MAN – It was magnificent.

No, it was Man-nificent.

The Man High School football team made history on Saturday night as the Hillbillies advanced to the upcoming Class A state championship game after knocking off previously unbeaten Richwood, 27-20, in the Single-A state semifinals at a packed and raucous George A. Queen Memorial Field in Man.

No. 2-ranked Man (12-1) is scheduled to play No. 1-rated and unbeaten Weirton Madonna (13-0) in next Saturday’s 7 p.m. state final at Wheeling Island Stadium.

The Billies will be playing in their first state championship game since Tootie Carter led Man to the Class AA finals in 1984. Man has finished as the state runner-up three times – in 1977, 1980 and 1984 – but has never won a state championship in football.

Reaching the state championship game has been a culmination of years of hard work.

When Man coach Harvey Arms took over the Man program in 2002 the Billies’ had gone through hard times after winning just four games in three years from 1999-2001 under the previous regime, including a winless campaign in ‘99.

It got so bad at one point during the 2001 season that Man’s football program was on the verge of folding up as the roster dwindled to 15 players.

But look how things have changed.

Man football is back.

The rebuilding process got started in 2004 when the Billies reached the Class A playoffs after back-to-back 4-6 seasons. Then in 2005, the Billies were in the Class A state quarterfinals.

After rebuilding seasons in 2006 and 2007, the Billies were at it again last year as Man eventually lost a 21-16 heartbreaker in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs at eventual state champion Williamstown.

Now, after playoff wins against Parkersburg Catholic (25-20), Fayetteville (37-26) and now Richwood, the Billies have reached the summit.

Coach Arms said his players have worked so hard to reach their goal of making it to Wheeling’s Field Turf.

“The seniors on our team are really great leaders,” Arms said. “They come to practice and they work hard every day and they set a good example for the young guys. We’ve been dedicated to our purpose. When we ended the season at Williamstown last year we felt like we had a shot to make it this far this year. They went on to win the state championship and we had them on the ropes. We proved that we could play with the best teams in the state. We knew coming into this season that we had a lot of players coming back and we felt like we had a shot at making it to the finals.

“We’ve taken care of it each week and played one at a time and have taken care of business. We knew if we played to our capabilities we had a good shot at going.”

Arms said the challenge is now set before his team.

“It’s up to us now to go up there and not be satisfied at just going,” he said. “We’re going up there to win.”

Last night’s game was also the first time the Billies had reached the semifinal round of the playoffs since 1989.

Man wasn’t going to let 20 long years go by the wayside.

The Bilies were able to hold off Richwood late to get the win.

The Lumberjacks (12-1) made it interesting in the fourth quarter as quarterback Sam Tindal scored on a 7-yard touchdown run with 6:20 left in the game. Dustin Brown’s PAT trimmed the Man advantage to 27-20 and made it a one-possession game.

Man got the ball back and drove all the way down to Richwood’s 27-yard line but faced a fourth-and-12.

Arms elected to go for it but Man quarterback Ryan Crum’s pass fell incomplete.

Richwood got the ball on the 27 with 1:52 to go and no timeouts.

It was Tindal’s job to try and drive down field and tie the game up.

But Man senior Jeremy Hatfield intercepted Tindal on the next play from scrimmage to preserve the win.

The Billies then ran a couple of plays to put the win and the berth in the state championship game on ice.

Man’s “Blue Funk” defense was definitely stout against Richwood’s potent offense, which rolled up 594 yards of total offense in last week’s playoff victory over Wirt County.

This time, the Lumberjacks could muster only 143 yards rushing and 171 in the air.

Man had 311 total yards on the ground unofficially, led by senior Andrew Hale, who had 19 carries for 110 yards.

Crum passed for another 58 yards.

It was Richwood, though, who struck first – on a 7-yard TD run by Tindal with 10:58 showing on the first quarter clock. Brown’s kick was good and it was 7-0 Jacks.

Man then came right back.

Brandon Plymale set up the Billies with a 55-yard kickoff return to the Richwood 25.

Four plays later, Hale reached pay dirt on a 4-yard TD run with 9:10 to go in the opening quarter. Kicker Derrick Earnest’s PAT was good and Man tied the game 7-7.

Richwood took its next drive down to the Man 20-yard line and to settle for a field goal attempt as the Jacks faced a fourth-and-12. Brown’s 39-yard field goal attempt, however, was blocked by Hatfield.

Man then marched down on its next possession and made it a 14-7 game with Plymale’s 1-yard TD run and Earnest’s PAT kick.

The Billies’ defense later stopped Richwood on a fourth-and-four at the Man 44 as Brown was thrown for a 3-yard loss.

Man then drove to the Lumberjack 22-yard line but Earnest’s 39-yard field goal sailed wide left with 4:37 showing on the second-quarter clock.

Richwood struck right back four plays later with Tindal’s 31-yard tipped touchdown pass to Seth Poston with 3:08 left until the half. Brown’s PAT was wide left, as Man held on to the 14-13 lead.

Later, it appeared as if Crum had thrown a 34-yard TD pass to Hatfield but an illegal shift penalty on the Billies wiped out the score.

After the flag, Man faced a fourth-and-15 at the Richwood 40. Out of field goal range after the penalty and with only 8 seconds left until the half, Crum lofted up a hail mary pass. Earnest snared the ball after a tip but was downed on the 1-yard line as time expired.

Man scored on its first possession of the second half as Hale ran in from 24 yards out and Earnest tacked on the PAT to make it 21-13 Billies with 8:07 to go in the third quarter.

Earnest later missed a 41-yard field goal attempt but senior Manny Gibson came up with a big blocked punt to give Man a first down at the Richwood 19-yard line. Crum later scored on a 1-yard TD run to make it 27-13 Man with 11:22 left in the game.

The Billies were then able to close the game out and punch their ticket to Wheeling.

Man is ironically playing Madonna in the state championship game. It was Madonna’s Blue Dons which beat Man 47-0 in the first round of the Class A playoffs in 2004.



Madonna 18,

Wheeling Central 7

Top-ranked Madonna held off Wheeling Central, 18-7, in the other Class A state semifinal at Weirton on Friday night.

The Blue Dons (13-0), last year’s state runner-up, advance to play in next Saturday night’s Super Six Class A state championship game at Wheeling against Man.

Madonna was led by quarterback Max Nogay, who carried the ball 30 times for 135 yards and scored on a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs. Nogay also fired a 15-yard touchdown pass to Connor Arlia in the third quarter.

All three of Madonna’s conversions failed.

The Blue Dons held the Maroon Knights to just 210 yards of total offense. Madonna entered the game having given up just 30 total points on the season.

Wheeling Central ended the season with a 9-4 record. The Maroon Knights had an unusual schedule this season as they played only one in-state opponent during the regular season and took on a team from Ontario, Canada.

Jordan Sorge caught a 45-yard TD pass from Zack Hood for the Maroon Knights’ only score.