Elkins football looks to show last year’s losing season was a fluke

ELKINS, W.Va (WDTV) - It’s energy that’s headlining Elkins football this year.

The team made the playoffs in 2020 but went winless in 2021.

This season, the Tigers are looking to show the world that the losing season was a fluke.

“Last year we started with nothing and had to start from scratch,” said Elkins’ head coach. “We have a few more things in place this year. We only lost 3 seniors. We are getting almost everything back. Our whole offensive line is in tact. Our leading two ball carriers are back.”

Players aren’t the only thing that’s back. Home field is as well.

Last season, the Tigers were only able to host one home game during the construction of a new stadium.

The project is set to be finished before the first home game of the 2022 season, meaning that the community will be able to rally behind the Tigers once again.

“We’ve had pretty good support. Anything we’ve asked for, the community comes through with it,” Elkins’ head coach said. “I have no complaints as far as that’s concerned. That’s the great thing as a head coach, when you have that much support. They’ve fed us, they’ve taken care of us, it’s a good thing. We’ve got a lot of support.”

Due to the construction of the field, there have been a few changes in plans for what would otherwise be a normal practice routine.

Nevertheless, conditioning is one thing that has stayed strong for the team. The team is working harder than ever.

“Last year, we probably only conditioned a couple of times a week,” said Damien Strader. “This year, it’s every single day.”

“The attitude and positivity is looking a lot better than it did last season. Everyone is looking a lot more in shape at this point than we were last season,” said Tayton Lee. “We can thank Coach for that. He’s been running us dead all summer. He’s trying to get us prepared. The more conditioned team will always win.”

A wealth of conditioning has been at the forefront for this team, and it’s that type of hard work that will pave more than just a new field for Elkins in 2022.

“We’ve had 15 guys with 40 weight room appearances or more over the summer. That’s great. All 15 of them are out here busting their butts. I think that we’re going to be a different team than we were last season. I don’t know how far that will take us, but it’ll at least be in the right direction.”

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