out of bed, ate some breakfast and start morning drills again.
“I’m not sure if it was meant to be a big-time team bonding (event), but if there was bonding there, that was great. I think it happened,” Wilson said. “They were giving high-fives if anyone got a strike or picked up a spare. That was the nice thing. They aren’t professional bowlers, but they had fun.”
With a tight knit group taking the field in the coming weeks – a talented backfield, receiver corps and defense, and the lines ready for the trenches – Wilson’s group looks to be ready to rewrite that aforementioned script.
“This group accepts every challenge. They don’t look at it and back down from it,” he said. “Those are things I see similar to the 14 team. They liked to be challenged and liked competition. And they hated to lose. I see a lot of that with this team.”
The main theme Wilson points out about his current group is the familial vibe. It’s proven time and time again that successful programs have mutual respect for each other, lift each other up and look after each other — something ever present five years ago.
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