Recently, the Web site Coalfields.org did a bracket of the best Class AA teams of the 2010s. With more state titles than any other team during the time frame, it is not surprising Bridgeport had the most teams in the bracket.

 

Considering the success, some may not have been surprised the Web site listed the 2015 team as the best ‘AA’ team during the 2010s in West Virginia. Whether you were surprised or not, it is all for fun. However, it did lead to this blog.

 

When looking at those teams, it got me to thinking what was best play by Bridgeport during the 2010s? It did not take much thought to come up with an opinion – and remember for those of you have are offended by the way the wind blows, this is opinion.

Just to make sure I was not missing anything, I checked with Travis Jones. Jones, pretty much an authority on all things BHS football, quickly reached the same conclusion.

 

To make sure both of us were not missing anything, I checked with Coach John Cole. Cole, who isn’t big on ranking things or saying something is better than the other, had no problem calling it one of the biggest plays he has ever witnessed.

 

Considering Cole has been coaching and playing since the mid-1980s, his opinion is a pretty good one as well

 

So what play was it? What year was it?

 

It is the same year of the poll winning team – 2015. The date of the play was Nov. 27, 2015.

 

If that sounds late in the year, it was. The game was at Wayne Jamison Field and it was the semifinals of the Class AA playoffs where a state championship berth was on the line and the Indians had a chance to capture a three-peat by getting back to Wheeling Island Stadium.

 

Bridgeport entered the game 11-0-1. Although there had a been a few games where the Indians were tested for about a half, the 11 wins were littered with blowouts outside of the 0-0 tie with eventual ‘AAA’ champion Wheeling Park due to the game canceled due to ongoing storms and no place for a makeup contest.

 

Bridgeport’s closest game up until the semifinal game with Fairmont Senior was a 48-21 win in week three against rival Robert C. Byrd.

 

The Tribe beat teams by an average score of 43-9. The team was that dominant in every game.

 

Well, in every game except one. It would be the Polar Bears, the same team the Tribe beat 35-0 on Oct. 30 of that year that decided things were not going to be the same in the rematch.

 

The blowout expected never materialized. Cole thinks it was for a couple of reasons.

 

“Those kids expected to win and sometimes when you do that and win like they did all year they took it for granted. We won two in a row in the playoffs and I remember we were a little complacent and not practicing as hard,” said Cole. “I’m not taking anything away from Fairmont because they were good that year, really good. Good enough that when you think you’re coasting that they come in and smack you around and put doubt in your head at the worst time and suddenly in the first half you can’t score”

 

That is where the Indians were. When the Tribe got the ball back with 3:47 showing on the second quarter clock, it was 0-0. Fairmont may not have held the lead, but it held momentum in the form of doing what no one else had done all season.

 

In about three minutes, Bridgeport got the ball to near midfield when everything pointed to a stalled drive. Facing a third-and-nine at its own 49 and with the clock under 30 seconds, Bridgeport lined up for a pass play. The play, a screen play, was supposed to go to J.T. Harris or – if not – Mackenzie Holmes in the flat, but FSHS had the play snuffed out.  

 

To compound matters, the Polar Bears also managed to bring incredible pressure and force quarterback Zack Spurlock to spin away from the attack pouring down on him.

 

“I don’t know if it was a screen pass, I sort of think it was. We were trying to make something happen and probably should have been dead in the water,” said Cole.

 

Spurlock slid free of the pressure and flipped the ball more than he threw it to Dylan Tonkery standing near the BHS sideline. Tonkery appeared hemmed in and getting a first down appeared to be problematic.

 

Jones remembers it the same way.

 

“Spurlock was going to take a vicious hit and flipped it out there. The rest was nothing short of Herculean. After that one of the greatest plays by an individual I’ve seen with my own eyes in high school or otherwise,” said Jones

 

That is when it happened.

 

Tonkery took the pass in front of the Tribe’s bench and quickly maneuvered past a few defenders and began to work toward midfield. Once there, his speed outdistanced several others before a juke of a FSHS defender in space seemed to give Tonkery a shot at scoring. That shot then became more than just possible when Seth Friel barreled down the field and de-cleated one of the few Fairmont Senior defenders back and then Tonkery outraced everyone else to the end zone for the 51-yard passing play.

 

“He shouldn’t have had a chance to break that one,” said Cole. “That’s what athletes do … they turn a hopeless situation into a positive situation.”

 

Jones’ voice still lights up when talking about it.

 

“He not only broke tackles, but he ran by and over people,” said Jones. “The other thing is that once Tonkery got it and was doing his own thing, the others go involved. At the tail end of that play Seth Friel (who Cole called one of the most underrated H-backs ever) leveled the only person left with a chance and Tonkery just outran everyone.”

 

Just like that, the Indians had the lead and the momentum heading into the locker room. Cole said the play itself was almost as unlikely as the play call.

 

“Toward the end of a half teams are hesitant to throw the ball, especially us because we didn’t want an interception,” said Cole “I’m sure our thinking was it was a high percentage play to a playmaker, but nothing about it was high percentage except the result.”

 

The crowd was in jubilation on the BHS sideline. Fairmont Senior’s bleachers were in stunned silence. Jones said one person for BHS was not making any noise.

 

“Ryan Nicewarner, the color guy with me at the time, was speechless. If you know Ryan, that’s saying something,” said Jones. “He saw what I saw, and it was a play that would have been incredible had it been 42-0. The fact of the situation made it bigger.

 

“Fairmont was certainly looking at scoreless game at halftime; we all were. Then that comes out of nowhere,” Jones continued. “From a momentum standpoint you can’t overstate what it did for Bridgeport and how demoralizing it had to be for Fairmont even though it was a game until late.”

 

The score would be huge. The Indians managed just one other offensive score in the game with two defensive touchdowns proving huge – the last of which was Elijah Drummond’s pick six with less than six minutes to play that provided a 28-14 lead.

 

“Yeah, I would say that’s up there from that decade,” said Cole. “I can’t think of too many others that would be able to match that off the top of my head. If there is, I don’t remember it right now. What I can say for sure is it was one heck of a play.”

 

For those who want to recall it, listen to Jones’ radio call below. It is early in the highlight reel, and I am certain you will enjoy it.

 

Click HERE to see the video of the play.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Dylan Tonkery getting ready to break up field for one of the biggest players in BHS football history. Second photo shows Zack Spurlock congratulating Tonkery after the run. in the third photo, one of the unsung heroes of the play was H-back Seth Friel who had a monster season for the Tribe. Bottom photo shows Tonkery getting ready for action during the 2015 campaign. Photos by Ben Queen photography. Connect-Bridgeport wants to thank Assistant Coach Adam King for the video clip.