Madonna hosts rival Bridgeport in opener tonight
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WEIRTON -- In 2017, Madonna and Bridgeport renewed a small school football series that developed into a rivalry in the early 2000s, when the games were hard- fought and won by just a touchdown or less.
This year, the Blue Dons and Bulldogs meet in the season opener at Jimmy Carey Stadium, and the hopes are that the annual meetings will develop into a rivalry once again.
"We are similar sized schools in the Valley, both with very good football tradition," said Blue Don coach Darin Hicks, who begins his third season after turning the program around last year. "It is a good OVAC-style football matchup. It could be considered a rivalry with the closeness of the schools. It's only about a half-hour trip. I think it is good the schools are back playing against each other. It's a good matchup for both teams."
Hicks believes his young and inexperienced Blue Dons have shown considerable improvement during the three weeks of two-a-day drills and scrimmages. His team scrimmaged with Toronto and Tyler Consolidated, and he was pleased with the scrimmages.
"A lot of young guys with no varsity high school time got to see situations in the games against other competition and played in, perhaps, stressful situations sometimes," he said. "Toronto was big and physical, and Tyler has what I believe is one of the best running backs in West Virginia Class A, so both were different and good tests. We got better, our guys competed and, best of all, we came out of those scrimmages healthy."
Hicks and first-year Bridgeport coach Fred Ray exchanged films of their first scrimmages. It was film of the Toronto scrimmage for Madonna, while the Bulldogs scrimmaged Steubenville Catholic Central.
"We at least get an idea of what Bridgeport brings to the table," Hicks said. "You get to see the kind of athletes they have and what the coaches want to do both offensively and defensively. I'm sure there will be a few surprises and a few tricks up coach Ray's sleeve. I believe he came to Bridgeport after coaching in Kentucky.
"I think we have a sound game plan against them for tonight in all three phases, and we're looking forward to playing a very good opponent."
From all indications, Hicks believes the Bridgeport offense runs through senior quarterback Tino Kusic. Hicks saw Kusic last year in Madonna's 28-12 win, and he was impressed with him then. Now, with a full year of competition under his belt and added maturity, Hicks says Kusic is "very talented and runs as well as he passes."
Kusic also is a key member of the Bulldog defense at inside linebacker, and Hicks said he was "active and made a lot of plays on defense" in the film. Hicks said the Bulldogs played a 4-4 defense, with a lot of man coverage in the secondary.
Hicks plans to counter that with a much different look from the Blue Dons than the team had last year when they finished the regular season at 8-2 and hosted a playoff game against Sherman. Of course, the Blue Dons of 2017 had the top rusher in the state in Donavan Kirby, but the husky senior transferred to Weir High along with Rob Valenti, one of Madonna's starting offensive tackles.
Those guys will be hard to replace, but Hicks said fans will see a very athletic Gavin Dietrich in his second season as the Blue Don quarterback. Hicks added that they also will see sophomore Tom Sessi and junior Antonio Daddario as the running backs.
Last year, Dietrich was in his first season as the starting signal caller and was limited to just 40 tosses. He completed 18 of them for 303 yards and six touchdowns, with one interception.
"We will be more multiple this year and look different," Hicks said. "This team has taken a lot of strides forward, and our offensive line, led by returning starter Garrett Cook, is coming along. They have an unselfish attitude, and I'm excited to see us out there competing against what we think is a very good opponent."