If you’d ask Bridgeport High School Coach John Cole about the history of the series between his Indians and Fairmont Senior, he probably wouldn’t be able to tell you the numbers.

 

From a historical standpoint, the Indians are doing more than faring well. The Indians are 30-12 against the Polar Bears all-time. Since the series resumed in 2004, BHS is a solid 14-3 against FSHS.

 

The problem with that mark for BHS are the last two games against Fairmont Senior have been losses. And they’ve been losses of the most brutal variety.

 

Last year, the Indians fell 14-10 in a game they led 10-7 and had possession of the ball with only a few minutes to play. In 2016, the Tribe lost 22-21 in the Class AA semifinals and the setback nullified a fourth straight trip to the state championship game. Both of those setbacks came at Wayne Jamison Field.

 

Cole, however, has a short memory. The only thing he remembers is last year’s setback at Wayne Jamison Field.

 

“That outfit last year, with this game coming up, that’s a really bad memory,” said Cole.

 

Whether the Indians get a chance to erase that memory or ease the sting of it will be determined this evening. Bridgeport will face off against Fairmont Senior at 7 p.m. at East-West Stadium in Fairmont.

 

What’s on the line?

 

Both teams come in undefeated at 3-0 as Fairmont has outscored its foes 142-39 and the Indians have outscored their opponents 121-31. The Bears are ranked No. 2 in the WVSSAC’s Class AA standings and the Indians are in at the No. 2 spot. The winner puts themselves in good position to host plenty of playoff games, while the loser most likely will see some road time in the postseason as long as both teams continue to win.

 

If Bridgeport is going to find a way to win, it’s going to have to find a way to contain Fairmont Senior quarterback Connor Neal who is right now averaging well over 300 yards passing per game. In fact, the senior QB has passed for 980 yards on 51 completions with 11 touchdowns. His passes go for 19.2 yards per reception, which is an incredible number.

 

“We haven’t seen the passing attack we’re going to see (tonight). We have to try and get our inexperienced defensive backs ready for that and that’s a huge challenge,” said Cole. “The other thing with the line is that Neal just can’t have time. Against Liberty and the other teams we haven’t had a good pass rush.”

 

The starters last week up front will need to do just that. And if the four linemen – defensive tackles Owen Henline and Michael Watkins and defensive ends Connor Robe and Austin Sponaugle – can’t get the pressure then they’ll need to clear a path for the linebackers to potentially do so.

 

The group of Trey Pancake, Carson Winkie and Cody Spring will be asked to help against the run, the pass and on the pass rush.

 

The trio of linebackers led Bridgeport in tackles this year. Winkie has 17 stops, Spring 14 and Pancake 13.

 

While Cole is hoping for a pass rush, he’s hoping that his secondary passes what could be a baptism by fire. In the first three games, Lewis County and East Fairmont’s Wing-T attacks offered little in passing and Liberty primarily played the Indians old stick-I attach. The Mountaineers did offer four-wide sets on occasion and found some success, but they didn’t go full throttle the whole game and that’s what the Polar Bears have been able to do this year with big-time success.

 

“We need to get our defensive backs ready for what they’re going to see because they haven’t seen it. This is going to be the moment for them,” said Cole.

 

The “them” in this case are corners D’Andre Hollaway and Brian Henderson and safeties Jake Bowen and Austin Gibson. Although talent is plentiful, experience against a high-level quarterback is not.

 

Fairmont Senior also has some high-level receivers. Neal’s targets are many and include J.D. Smith, Jacob Pittman, Exavier Posey, Elijah Pose, Gage Michael and Camden Longwell and a host of others.

 

“This is not a good team to have a short week against,” said Cole. “We’re going up against one of the state’s best quarterbacks and one of Class AA’s best teams.”

 

That team has been solidified by a solid ground game led by Breeden Gilbert who has rushed for 235 yards on 26 carries (9.04 yards per carry) with five touchdowns. Gilbert’s status is unknown after media outlets reported he left last week’s win against North Marion with an apparent leg injury.

 

If he’s unavailable, it doesn’t mean the Bears will abandon the run game. It also doesn’t mean they won’t go almost exclusively with the passing attack, which could be an issue for Bridgeport.

 

Bridgeport’s defense could get an assist from the offense. Long, time-consuming drives would keep Neal on the sidelines and potentially ay dividends for the guests. Bridgeport has plenty of weapons of its own out of the power pistol attack.

 

Most conversations about the Tribe offense begins with Bowen, and for good reason. The senior has rushed for 500 yards on 56 attempts (8.9 yards per carry) with eight touchdowns. He hasn’t carried the ball in the second half of two of the three contests.

 

After that, the numbers drop. The good news for the BHS faithful is the team has developed multiple options with Henderson leading the way (14 carries for 140 yards for 10 yards per rush) and Holloway next (20 rushes for 130 yards for 6.3 yards per rush). Pancake has gotten a few more rushes as well and has 100 yards on 13 runs (7.7 yards per rush).

 

BHS, as has been the case for decades, has done little passing. Devin Vandergrift has shown moments and touch while going 7-for-15 for 66 yards with an interception. Holloway and Henderson both have three receptions with Holloway’s totals adding up to 47 yards.

 

The game can once again be listened to on WAJR 103.3 FM with the “Voice of the Indians” Travis Jones making the call. Chris George will handle the analysis.

 

The Thursday night game will also be televised on AT&T SportsNet out of Pittsburgh with Tony Caridi, Rasheed Wallace and Brad Howe on the call. It will also be streamed live on MetroNews.com.

 

A scheduling conflict with East Fairmont also having a home game Friday led to the BHS-Fairmont Senior game being moved. The Bees also use East-West Stadium as their home field.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the coin toss at last year's BHS-Fairmont Senior game, while the second photo shows Connor Neal looking to hit a receiver. In the third picture, then linebacker Jake Bowen is shown in coverage against the Polar Bears and in the bottom photo Coach John Cole congratulates FSHS Coach Nick Bartic after last year's win. Photos by www.benqueenphotography.com.