Prep Football: Summers County will battle with young roster and small numbers

Hinton –

Team: Summers County

2024 Recap

Summers County struggled to a 3-7 record last year against a daunting schedule that featured the previous two Class A state runners-up, a trio of Class AAA teams and a Class AA state semifinalist.

Gone from that team are longtime standouts and contributors such as Frankie McClaugherty, Jonah Pugh and Tyson Adkins.

2025 Outlook 

Summers enters the season with a small roster, fielding 23 players for Week 1. Gone are staples such as Tyson Adkins forcing the Bobcats to change their approach to offense. 

Head coach Justin Pugh went into Week 1 of the 2024 season assuming he’d have one player at quarterback but the day before the season was set to kickoff, that player left the team, thrusting Eli Franklin into action.

Franklin took his lumps but finished with 443 passing yards and three touchdowns. With a full offseason under his belt and the expectation he’ll be the starting quarterback, Franklin is ready to take the reins, joined by several other returners such as Cody Snavley and Braxton Lambert.

“Eli Franklin is a football wizard,” Pugh said. “He definitely can understand things that some kids his age don’t understand as far as Xs and Os go and he’s out there leading these guys. We had a tough schedule and being the first-year in the system and losing our potential starting QB Week 1 put us even further behind than we already were. This year, we are mentally ready. Eli last year at PikeView couldn’t get a play out of his mouth in the huddle. Now before he comes to the sideline he knows what I want.”

Pugh will ask Franklin to not only lead but also anchor a green team. Comprised mostly of underclassmen, the second-year coach expects this year’s team will lay the foundation for the program while competing for a playoff berth.

“Half our roster is sophomore and freshmen,” Pugh said. “We’re starting a lot of young kids. If that’s where we’re headed then we’re building something important. At our first scrimmage the opposing coach said look at the future. With these guys you could possibly have a playoff team. We dropped the ball in the end zone but I look forward to what we’ll be able to do.”

After running the wing-t and single wing last year, Pugh expects his team will take to the air more. 

“We lost Tyson and Frankie who were bruisers,” Pugh sad. “We wanted to run some read option with Ryan Oliveros but it didn’t happen. We had to adjust and run some single wing. This year with Eli we’re able to open the playbook a little more. He’s moving better and reading better with confidence. We’re not big in the backfield either. We have smaller speedy guys.”

Aiding the Bobcats’ playoff aspirations is a schedule more appropriate for the their roster and enrollment numbers. 

No longer will they face Greenbier East and Shady Spring, schools with twice their enrollment, or James Monroe. Instead they’ll face Meadow Bridge, East Hardy and Mount View, keeping some tough competition with teams such as Independence.

“Making the postseason is your goal as a coaching staff but making the postseason and keeping your kids safe its also important,” Pugh said. “Looking at our schedule from last year, we’ve got to get wins. If we want kids to come play we’ve got to games. When I was the middle school coach we played in the championship five times. When I went on making the schedule I said, ‘How can we make the postseason but also get wins and confidence?’ Shady and Greenbrier East agreed to part mutually on the contracts. It hurt me to drop James Monroe but I needed to move some things around. They are contenders and a playoff team and have double our numbers. To be competitive and get some wins, we need some confidence.”

The Bobcats will open the season on Friday, August. 29 when they host PikeView.

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Tyler Jackson

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