The Brooke team that closed out the 2008 season with a 54-15 loss at Hurricane bears no resemblance to the Bruins squad that lines up against South Charleston Saturday in the Class AAA championship game.
Brooke allowed a whopping 538 yards to the Redskins on that day a little over a year ago, suffering its seventh straight loss to finish 3-7. However, that proved to be the last loss for the Bruins, who have streaked to an unimaginable 13-0 record this season under first-year coach Tom Bruney.
The accomplishments are many for the Bruins, who have revived memories of their heyday in the 1980s and early '90s, when they reached the AAA title game seven times and took home three championships.
Brooke has posted three shutouts and held nine of 13 opponents to two touchdowns or less.
The Bruins are 6-0 against teams that made the AAA playoffs and 5-0 versus teams in the rugged Mountain State Athletic Conference.
Brooke has managed to win the close ones, going 4-0 in games decided by a TD or less.
Bruney stressed that the program's turnaround had to begin from within.
"I can't answer for anything that happened before I got here,'' Bruney said. "The only thing I can tell you is the kids you saw playing on that field last year - other than four of them - are the same kids playing with us this year.
"It's been nothing but a wonderful experience for my family and [me]. These kids are wonderful kids. I've always said this, and I mean it, when I say that good kids make good coaches. Anybody who says I'm a good coach, well, I'm truly blessed with a great, wonderful group of kids.''
Bruney said some negativity had seeped into the program, but the fresh start with a new coaching staff allowed some of that to dissipate.
"When I first got there,'' Bruney said, "people told me Brooke was not the same as it used to be. The kids have changed, the enrollment's gone down and there aren't as many athletes to pick from. After the first couple scrimmages and after we beat Parkersburg [in the opener], I said, 'I don't know who made that decision. That's definitely not these kids, because these kids can play.'
"The identity of this team is wrapped around character more than football. They've shown time and time again that they're a resilient bunch. The distractions are not going to affect them. They play emotionally on an even keel - they don't get too high, and they don't get too low. When a bad thing happens, we brush ourselves off and get back to playing football.''
A few times this season, the Bruins have been backed into a corner, but have responded.
They trailed Parkersburg 42-28 in the fourth quarter of their opener, but rallied for a 43-42 win - going for, and making, a 2-point conversion for the win after scoring a TD with 3:18 left. At Musselman last month, trying to cap a 10-0 regular season, Brooke trailed 13-0 in the fourth quarter but scored twice late for a 14-13 victory.
"One thing we can hang our hat on this year,'' Bruney said, "is the 'one' concept. We call 'one' everything. We have one team with one dream. One family, one destiny. We have one shot at this - one time.
"After a play's run, we can't do anything about what just happened, we can only control what happens with the next one. What's coming up next. So we take it one play, one series, one quarter, one half at a time - and so on. The kids have responded to that concept and understand what it means, and have applied it to the game numerous times.''
SC coach John Messinger is impressed with the improvement he's seen from Brooke, and said it starts with Bruney's background.
Bruney graduated from Martins Ferry (Ohio), right across the river from Wheeling. He coached 12 seasons at Maryvale (Ariz.) and made two stops at high schools in Ohio, compiling a career record of 101-51, before spending last season as defensive backs coach at West Liberty.
"The thing is, it's a new coach, a new system, a new staff,'' Messinger said. "I understand there are a lot of Arizona implants on that staff. The guy brought a great record with him from out West, and has coached at the college level. He's done it all.
"But the No. 1 thing he's brought to that program is he's got them believing in themselves, and they refuse to lose. You can teach a system, but if they don't buy into the system, you're not going to be successful. If he doesn't coach football, he should sell cars because that guy has those guys convinced that they're good, and it makes them good.''
Messinger said the makeover started with the opening-night comeback at Parkersburg.
"It started in Week 1,'' he said. "They refused to lose that game. That's not your system, that's not your offense, that's not your defense. That's knowing that the kids believe in you and what you're selling, and that's what's changed that program up there. You know, we went from 5-5 [in 2007] to 14-0, so it's getting them to buy into it, and he's done that. And that's hard to overcome. That's hard to beat.''
Bruney praises the support he's received from the community surrounding the Wellsburg school, and can crack a wry smile at some former naysayers who now, he says, have "bleeding knees'' from jumping on board late.
"We're very happy for the community,'' he said, "and thankful for their support, outside of a few distractions up there. I think for every person in this community that's against us, there are 5,000 that's for us. It just so happens that negative people seem to make the most noise, because that's what sells.
"I'd say 90 percent of the supporters were legitimately on the bandwagon very early, but there are some with bleeding knees. Those are the people who, all of a sudden toward the end of the season - when they saw we'd actually be able to do something - they missed the bandwagon and had to run from behind and just caught the back end of it. And now their knees are bouncing around and have started bleeding.''
