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WHEELING -- Super Six weekend will begin Friday night with a Class AA matchup between two teams that had very different seasons.
On one hand, you have No. 2 Independence, who bulldozed through their schedule and did not score less than 50 points in a game until the second round of the playoffs. On the other hand, there is No. 16 Fairmont Senior, a perennial powerhouse who limped out of the gate to a 3-4 record and just squeaked into the postseason as the final seed in Class AA.
The Patriots (11-0) are led by Kennedy Award candidate Atticus Goodson, who has rushed for 1,765 yards and 29 touchdowns this season.
"We think he's the Kennedy Award winner," Independence coach John H. Lilly told the Charleston Gazette-Mail. "But of course we're biased."
Independence averaged 58.4 points per game in the regular season and allowed just 11.9 per game. They topped 50 points in all eight regular-season games and never allowed more than 21, which they did twice.
Entering the playoffs as the No. 2 seed, the Patriots defeated Shady Spring 73-7, Roane County 22-8 and Bluefield 34-20 in the semifinal last week. Goodson ran for 258 yards and a trio of scores against the Beavers.
Bluefield got out to an early lead against the Patriots and led 20-7 at halftime. Independence completed just one pass in the game, but used several second-half takeaways to pull out the win.
"We stopped turning the ball over," Lilly said. "I think a lot of it in the first half was nerves. We were afraid to make a mistake. We told them at the half just play football. Win, lose or draw, leave it on the field. In the first half they had the wooly worms ... Everybody was nervous. You could tell their kids were excited and we were nervous. But at halftime I think we settled down a bit."
Fairmont Senior are not strangers to playing for a state title, but seemed out of the conversation early in the year when the Polar Bears fell to 3-4 with a loss to Spring Valley in mid-October. Fairmont also dropped games to Linsly, Bridgport and University in the first two months of the season.
The Polar Bears could have had a fifth loss when they had to cancel a game against Wheeling Park due to COVID concerns. Park coach Chris Daugherty decided to rule the game as a no contest instead of making Fairmont take a forfeit and another loss. That decision by Daugherty proved big, as Faimont never lost again, winning five in a row to make it back to Wheeling Island Stadium.
"In there you have men of honor," Fairmont coach Nathan Bartic said. "Wheeling Park and Coach [Chris Daugherty], they made our game a no contest rather than taking a forfeit and that's what big-time programs do. Now that we're in, our guys have clicked at the right time."
Sneaking into the playoffs as the No. 16 seed, Fairmont Senior defeated top-seeded Herbert Hoover 30-28, Robert C. Byrd 33-28 and finally, Poca 41-7 in last week's semifinal.
Against the Dots, quarterback Dom Stingo passed for 159 yards and two touchdowns and Germaine Lewis ran for 164 yards and two more scores.
The Patriots and Polar Bears will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday night to determine the Class AA state champion at Wheeling Island Stadium.