Wayne County High Schools, Middle Schools , MU, WVU

PAGE 22, The Wayne County News, 2013 Football Preview, AUGUST 28, 2013New faces highlight Wonders’ gridiron returnBY MICHAEL HUPPStaff WriterKENOVA – Last year, the only placethe Ceredo-Kenova community could seeWonders on the field were those playing forthe Vinson Middle School Tigers.Numbers were low and players were giventhe option to play for Vinson or Buffalo MiddleSchool. Several went to Buffalo to helplead the Bison to the county championship.Most went on to play for the championshiprunner-up Tigers.This year numbers are up to 25 players,thanks to the A Team Turf Bowl champssupplying several athletes, a few playerswho did not come out last year, two returningplayers and six players from the recentlyfolded Buffalo Middle team joining first-yearcoach Steve Diamond’s squad.Diamond said his goal this season is tobuild the program back up so teams areconsistently fielded.“This is a community big on tradition.Once the high school closed, the middleschool was left to keep that tradition going.Last season took a little of that away, nothaving a team, but this year we are returningthat tradition to the community,” Diamondsaid.Diamond said he is about building theC-K tradition, but his main goal is to buildthe program to keep the player pipeline toSpring Valley High School stocked.“We want to make sure that we keep kidsplaying,” Diamond said.Diamond said the transition of Buffaloplayers to the Wonders squad has been an easyone. Diamond teaches at Buffalo Middle,which gives the kids at least one familiarface on the squad. The coach and teacheralso said the combination of the two teamshelps secure a home playing field.“This move helps big time. We now haveaccess to a nice field and locker room on aregulation field. It will be nice to be ableto visualize plays on a regulation field, seefull-size dimensions on the field. It is a greatbenefit,” Diamond said.Buffalo’s field will serve as the team’shome field this year.The Wonders are packed with a mix ofseventh and eighth grade talent – most ofthem sixth graders on last year’s Turf Bowlchampion team. Damien McBride and HunterFarren played for Vinson last year. Theybring the most middle school experienceto the squad.But this year’s team is not about individualtalent Diamond said – instead thisyear’s Wonders will have to have a completeteam effort.According to Diamond, his team willhave to learn multiple positions and multipleroles.“We do not have any standouts. This isgoing to be an all-team effort. We will bemoving backs to the line and the line to thebackfield. Everyone needs to know everyposition on the field,” Diamond said.The first-year coach said he will run a5-2 defense and utilize multiple offensiveschemes to take advantage of any givenpersonnel strength on the field. Diamond saidhis team will learn many different sets.“We will sub in a lot – both on offenseand defense,” Diamond said.Diamond said so far his team is respondingwell and sees good things for the Wonders’future. The A team and B team both havegood numbers this season, according toDiamond“I think we will have good numbers foryears to come. We want to give the youthprogram players something to be motivatedto play for. You know, having a chance tomove up and keep playing. We want themin the green and white as long as possible,”Diamond said.As for having the Buffalo kids on theteam, it helps solidify the ultimate goal ofmaking the players ready to play for SpringValley.“All of these kids feed into the samehigh school. It is not the same as having thethree individual school teams that feed intoSpring Valley, but this helps fortify traditionat Spring Valley,” Diamond said.This year will be a building block tocontinue the long-winning tradition thecommunity is accustomed to.