The 2022 West Union Dragons (Photo by Jase Brinker)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
A new ear has begun for West Union football. Since the rebirth of the program, only one man had roamed the sidelines as the Dragons’ head coach- Scott McFarland. Now McFarland still heads the WU program but has stepped down as head coach, turning the reins over to Charles Webb, who has been part of the program since 2013.
“I started with third and fourth graders,” Webb explained. “I was new to coaching then and had to figure out how things went and I spent three years coaching junior high before making the jump to high school this year. There’s a lot of different things up here at this level but in the end football is football, but there is a lot more detail to deal with at the high school level. The kids are so used to how Scott did things and his personality so it’s new for everybody.”
The Dragons have played in the Southern Ohio Independent League championship game for the past two seasons, both of those tough losses to Peebles. “We’re just trying to continue building on what they’ve done and add a little something new.”
McFarland didn’t leave the cupboard bare as the Dragons returns some solid talent, especially at the offensive skill positions, with names such as running back Chris Steed, quarterback Colby Harover, and tailbacks Domonic Webb and Matthew Hurley.
“I couldn’t ask for better kids in my backfield,” says Coach Webb. “There’s also super fast sophomore Jaden Cockrell so we have the athletic ability to do good things.”
“There aren’t many kids out here with Steed’s body type and size and he’s fast and strong and we’ll depend on him. Colby will be under center as our quarterback and he has really stood out early for us, doing the right things and making the right decisions.”
All of that success starts up front with the West Union offensive and defensive lines and on teams with smaller rosters, those names can usually be found on both sides of the ball.
“We have some returning seniors and a couple of guys who were injured last year back and healthy,” said Coach Webb. “There’s some new guys that will need to work on technique but I think across the front as long as we do our jobs and make sure they understand their roles I think they will be a force to be reckoned with.”
“Defensively we will probably keep the same structure as last year, they ran a 3-5 scheme and we’ll add some variations to that so it will look a little different and some of the coverages will be a little bit different.”
Coach Webb knows that it is likely that the top team in the SOIL that everyone will be shooting for will be Peebles, the defending back-to-back champions.
“West Union and Peebles has become a rivalry and they are someone we have our eyes on,” said Coach Webb. “We know they have some talent and some new young kids with ability. We’re just going to take it one team at a time, making adjustments as we go. North Adams has had a lot of changes and Southern Buckeye I really don’t know a whole lot about but we know it is always a tough battle with them. We just have to show up and play every week and be ready for everything.”
“We have some good numbers this year which I’m very happy about. It makes practices nicer and we have a nice mix of older and younger players building relationships and preparing for the future. We’ve -played iron man football here for a long time so it’s nice to hope that this season we have some flexibility.”
“Our goals for this season are of course to bring that championship home but ultimately the goal is to make sure all our kids are safe and if they are better when they are done than when they started then we have done our job as coaches,” Webb added.
The Dragons had gotten off to a 2-1 start to their 2022 season, blanking North Adams 38-0 in their opener but then seeing the injury bug hit in a 36-6 loss to Southern Buckeye, then coming back to blank North Adams again,this time 22-0.
The West Union roster includes:
Seniors- Domonic Webb, Colby Harover, Dylan Spires, Charlie Reed, Conner Evans, Charles Brown
Juniors- Chris Steed, Donnison Evans, Landen Campbell, Matthew Hurley, Chaz Walker, Wyatt Patrick, Gabe Fite, Tucker Crase, Ryan Wagner, Carson Brinker
Sophomores- Tilon Bell, Jaden Cockrell, Jaden Parker, Chance Mahon, Chance Taylor, Eric Stanfield, Alexis Cowan,
Freshmen- Kyler Grooms, Derick Perraut, Allen Knauff
The remaining West Union schedule:
Sept. 10- Peebles (HOME-7:30)
Sept. 16- North Adams (HOME-7:30)
Sept. 23- Southern Buckeye (AWAY-7:30)
Sept. 30- Manchester (HOME- 7:00)
Oct. 7- Peebles (AWAY- 7:30)
Oct. 15- SOIL Playoffs (@ North Adams)
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