MORGANTOWN — The University High football team isn’t hoping to be the first opponent to score against Spring Mills this season.
The Hawks are determined to become the first team to beat the top-ranked team in Class AAAA at 7 p.m. Friday out in Berkeley County.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for us and a great chance to go on the road and make the University High community proud,” UHS head coach Eric Snyder said.
With a host of underclassmen starting for the No. 12-ranked Hawks (3-3) and a number of freshmen and sophomores playing on both sides of the ball, Snyder and the coaching staff have stressed the weight of this moment.
“There’s no more thinking you’re a freshman or a sophomore,” Snyder said. “This might be the only opportunity at University High School that you’re able to do this. To give them that kind of motivation in this unique situation, it’s given us a little bit more life in practice. We’ve got to be on top of our game and make sure we execute our gameplan on all three sides of the ball against the top team in the state.”
Snyder has been with the UHS football program since 2002, and he’s had to rack his brain trying to remember the last time the Hawks faced the No. 1 team in their classification. Early in his tenure, or a few years prior in the late-1990s, University and Morgantown met up as undefeated teams in the annual MoHawk Bowl.
In recent memory, the Hawks played eventual state champion Wheeling Park in Week 3 of the 2015 season.
“With us and Morgantown both getting our programs up to a higher level, hopefully we can get an opportunity like this to play a top-ranked team in the state more consistently,” Snyder said.
The Hawks are playing more consistently this season after back-to-back wins against Pennsylvania teams, knocking off Butler 17-13 and Connellsville 31-13.
“We feel pretty good after a two-game winning streak,” Snyder said.
Spring Mills (6-0) also feels pretty, especially with a defense that has yet to allow a single point. Spring Mills has outscored its opponents 297-0 this season.
“They have highly athletic players and some nice pieces that fit well together with what they run on offense and defense,” Snyder said. “Their athletes get out in space and play to their strengths to create havoc with their speed. They’re all just one year older than what they were, and that makes them one year better. There’s not too much that can fool them. They understand what they’re supposed to do, and they go out and execute.”
The Cardinals come into the game having recently defeated Washington 43-0.
“The teams that had a chance to score points got to a point late in the game when a field goal wouldn’t do them any good,” Snyder said. “That didn’t happen too often.”
Some of Spring Mills’ top defensive players include lineman Abelardo Meza and linebacker Max Anderson, who is also the team’s quarterback.
The Cardinals are coached by Marcus Law, a former WVU football player from 2003-06. He was Spring Mills’ interim coach last season and took over full-time duties this year.
“Coach Law has taken the program to new heights,” Snyder said. “He stepped in at the last second and ran with it. He’s doing a phenomenal job of getting his players to buy in to what he’s doing. They get out to extremely fast starts and just demoralize you at the beginning of games. They’d like to get up by 42 at halftime and handle business the rest of the way through.”
The Hawks have a chance to pull off the huge upset by relying on their own improving defense while also utilizing their bevy of offensive superstars, which include Logan Deel, Hayden George, Glenn Brown and Kaleil Lewis.
University has had a unique quarterback situation as sophomore Harrison Helbig filled in valiantly for junior Jack Byrer while he was injured in the first part of the season. Now, both quarterbacks are seeing time under center and the Hawks are able to run some unique schemes off that.
Defense and special teams also helped lift the Hawks last week against Connellsville. Jaedyn Katchur recovered a fumble and took it 30 yards for a score in the fourth quarter. Earlier in the game, Brady Goodenow connected on a 40-yard field goal.
— Story by Matthew Peaslee
