BETHANY – It’s the last game of the season for the best football players in the OVAC, as graduates from high schools on both sides of the Ohio River are getting ready to suit up one last time.
The players checked in at Bethany College on Sunday to prepare for the OVAC All Star Football Game, set for Sunday, July 26 at Wheeling Island Stadium.
The young men all seemed excited about the week ahead. “It’ll be awesome, I know I’ve been watching film. You kind of miss it after your senior year so it’s nice to come back up and strap it up one more time,” said Riley Hayhurst of Cambridge.
“It’s kind of like a college thing, you kinda have practice two days a week, you get to know people you don’t know, play against people you don’t play against. It’s a big fun game,” Chaice Truex, a quarterback from Bellaire St. John’s said.
While the game only lasts four quarters, the friendships made during the week could last a lifetime. But, the newly-formed friendships won’t get in the way of Sunday’s competition.
“You get to actually bond with each other more than you would with just practice and practice then going home,” Zach Conner of Indian Creek said. “Now you get to stay with these guys, you get to eat dinner with them and at night we’re all in each other’s rooms. We get to tell stories and laugh and talk about how our seasons went and how excited we are for this game.”
“It’s going to be hard walking around seeing these guys the whole week saying ‘Hey what’s up or whatever?’ then Sunday night comes and you have to pop that guys helmet off. It’s gonna be really hard but it’s going to be really fun though,” Truex said.
There is no trophy, but bragging rights are at stake. Ohio won the game in 2014, and Truex said they’re hoping to win for a second year in a row.
“I know in high school I always came to watch the people that played at my school. It’s always a big crowd so you kind of look forward to being out in front of all those people,” Hayhurst said.
“This is the game, this is the OVAC game. OVAC is the biggest conference in the United States of America and I’m very happy to represent Indian Creek and Ohio in this game,” Conner added.
Sunday night’s game starts at 7:15 p.m. at Wheeling Island Stadium. The OVAC All Star Game will be the first one played on the newly installed turf.
