091306

UC vs. Glenville first big game of WVC season
Sept. 13, 2006

By Andrew Beckner
Charleston Daily Mail

When the preseason West Virginia Conference poll came out back in August, it was clear that this was the first Big Game of the league season.

OK, so it's not Auburn-Alabama, Florida-Georgia or even West Virginia University-Marshall.

But in terms of getting an early season picture of how the WVC race might shape up, look no further than the University of Charleston-Glenville State game. The Golden Eagles and Pioneers tied for second in the coaches' preseason poll.

These are two decidedly different programs, at least in terms of history.

First, there's Glenville State, with a history rich with Rich Rodriguez, among others with past successes and record-setting players.

Then, there's UC, which until last year hadn't won a WVC game since 1956. Of course, the South Ruffner school didn't have a football team from ‘57 until 2003 and it didn't rejoin the league officially until last year, so that certainly skews things a bit.

But, oh, last year. Under first-year Coach Tony DeMeo, UC put itself on the league map in a big way, with DeMeo engineering the biggest turnaround in league history from 3-7 in 2004 to 8-3 last season.

Still, DeMeo dismisses any talk that this is a statement game for his young program. His players mostly freshmen and sophomores still are growing up. He doesn't think too much about whether Saturday's 6 p.m. date at Glenville (0-2) is a barometer for his program.

"Oh, I'm not that deep," DeMeo said. "I gauge it as, week-by-week, are we getting better? I've never had a goal of winning X amount of games. I just want to get better every week. That's my deal."

Really, it's Glenville Coach Alan Fiddler's attitude, too. While it's a storied program two Pioneers have far and away the best offensive careers in WVC history; quarterbacks Joey Conrad (No. 1) and Jed Drenning (No. 2) have a combined 23,738 yards between them Fiddler is just in his third year.

So, he's not thinking too much, either, and that means focusing in a horrible case of coachspeak on one game at a time.

Yes, Shepherd and its run of back-to-back WVC titles is on the schedule next for Glenville.

"Right now, until somebody beats Shepherd, you have to put them at the head of the class," Fiddler said. "But there are a lot of good teams."

That includes UC, which is why Fiddler knows the new kid on the block is worry enough as the conference season gets underway.

"We haven't won a game yet," Fiddler said, "so we're not looking ahead to anybody. We're thinking about UC."

Even if Shepherd weren't next, it wouldn't be a good idea to overlook the Eagles.

UC is 1-2, but DeMeo maintains his team hasn't played poorly. It's just lost to two quality teams Findlay (Ohio) in the season opener and at Elizabeth City (N.C.) State last Saturday.

It's all part of UC's strategy, DeMeo said.

"I scheduled a tough pre-conference schedule to prepare us for the season," he said. "We knew there were some tough teams, but I wanted our young team to get used to playing teams like that. That's why we scheduled them."

It helps the Eagles be ready for Glenville State, a team they'll have to beat to take the next step toward getting to the top of the WVC.

"It's a process of developing your program," DeMeo said. "If I wanted instant success, I would have gotten transfers and junior college players. I came here to build a program, not a quick fix.

"I think we're on the right track."