Lewis County High School Football fueled by young core
Team only loses 5 seniors heading into 2022
WESTON, W.Va (WDTV) - In 2021, the Minutemen were a team rich with young talent. When you’re a team that graduated only 5 seniors last fall, growth becomes a team’s identity.
“This is a group that has had a lot of playing time,” said head coach Dustin Cogar. “We were very young last year, so a lot of the same faces are seen in the huddle. This is probably one of the better groups to work out consistently over the summer. With the three week period, these guys are getting to brush up on some things. They’re getting a lot of repetitions.”
Growth can’t exist without growing pains, but for coach Cogar, it’s all a part of the process.
“We always say, you’re winning or you’re learning,” said coach Cogar. “Recently, we’ve learned a lot, so I’m hoping to turn the corner on that. This is a group that can get that done. We need the younger guys to step up because they’re going to have to fill those roles on special teams.”
With such a young team, the Minutemen have grown a unique bond that runs from senior to freshman.
“When we’re out here working, or we’re in a game, they’re going to look left and right and see faces that they’ve seen struggle with weight and pull through and get PRs in the weight room,” said coach Cogar. “Knowing that those guys were there working gives you a better feeling of confidence.”
Coach Cogar says that the team has been working all summer in the weight room. This season is all about seeing dividends from all of the hard work and finishing games stronger than ever before.
“Last year, part of our problem was that we were a younger team,” said senior Trenton Bush. “Now that some of them are older, I think that’ll help too. We had a lot of games where we were up in the first half and just couldn’t finish it, so if we can finish them this year, it’ll be better.”
“We had so many sophomores and freshmen out on the field that just didn’t know how to finish,” said coach Cogar. “That’s what we’re stressing right now. Finish games and see what happens.
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