Trending
WEIRTON -- For John McCune, the dream finally becomes a reality on Friday night.
After watching Ohio teams get started last week, opening night is upon the first-year Blue Dons head coach as his team will host Wellsville at Jimmy Carey Stadium in his debut on the sidelines in what he's described as his "dream job" at his alma mater.
"It's extremely exciting," McCune said. "It has seemed like since it got announced I got the head coaching job that it's taken forever to get to this point. It's exciting for the whole coaching staff for it to finally be here. We're telling the kids that on Friday night, when the lights come on, we're going to be locked in and ready to go.
"First game for me as a varsity head coach, there are some butterflies in the stomach but once the football gets kicked off I'm sure those will go away."
Starting off at home is both exciting and nerve-wracking, the first year grid boss admitted. He expects to have a lot of family, friends and fellow alumni in the crowd to watch the Dons take on the Tigers.
"It's a little nerve-wracking knowing so many of the family and friends are going to be there and so many eyes in the community will be on us, but it's exciting," he admitted. "The weather is going to be nice. It's a blessing that the first one is at home and my family and friends can come. We're excited for the opportunity to open this thing up at home in front of the home crowd. We tell the kids we want to protect our home field so that's what we're hoping to do."
The opening kick has been pushed back from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. due to the forecasted high temperatures in the 90s on Friday. With a roster of 20 players, there has been an added focus on being prepared to contend with the heat and keep everyone healthy.
"We've been telling the kids to start prepping their bodies all week," McCune said. "It's going to be a challenge. We're going to pump the kids full of fluids leading up to the game, our athletic trainer has done a good job ... we've been outside practicing all week to get acclimated to the heat, the heat is the reality and both sides are going to have to deal with it.
"We're hoping cramps don't become a factor but we're telling our guys to be ready and have the next man up mentality if they do happen."
The Tigers are one of those teams from the Ohio side of the river that have a game under their belt already, a 20-6 loss to Catholic Central Saturday at Harding Stadium.
In that game, Wellsville racked up 217 rushing yards and nine first downs, but had a touchdown called back and a couple other promising drives hindered by penalties to prevent them from finishing drives.
"They are big, strong, physical and fast," McCune said of Wellsville. "We went to their game against Catholic Central, they have three really talented backs that all have different styles. I anticipate a lot of ground and pound with them, a lot of unbalanced lines and double tight sets. They'll keep you on your toes.
"They also can go out and throw the football. We've had to prepare for everything this week. It's a formidable opponent for Week 1.
"We're sure they're going to be looking bounce back and come into Jimmy Carey hungry. They feel like that was a winnable football game for them and it got away. They made some mistakes that cost them ... that's tough.
"It's going to be huge for us to avoid those kind of first game mistakes. When you play a team as physical as Wellsville in an opener, we have to make sure we have the kids ready to play and match that intensity within the rules of the game."