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Ferns, Sills Answer the Call for West Virginia

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MORGANTOWN — Coaches are constantly preaching on the importance of developing depth at every position and for players needing to be prepared to be the ‘next man up’.

Two players who found themselves in that exact position during Sunday’ 31-24 loss to Virginia Tech were redshirt freshmen Brendan Ferns and Josh Sills.

“Going into the game, I was told by the coaches that I was going to play depending on the situation in the game,” Sills said. “Then, all of a sudden, the coaches looked at me and said ‘you’re going in’.

“I thought to myself ‘is this really happening,’ but it was and I needed to get focused and go out there and do everything I could do to help this team win.”

A two-year starter for Jeff Twiddy at Meadowbrook High School, the 6-foot-6, 316-pound Sills received his call after starting right guard Grant Lingafelter got hurt with 3:52 remaining in the first half and WVU leading by a 7-3 score.

Lingafelter’s injury did not allow the senior to return so Sills found himself playing the entire second half.

“I put everything I had learned to use,” the Byesville native said. “I stay after practice all of the time and watch film and I thought I was ready. Colton (McKivitz) put his arm around me and said ‘the team needed me and that they believed in me’ and that helped a lot.”

For Ferns, the call to duty took a different road.

The Associated Press All-Ohio Division IV Defensive Player of the Year in 2015, the St. Clairsville native found himself in the mix to see significant playing time during his first year in Morgantown.

However, a knee injury suffered in summer camp derailed those plans and forced him to watch his first year from the sideline.

“That year off was tough,” the Big 22 Player of the Year in 2015 said. “It was a long process — a full year. There were times when it was really tough. You’re out and you can’t do anything about it.”

But, the former St. Clairsville High School standout put in the time, both in the weight room and in the film room and again found himself listed among the Mountaineers’ two-deep chart when it was released following the preseason.

“The coaches had talked to me about where they saw me for the first game,” Ferns said. “But, it still took me some time to get used to the atmosphere there Sunday.”

Ferns found himself in front of a packed house at FedEx Field of screaming fans right from the opening kickoff as he was on both the kickoff return and kickoff teams. But, the call then went out with 8:28 remaining in the contest for Ferns to take over for an injured Al-Rasheed Benton at the Mike linebacker position.

“We game planned all week for those kinds of situations, but you really aren’t ready until you hear the coaches say ‘we need you to go in.'” Ferns said. “I saw it as an opportunity. It was a critical time in the game and I knew that I needed to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Benton returned soon afterward, but the short stay only served to increase Ferns desire to play more.

“The atmosphere was crazy. Running out of the tunnel at the beginning with 90,000 fans screaming and in front of a national television audience was awesome.”

And, he can expect a lot more of the same when WVU plays host to East Carolina at noon on Saturday.

“I can’t wait to run out there in front of 60,000 Mountaineer fans on Saturday. Playing at home is always special.”

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