CHARLESTON – During the course of Bridgeport’s undefeated season which culminated with a 49-7 victory against Herbert Hoover in the Class AAA state championship game, some began to wonder if this was the best team in school history.
That debate will likely continue to be waged amongst the 2024 Indians and any of the other previous 10 state title teams in school history. However, it would be difficult to argue against this year’s team being the deepest in school history.
That depth was reflective on the Class AAA All-State football team announced today by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. Six Bridgeport players earned first-team honors including the captains on both sides of the ball – Wes Brown as a lineman on offense and Josh Love as a utility player on defense.
Six more Indians earned second-team honors and one more earned honorable mention.
What’s somewhat unusual about Brown and Love is that they could have switched sides, still been captains and nobody would have batted an eye.
Brown was the top lineman for an offense that led the state in points scored with 801 (57.2 per game) and set a school record for rushing yards in a season at 5,446. But Brown was also a force up front for a defense that allowed just 8 points per game and gave up 43 rushing yards per contest with 46 tackles, 8.5 for a loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and an interception.
“I feel like offense, I’m a little better at it,” Brown said. “In the single wing, sometimes people don’t see me coming to hit them. But I think I like playing defense a little better.”
Love was just as crucial to the Indians’ success on defense as a safety who finished with 55 tackles, 4.5 for a loss, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions. However, he also ran for 1,526 yards on 143 carries with 27 touchdowns.
“I feel like I’ve done OK on offense and defense,” Love said. “The goal has always been to try and be balanced on both sides of the ball. I think that’s the case with this team this year. We have a lot of guys that want to make plays no matter where they are on the field.”
Joining the BHS duo as first-team selections are Alex Moses at running back, Carter Zuliani at defensive line, Donovan Williams at linebacker and Cam Martin at defensive back.
Moses ran for 1,160 yards on 79 carries and 22 touchdowns in addition to returning two kicks for touchdowns and intercepting three passes.
Zuliani has 27.5 tackles, 12.5 for a loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles, six pass deflections and a blocked kick.
Williams finished with 59 tackles, 12.0 for a loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. On offense, he caught 12 passes for 358 yards and four touchdowns and scored two touchdowns on the ground.
Martin was the lead blocking back for the Indians’ single wing offense and at safety had 50 tackles, 2.5 for a loss, forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and broke up four passes.
Joining Brown and Moses on the first-team offense are three players from Herbert Hoover in quarterback Dane Hatfield, offensive utility selection Blake Fisher and offensive lineman Mighty Lopez.
Hatfield had 2,132 rushing yards with 37 touchdowns and threw for nearly 2,000 yards with 17 touchdowns. Fisher had 957 rushing yards, 762 receiving yards and 25 total touchdowns.
Princeton’s Chance Barker also made first-team as a quarterback. He threw for 2,505 yards and 35 touchdowns.
Rounding out the first-team offensive line is Fairmont Senior’s Trevor Bigelow, North Marion’s Gabe Bland and East Fairmont’s Caleb Crookshanks.
The first-team wide receivers are Nitro’s Malachi Thompson and Princeton’s Brad Mossor. Thompson 74 passes for 1,609 yards and 18 touchdowns. Mossor caught 66 passes for 1,203 yards and 13 touchdowns, while adding a pair of TDS on the ground and five defensive/special teams TDs.
Joining Moses as first-team running backs are Elkins’ Nick Bowers (2,303 yards, 24 TDs) and Capital’s David Robinson.
Spring Valley’s Jalyn Abercrombie is a first-team offensive utility player. He caught 53 passes for 1,042 yards and 18 touchdowns.
The first-team kicker is Brooke’s Chase Hile, who made 9-of-12 field goals with a long of 48.
Joining Zuliani as first-team defensive linemen are Lewis County’s Maddox Gillespie (80 tackles, 32 TFL, 6 sacks, 5 FF, 2 FR, 1 INT), Fairmont Senior’s Kaleb Arbogast (40 tackles, 15.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 4 FR), Princeton’s Daniel Jennings (38 tackles, 12.5 TFL, 10 sacks) and Nitro’s Xavier Patterson (96 tackles, 31 TFL, 13.5 sacks).
Other first-team linebackers are Ripley’s Ethan Kay (102 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 5 sacks, 2 INT) and John Marshall’s Maverick LeMasters (101 tackles, 16 TFL, 3 sacks, 3 FF).
Fairmont Senior’s Brock Martin is a first-team defensive back. Nitro’s Eli Littlejohn is a first-team defensive utility selection as are Princeton’s Kalum Kiser and Marquel Lowe.
The first-team punter in Keyser’s Tommy Nash.
Second-team captain honors go to Fairmont Senior quarterback Brody Whitehair on offense and Nitro linebacker Wyatt Sowards on defense.
Wooden plaques in the shape of West Virginia that include the player’s name, school, licensed WVSWA logo, year of the honoree are available to all-state first team, second team and honorable mentions and can be purchased at from the Bear Wood Company through WVSWA.org or Bearwoodcompany.com
By Chris Johnson for the WVSWA (Connect-Bridgeport)
The Class AAA All-State Football Team as selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
First Team Offense
QB – Dane Hatfield, Herbert Hoover, Sr.
QB – Chance Barker, Princeton, Jr.
WR – Malachi Thompson, Nitro, Jr.
WR – Brad Mossor, Princeton, Jr.
