Title games haunt 'Jackets
Sunday, December 4, 2005
By JIM BUTTA - The Parkersburg News & The Parkersburg Sentinel

WHEELING - The old saying, "The third time is the charm", didn't prove true Saturday night for top-ranked Williamstown as No. 15 Wheeling Central ended the Yellowjackets' bid for a first-ever Class A state championship with a 35-20 victory.

It was a scene, however, all too familiar to the maroon and gold faithful.

"It's always been tough for Williamstown," said assistant principal Pat Peters. "We've had some very good teams and just not been able to get it done."

One of those took to the artificial surface at Wheeling Island Stadium on Saturday night as the Yellowjackets entered the game with a 13-0 mark after breaking the state record for consecutive victories in the regular season with 47.

"It (losing in the state final) is one of the toughest feelings I've ever had to go through," said former Williamstown all-stater Shane Smith. "It's one of the toughest things you will ever have to live through in high school."

Smith and his then-top ranked Yellowjackets came to the Island in 2003 and dropped a heartbreaking, 20-18, decision to Moorefield.

Saturday became the latest in a long series of unhappy memories for the maroon and gold.

Bitter memories of the past still haunted two of Williamstown's faithful prior to the beginning of Saturday's Class A showdown between the No. 1 ranked and unbeaten Yellowjackets and defending state champion Wheeling Central.

"I remember getting hurt in the first quarter and being used as a decoy the remainder of the game," said Ron Conaway, a senior on Williamstown's 1961 squad that lost to Winfield, 19-13, in the state championship game.

Conaway was a starting halfback for the Yellowjackets that season on a team that included such standout players as Doug Stanley, Pat Woody and Jim Reynolds.

"It's hard to lose," continued the retired business owner. "You play your heart out all season long and then you lose."

Williamstown's first title game was played at Ravenswood.

"I remember it was a hard-fought game between two very talented teams," said John Knapp, a freshman at Williamstown that season. "I got hurt during the summer and didn't get to play my freshman year, but I was there."

"My most vivid memory of that game was a Pat Woody touchdown reception that was called back because he was ruled to be an ineligible receiver," explained Knapp, a 21-year employee for Allegheny Power.

The long-time Williamstown resident also remembers coming to Wheeling Island Stadium two years ago when the Yellowjackets lost to Moorefield by a 20-18 score.

"Terrible, terrible playing conditions, that's what I remember about that game," continued Knapp. "Well, that and we lost."

Something else that sticks in the minds of both is what those losses meant to the community and the fans who follow the maroon and gold everywhere.

"The citizens of Williamstown really get behind the team," said Conaway.

A fact that hasn't escaped first-year principal Jack Mental.

"You look up there (in the stands) and you see all the people and you want so bad to win one for them," said Mental, who came to Williamstown from Marietta High School over the summer.

"The kids and the community support their teams so much," continued Mental. "You just want it for them."

Instead the maroon and gold faithful will have to wait at least one more year.

"It's hard," said head coach Terry Smith. "You've got to take care of business when you get here and we didn't take care of business."

Contact Jim Butta via e-mail at jbutta@newsandsentinel.com