PRINCETON — Princeton head coach Keith Taylor coached wide receiver Dominick Collins throughout middle school and high school.
After the Class AAA state championship game on Dec. 2, his final one as Collins’ head coach, he gave a definitive assessment of his standout player.
“I think he’s one of the best athletes in the state of West Virginia,” Taylor said. “I’m biased. I’m obviously gonna say he is the best but I think he proved it today.”
Biased or unbiased, the majority agree with Taylor.
After a season in which Collins caught 83 passes for 1,901 yards and 27 touchdowns, he was named the Randy Moss Award winner as well as the Kennedy Award winner by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
The Randy Moss Award, named after the NFL Hall of Famer and former Kennedy Award winner, has been presented annually to the state’s top receiver since 2014 while the Kennedy Award is presented on the same basis to the state’s top overall player. In sweeping both awards Collins becomes the first player in state history to do so and the first receiver since Brandon Barrett (Martinsburg, 2003) to claim the Kennedy. He joins Barrett (2002-03) and Moss (1994) as the only wide receivers to win the Kennedy.
Collins rewrote the record book at Princeton this past season. His 36 total touchdowns are a new program record as are all of his single-season receiving numbers. His 27 touchdown receptions tied the single-season statewide record as well.
Established as an all-state receiver a year ago, there was a question as to whether or not Collins would be able to match his output from a year ago when he finished with 1,036 yards receiving and 18 touchdowns as a junior. With four-year starter and 8,000-yard passer Grant Cochran lost to graduation, there wasn’t a solidified starter at the quarterback position for Princeton until late August, meaning touches might need to be manufactured for Collins in an array of ways including as a traditional runner.
But while the QB competition played out Collins worked on his individual game, even getting both potential starters involved.
“There was a lot of work,” Collins said. “I was working out three, maybe four times a day. I was trying to get my new quarterback on the field and get that new chemistry with him — both of them at the time. Just all the work in the offseason – we came out with all the chemistry and we were all just working. I knew it would be hard because both are really good quarterbacks. (Brad Mossor) likes to run and he could throw a little bit while (Chance Barker) likes to throw and can run a little bit. It was going to hurt a little bit, but having the QB who could run (Brad Mossor) out at receiver, I knew that would help us.”
Taylor, who had been on staff at the high school after coaching at the middle school, took over this season for Chris Pedigo. Part of his job was making all the pieces fit but he knew immediately Collins was a foundational one to keep building upon. It gave him confidence as a head coach as well, knowing any time his team took the field they often had the best player.
“For the last couple of years, even his sophomore year he came on at the end and our strategy was to get the ball to No. 5,” Taylor said. “That’s been our go-to and what we’ve based our philosophy around since he’s been there. He just made the quarterback comfortable, no matter if it was Chance or Brad. We knew we could get quick screens out to Dom. I’m just super proud of him. I’ve always wanted to coach a kid like that — every coach does where you go ‘Let’s just throw a quick screen and score an 80-yard touchdown.’ That’s what every coach dreams of and I’ve always said we never had that kid at Princeton until we got Dom Collins. It’s easy to know when you go out and look around and know teams can’t guard him and that’s where a lot of my confidence came from. I knew we had a player like that who could take it the distance with two or three guys on him.”
Much was put on Collins’ plate from the jump. As a sophomore, he was tasked with filling the void left by the 2020 Moss Award winner Ethan Parsons.
He led the team in catches (28), receiving yards (460) and touchdown receptions (eight), before finishing with nearly 3,000 yards over his final two seasons. But that sophomore season established him as an explosive threat. By the time his senior season rolled around most opponents were aware of the 4.25 40-yard dash he ran at WVU in the summer of 2022. As a result, he saw many of the same double coverages Parsons saw throughout his Moss campaign, but the Tigers were prepared. They used Collins as a decoy at times and put him in motion to break brackets. He also learned how to beat the coverages on his own while realizing it wasn’t all bad.
“Getting double-teamed every week was crazy,” Collins smiled. “I just had to work on my cuts, my releases and get past that double team. It sucks not getting the ball sometimes because of those double teams but at the same time when you’re winning, you’re still having fun. When you’re double-teaming me you’re taking people out of the box and we have multiple people that can go off like I can and it was proven multiple times this season.”
Collins’ crowning performance came against Bridgeport in the Class AAA semifinals. He caught nine passes for 330 yards, finishing with five total touchdowns that sent the Tigers to their first state title game in program history. He finished the postseason with 31 receptions for 699 yards with seven touchdown catches. For good measure, he added a pair of rushing scores and a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown.
He joins Jim Miller, who won the Evans Award as the state’s top basketball player in 1981, as the only athlete in Princeton history to garner Player of the Year honors.
“It means a lot,” Collins said. “It goes to show how much hard work pays off. I couldn’t be more grateful than what I am right now. God’s blessed me with this ability and I used it to the best of my ability. I always knew I’d be pretty decent at football just because of my speed but never in a million years would I think of this. I just have to thank the man upstairs for this.”
Collins will be recognized at the 77th annual Victory Awards Dinner on May 5, 2024 at River City in Wheeling.
Finishing behind Collins in the voting were, in order, Murphy Clement (Martinsburg), Matt Frye (Scott), Maxwell Molessa (Williamstown) and Gage Wright (Parkersburg South).
By Tyler Jackson/Lootpress.com
