The Burch Bulldogs football team is proof positive that hard work does pay off.

When I visited the school during baseball season, the players, many of whom play football, too, were all working out in the weight room. Players were cheering each other on as they tried to set new personal records on the benchpress, while others continued their workout regimen.

Hard work is what Burch Football Coach James “Butch” Joplin has been preaching since he took over last year. On Friday night, after the Bulldogs’ 54-20 win over Hannan that set their season record at 5-5, Joplin said it was all that hard work that allowed the Bulldogs to finish just shy of the playoffs with a .500 record.

Not bad for a team that, a year ago, was stuck in a losing skid that would go 30-games long.

There’s a message in the Burch Bulldogs’ successful season: Hard work will eventually pay off.

If you set a goal and work toward a goal, with hard work you can achieve it.

Burch went from being in the basement of Class A football to nearly beating Matewan and just one win away from making it into the postseason for the first time in years.

College athletes like former Chapmanville softball star Andi Williamson are good examples of how hard work pays off. She’s playing softball in the South Eastern Conference for Division I Tennessee, making her the first athlete from Logan County to play ball at a big college since Orlando Washington and Michael “Kool-Aid” Owens.

Just ask any of those three athletes how hard work paid off for them.

Successful people don’t get where they are by sitting back and having everything handed to them. There’s always a lot of hard work involved in reaching the top.

Josh Sammons, the former Matewan High School quarterback, is another good example of hard work paying off. He’s practicing every day and working toward getting a starting spot on the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team. Sammons is a redshirt freshman quarterback, but his coaches all praise his work ethic and his drive. And, as he continues to work hard, just as Williamson is doing at Tennessee, he’ll most likely see considerable playing time of the big college level.

The Burch Bulldogs really exceeded everyone’s expectations this season. They had nothing to lose and everything to gain and they wanted to prove to the state that they were building a program through hard work.

It was never easy.

They worked out together throughout the summer and got bigger, stronger and better.

They improved their knowledge of the game and endured some tough practices.

When it came to game time, the Bulldogs worked together: They had fun and got along well and it showed in how they played. And the Burch Bulldogs started winning again.

Their fan support more than doubled and they even had a following at away games. The bleachers were packed at home games and on road trips as far away as Hannan the Burch faithful filled the stands.

Before the season started, quarterback Ryan Hatfield and wide receiver Jacob Stratton both said they believed the Bulldogs would end the losing streak and emerge from the bottom of the pile. Not only did they end their losing skid, they ended it in style.

By the end of the season, the Bulldogs had won five games, scored more touchdowns in a game than they had in four seasons and Burch earned the respect of teams all across the state.

And the Bulldogs are definitely living proof that hard work does indeed pay off.