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‘Gridiron Greats’: Jed Drenning, Tucker County High School

Drenning won Kennedy Award in ’87

Submitted photo Former Tucker County standout Jed Drenning is shown during his All-American days at Glenville State.

Drenning

Editor’s note: The following is the third in a series of profiles of “Gridiron Greats” from area high schools. The series will lead up to the publication of The Inter-Mountain’s annual Football Preview and Fall Sports Guide on Aug. 27.

Long before Jed Drenning roamed the sidelines as the West Virginia University football radio reporter, he was throwing darts for Tucker County High School.

During his prep career, Drenning quarterbacked the Mountain Lions, then in Class AA, to consecutive state championship appearances in 1986 and 1987.

“We lost to Bridgeport on a late field goal in 1986,” Drenning said in a past interview with the The Inter-Mountain. “Then we ran into a buzzsaw against Winfield the following year. They had a tremendous team and many observers thought that they were not only the best team in Class AA, but the entire state.”

Drenning

He won the Kennedy Award in 1987, which goes to the state’s top football player, along with being named a two-time all-state performer during his tenure at Tucker County.

After starting his college career at Samford in Alabama, he transferred to WVU, and then finished his playing days at Glenville State, where he was a record-setting All-American under Rich Rodriguez.

He was one of the most prolific passers in West Virginia Conference (WVIAC) history and first player in league history to record 10,000 yards of total offense.

In 1993, Drenning guided the Pioneers to the NAIA national championship game.

After graduation, he played professionally in the Arena Football League and European Football Federation before becoming an assistant coach at Glenville State.

Drenning, who was inducted into the Glenville State College Hall of Fame in 2005, also previously published a football magazine — The Signal Caller — and now has a popular podcast of the same name.

He is also a contributing writer for WVUsports.com.

The son of Davis mayor Joe Drenning, Drenning still resides in Tucker County with his wife, Christina, and two sons, Dillon and Maverick, and also serves as primary healthcare representative at Pfizer.

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