At first glance, one might be under the impression that Bridgeport Coach Josh Nicewarner and his staff feels pretty good about Friday’s game at home against Class AAA Lewis County. After all, the Big 10 Minutemen are going to have to face the Indians after the Tribe suffered a 14-10 setback last week.

 

So what does that mean?

 

In reality, nothing, but as far as things to consider is that Nicewarner has never lost back-to-back games as he’s into his fifth year of coaching (BHS last lost two straight in 2006). The Indians also go into the 7:30 p.m. contest riding a 25-game winning streak in league games dating back to 2010. On top of that, BHS hasn’t lost to Lewis County since falling 21-6 in 1976. No one on the team, including the head coach, was even born then. All time, the Tribe is 29-3 and all three of those setbacks came in Weston.

According to Nicewarner, none of that means a thing this week. The Minutemen have developed into a strong, playoff-appearing Class AAA team under Coach Eddie Vincent. This year, LCHS is 2-0 on the year and is coming off of a 28-14 win over Preston.

 

“This is a really good team coming in here and what I’m most impressed with is that they are fundamentally sound. We may not have played them for a while, but they’re not going to try and switch things up on us. I’d be surprised if they didn’t do anything but stay true to what they are, which is pretty impressive,” said Nicewarner. “One thing I’ll guarantee is that you won’t see them making a ton of mistakes. We’ll have our work cut out for us.”

 

The Indians will return Dylan Tonkery at full strength this week. Tonkery played limited snaps last week in the loss to Wheeling Park. Standout sophomore Mackenzie Holmes, Nicewarner said, is out of the game. He also missed the Patriots’ contest.

 

The Minutemen will have to prepare not only for the new power pistol that the Indians used almost exclusively last year and in a week one beating of Buckhannon-Upshur, but the old stick-I  offense as well. Last week, Bridgeport went back to its former offense and it nearly allowed the Indians to rally late for the win.

 

“At worst, using the stick and using it well gives teams something else to prepare for. Quite frankly, we went to the stick because of just how fast and athletic Wheeling Park was,” said Nicewarner. “They got to use on the edge and we had to do something. To be totally honest, the stick was a guess, but it worked out well.”

 

Dante Bonamico looked strong in the stick and he looked strong in week one in the pistol. He leads the team with 281 yards rushing on 41 carries (6.9 yards per run) and has scored six touchdowns. Quarterback Zack Spurlock is second with 131 yards on 16 runs (8.2 yards per run), while Tonkery is in the three hole with 66 yards on 15 carries (4.4 per tote). Elijah Drummond has been effective when filling in to the BHS backfield.

 

Defensively, the Tribe has looked impressive. Incredibly, Bridgeport yielded just 70 yards rushing against a team that had well over 300 yards the week before. It’s the third lowest total since 1997 allowed by BHS in a setback.

 

You can follow in-game updates on Twitter by going to @connectBP. You can also listen to live coverage of the game on 103.3 WAJR FM. Listen to the play by play call of Travis Jones with plenty of analysis from Tim Brady and Ryan Nicewarner. 

 

Editor's Note: Photos from the first game of the season by Tyler Maxwell of www.benqueenphotography.com.