OVAC Classic on tap at Wheeling Island
The Annual Rudy Mumley All Star OVAC Football Classic will kickoff the 2010 season July 25 at Wheeling Island with several local graduates donning the Blue and Gold of the West Virginia team.
For Magnolia, Stingray Bates, Jared Blatt and Andy Huggins will play for West Virginia along with Tyler Consolidated’s Nate Taylor and Valley Lumberjack Cody Scott.
On the year the Silver Knights’ Taylor finished his senior year as the leading rusher and point getter at Tyler Consolidated as well as one of the top rushers in the state with 203 carries for 1,788 yards and 23 rushing touchdowns. He caught 15 passes for a total of 395 yards and five reception TD’s. Taylor scored a total of 168 points during the 2009 season.
Bates led the Magnolia Blue Eagles with 1, 1,039 in 2009 and is the all-time leading ball carrier with 2,281 yards and scored 23 touchdowns.
Blatt accumilated 919 yards on 57 catches and 11 touchdowns at the tight-end posistion, while scoring 66 points. On defense, he had 42 solo tackles and helped on 118 others.
Huggins was a three year stater on the front line that made it possible for the backfield tandem to reach the two top spots in Magnolia history, while at his center posistion.
Local fans can expect to see a great deal of these four players when the Ohio vs West Virginia contest begins on July 25.