OL – Wes Brown, Bridgeport, Sr. (Captain)
OL – Trevor Bigelow, Fairmont Senior, Sr.
OL – Gabe Bland, North Marion, Sr.
OL – Caleb Crookshanks, East Fairmont, Sr.
OL – Mighty Lopez, Herbert Hoover, Jr.
RB – Nick Bowers, Elkins, Sr.
RB – Alex Moses, Bridgeport, Sr.
RB – David Robinson, Capital, Soph.
K – Chase Hile, Brooke, Sr.
U – Jaylen Abercrombie, Spring Valley, Sr.
U – Blake Fisher, Hebert Hoover, Jr.
First Team Defense
DL – Maddox Gillespie, Lewis County, Sr.
DL – Carter Zuliani, Bridgeport, Sr.
DL – Daniel Jennings, Princeton, Jr.
DL – Kaleb Arbogast, Fairmont Senior, Sr.
DL – Xavier Patterson, Nitro, Sr.
LB – Donovan Williams, Bridgeport, Sr.
LB – Ethan Kay, Ripley, Sr.
LB – Maverick LeMasters, John Marshall, Sr.
DB – Cam Martin, Bridgeport, Sr.
DB – Brock Martin, Fairmont Senior, Sr.
U – Eli Littlejohn, Nitro, Sr.
U – Josh Love, Bridgeport, Sr. (Captain)
U – Kalum Kiser, Princeton, Jr.
U – Marquel Lowe, Princeton, Sr.
P – Tommy Nash, Keyser, Jr.
Second Team Offense
QB – Josh Moody, Nitro, Sr.
QB – Brody Whitehair, Fairmont, Sr. (Captain)
WR – Cannon Dinger, Fairmont Senior, Sr.
WR – Dillan America, Grafton, Sr.
OL – Noah West, Bridgeport, Sr.
OL – Landyn Moore, Princeton, Soph.
OL – Ethan Patrick, Hebert Hoover, Sr.
OL – Jacob Kimble, Winfield, Sr.
OL – Tucker Van Meter, Capital, Sr.
RB – Tim Jeffress, Bridgeport, Sr.
RB – Noah Casto, Ripley, Sr.
K – Gavin Williams, Bridgeport, Soph.
U – Vinny Grearer, Hampshire, Sr.
U – Slaton Manko, Preston, Jr.
U – Devin Richardson, Oak Hill, Sr.
Second Team Defense
DL – JD Mauritz, Oak Hill, Sr.
DL – Conner Buckle, Point Pleasant, Sr.
DL – Connor Facemire, Herbert Hoover, Sr.
LB – Gabe Martin, Bridgeport, Soph.
LB – Wyatt Sowards, Nitro, Jr. (Captain)
LB – Ethan Likens, Preston, Sr.
LB – Hayden Biggie, East Fairmont, Sr.
LB – Jake Anderson, Keyser, Sr.
DB – Jack Spatafore, Bridgeport, Sr.
DB – Nathan Easley, Shady Spring, Sr.
DB – Chris Jenkins, Ripley, Soph.
U – Aiden Hernandez, Winfield, Jr.
U – Logan Canfield, Fairmont Senior, Sr.
U – Nate Hess, North Marion, Sr.
P – Maddox Cole, Nitro, Sr.
Honorable Mention
Owen Acord, Lewis County; Jalon Bailey, Shady Spring; Drew Banks, Lincoln County; Jon Bender, Bridgeport; Keshawn Bland, Greenbrier East; Hunter Bigelow, Fairmont Senior; Aiden Cain, Berkeley Springs; Brandon Champion, Oak Hill; Karson Church, East Fairmont; Wyatt Cline, Princeton; JR Cochran, Riverside; Triston Cole, Winfield; Joey Cowger, Shady Spring; Rowan Cramer, East Fairmont; Isaac Creel, Point Pleasant; Jeff Cowger, Fairmont Senior; Zaeyveon Dickerson, Nitro; Cooper Durst, Ripley; Tyrell Ellis, St. Albans; Landon Eversole, Hampshire; Cole Ferguson, Spring Valley; Gavin Floyd, North Marion; Brody Hamric, Greenbrier East; Josh Holden, North Marion; Cam Foley, Grafton; Alex Goodwin, Lewis County; Talon Harrison, Herbert Hoover; Connor Hatten, Point Pleasant; Kaiden Helmer, Shady Spring; Colton Henderson, Shady Spring; Nathan Hill, Shady Spring; Devin Hulver, Elkins; Sam Kee, Herbert Hoover; Aiden Lambert, Elkins; Grayson Lambka, Keyser; Mason Markonich, John Marshall; Liam McGuire, Spring Valley; Toby Michael, North Marion; Garrett Moore, Brooke; Kyle Moore, Berkeley Springs; Damir Mowder, Weir; Hayden Payne, Herbert Hoover; Cam Peschel, Fairmont Senior; Easton Pinkerton, Winfield; Brian Poindexter, North Marion; Tyson Pritt, Ripley; Riley Rider, Elkins; Luke Shaffer, Nitro; Alex Shrader, Point Pleasant; Cody Smith, Preston; Junior Smith, Robert C. Byrd; Jeremiah Triplett, Lincoln County; Tre Tanner, Winfield; Carson Treadway, Oak Hill; Cole Vangilder, East Fairmont; Garrett Wagoner, Spring Valley; Tristan Watts, Spring Valley; Dom Wise, Nitro.
