×
×
homepage logo

The Press Box for October 9

By Staff | Oct 9, 2019

The Silver Knights football team has won three straight and are racking up the points. This past week they put 70 points on the board with seniors Rucker and Huffman doing most of the damage. The Knights can score quickly and are starting to become a better defensive team, several freshman are stepping in and filling the gaps while making big plays to get the ball back on offense.

Paden City is also playing inspired football and although they dropped one at Cameron on Friday, there were a lot of good things happening. The offense was in position to score several times but the turnovers killed them or they could easily have had three more scores. Defensively they played tough and are getting better with each outing. Coach Heasley is working them hard and you can see they are not only playing hard, but learning the game as well.

On Friday they presented the Dragons with a Jersey signed by all the team and coaches in honor and memory of Colby Brown who wore number 9 for the Dragons. Brown was a former quarterback for the team and nephew of Cameron’s Coach. Brown lost his life this year .

Coach Brown accepted the jersey from the Wildcats and held it up high as the crowd went wild and rose to their feet cheering. Paden City Coach Zach Heasley is teaching the kids nmore than just football, he’s teaching them to be respectful young men who will go out into the world and never forget the experience they had as Wildcats.

Heasley has done something this season that Paden City hasn’t seen in a long time. He’s gave the community and the school hope. There is excitement in the air once again in Wildcat town. From the high flying hard hitting volleyball team to the powerful 17 man football team. Even though the Cats are setting at 2-4 right now they are playing with high energy and bringing the fans to their feet with some great plays.

The Cats have the winning attitude and are making every team they play know they’ve been in a ball game. Hope is what people need, they need it in everything they do, from their home, their jobs, for a better community, for their life and for their freinds, neighbors and family. Without hope you have nothing. We all have the hope that their is a better life after this one. We have the hope to one day be reunited with loved ones who have passed away.

If you believe in God you have the hope to one day make it to heaven. While here on earth we need hope to help us live a peaceful and joyful life.

Paden City has been down in football for the most part of 20 years. The old teams of the past that brought us hope of winning seasons year after year faded away. We are now back to having some hope, and if you have been to any of the games you can see it and feel it. When the great Wildcat band takes the field and plays the fight song, when the team bursts onto the field, you can feel it once again.

It’s a great feeling, I said a while back sometimes you need new blood to bring hope to the people. That’s what happened and win lose or draw you can tell something different is happening in Wildcat town.

The Wildcats have a tough one at home against Clay Battelle on Friday, but you can bet Heasley will have the Cats ready and they will put up a battle. The Silver Knights should roll again over Buffalo and this one could get ugly quick.

Up the River in Blue Eagle Country the football team that won a state championship not long ago is struggling to put enough players on the field and seems to have one after another dropping off.

The New Martinsville Museum just inducted one of the great football coaches the Valley has ever seen. Paden City Coach Henry Healy who ran a tight ship during the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s had a great saying. He told it nearly every week at the Wildcat thuse meetings (today we call them pep rallies), “with hard work and confidence you can accomplish most anything” he would remind everyone of his players prior to every game.

He told us when we went out for a sport what to expect, hard work, and nothing easy. I believe most everyone who’s played in the past can relate to that. I hope the Blue Eagles who have a history of many great teams, coaches, and athletes can finish the season without anymore injuries and without anymore kids dropping off the team.

Paden City reminds me a lot of West Virginia football. The Mountaineers with their new young coach Brown aren’t the most talented team in the country by far, but they sure put up a good fight. Texas is a top notch program and the number 11th ranked team in the nation and the Mountaineers took them to the wire for a little over three quarters. They played with intensity the whole game and never gave up. Without the two big interceptions it could easily been a WVU win. That’s how the Wildcats looked on Friday against Cameron, mistakes cost them the game.

The Wildcats volleyball team is a top notch Class A team, and have already reached the 20 win mark on the season. The sectional volleyball tournament is not far off and Paden City, Magnolia, Tyler Consolidated and Ritchie County will all be vying for a spot in the state tournament . This year looks up for grabs as any of the above two teams could make it.

Earlier in this article I was talking about hope when someone called me to remind me the Wildcats have two hopes. They have the new found hope with the football team and they have Hope Weber who has been listed in Max Preps as one of the top hitters in the country. eparsons@tylerstarnews.com