Trending
After two years of shuffling through the pandemic and limited media opportunities, a sense of normalcy returned the past couple of weeks in collecting pictures and interviewing area football coaches for The Inter-Mountain Football Preview and Fall Sports insert, which will be included in Thursday's edition.
Like past years, the coaches are always very cooperative and excited to get the season underway.
Second-year Elkins High School coach Jimmy Hankins was pleased with his roster numbers being up in 2022, along with the ongoing turf installment on the school's field.
The Tigers have been pretty much "Road Warriors" the past two seasons, and the excitement of having a full home schedule in 2022 is certainly a big boost to the program.
Trips to Buckhannon-Upshur and Philip Barbour also were positive. Both teams have plenty of talent on both sides of the ball returning and more victories are predicted in Tennerton and Philippi this season.
Tygarts Valley and sixth-year head coach Rodney Bright seek a return to the Class playoffs.
The Bulldogs' run of back-to-back postseason appearances was derailed in 2021 due to the injury bug.
Bright, however, believes TV can once again be a playoff contender if it remains healthy.
Tucker County also saw a jump in the roster in 2022 after a couple of down years in numbers.
The Mountain Lions have a nice mixture of experience back to go along with several players who played in the past and have decided to once again suit up.
Area squads begin the season on Friday night.