For the last 36 years, there was one event involving high school sports that had managed to draw major names to talk to the best and brightest of Harrison County’s football student-athletes. As has been the case with just about everything else, that event was wiped from its originally intended date in March.

 

What would have been the 37th Annual Frank Loria Awards Banquet© at the Bridgeport Conference Center fell by the wayside mid-March thanks, as you know, to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, the banquet that honors the county’s top high school football players was announced as postponed.

 

Multiple times since the announcement, I have had individuals across Harrison County ask me if I have heard anything about the banquet or the winners or, basically, anything since the postponement announcement came on March 17.

 

Here is what I can tell you that is most important. The event has not been canceled, and that is coming straight from the Loria Awards Banquet© Chairman Mike Romano himself.

 

Here is what else I can tell you. All the awards – from the Loria Player of the year to the individual awards to all-Harrison County first team selections – will be announced and the various trophies and plaques will be presented.

 

After that, well, there is still a lot up in the air. The good news is Romano hopes to have something definitive in the weeks ahead. Now, however, it is something he can not do on his own. Instead, he needs to work with the Clarksburg Columbian Club that has sponsored one of the premier events in the state now for decades and work on the intangibles involved.

 

“There will be an announcement coming up regarding it,” said Romano. “Whether it ends up being canceled from the traditional format is something I am unable to provide information on at this time.

 

“We actually, as late as last week, were still talking about doing it,” Romano said this past Tuesday. “I don’t want to put at risk, and I think others would agree, those that may gather as we’re seeing COVID cases going up across the state and in our area. We’re looking into options and haven’t ruled anything completely out.”

 

What does that mean?

 

“At this point, we’re doing everything we can to determine if it’s possible to bring together all of the all-county first team selections together in a safe way to continue this great tradition,” Romano said. “I will certainly feel personal disappointment if we’re not able to do that, but it’s not comparable to the disappointment of the young student-athletes missing out on the event held in Frank Loria’s memory that celebrates each of their achievements throughout their high school careers.”

 

If something does not happen in person, the possibilities include doing something in a virtual manner that is live. There is a possibility that the presentation could be recorded and then presented for presentation on a digital format.

 

“We just don’t know. We do know we’re going to do something,” said Romano.

 

Part of the process involves the guest speaker. In a long line of great speakers, the Columbian Club had new West Virginia University football Coach Neal Brown to give the keynote address. Romano said he will have to get in touch with him to see what Brown’s options are, which could also shape how things are done.

 

As for the awards, Romano said all the ballots are in. There will be a Loria Player of the Year, a Loria Lineman of the Year, a Loria Coach of the Year, and a Loria Academic Player of the Year. All done in honor of Frank Loria, who died at 23 in the 1970 Marshall University plane crash along with nearly the entire football team. Loria was an assistant coach.

 

Loria, or “Frankie Paul” to friends and family, was a Harrison County native and Notre Dame High School graduate who became Virginia Tech’s first All-American in 1966 and first consensus All-American in 1967. Loria also got it done in the classroom as he earned academic All-American honors.

 

“I’m comfortable saying if we can’t do it safely together, we’ll determine the best way to announce the winners of all the awards and the first-team selections and find a proper way to get everything they would get to them, also in a safe manner,” Romano, who is in his 22^nd year as chairman, said.

 

The all-Harrison County first team this year consisted of several BHS players after winning the school’s 10^th-state title. The BHS players include Carson Winkie, Trey Pancake, Devin Hill, Brian Henderson, Devin Vandergrift, Michael Watkins, JR Coburn, Sam Romano, Austin Springer, and JD Love.

 

Robert C. Byrd selections include Jeremiah King, Brock Robey, Jack Mollohan, and Charles Leggett. Liberty players include Noah Leggett, Zach Womeldorff, Bryce Wamsley, Eli Kyle, Sayveon Beafore, and Dwayne Buckhannon.

 

Lincoln’s first team selections included Zack Snyder, Corey Prunty, and Payton Hawkins. Those chosen for South Harrison include Landon McFadden, Jacob Haddix, and Trey Waller. Notre Dame did not field a football team this year.

 

Check back to Connect-Bridgeport in the future to see the status of the banquet and the manner it unfolds.

 

Editor's Note: Photos from last year's banquet show Coach John Cole surrounded by his players and Loria banquet officials after winning coach of the year, while the pair - from left - of Trey Pancake and Carson Winkie are shown enjoying the event. In the third photo is the main award, while Chairman Mike Romano is shown below. Photos by Ben Queen Photography.