Fort Gay, W. Va. — In season cut way short by COVID-19 two Tolsia football players landed on the West Virginia metro news all state team with seniors Tanner Copley and John Wilson making Honorable Mention.
The Rebels went 4-2 and were ranking 11th going into the state playoffs in a wide open Class A before bowing out because of the state color map in the quarterfinals. St. Mary’s went on to claim the championship after beating Pendleton Co. in the semifinals.
John Wilson chugging toward the goal line against Wayne.
Wilson was the Rebels leading rusher amassing over 500 yards and scored 6 rushing touchdowns, including 3 in the opening week win over Richwood. Wilson was also a force on defense from his linebacker spot.
Tanner Copley going into the end zone after catching a pass from Jesse Muncy.
Copley was one of the leading tacklers on defense and was also a key contributor on offense as he helped lead the way for Wilson and the other running backs. He also scored twice in the Rebels last official game with runs of 34 and 14 plus caught a two point conversion pass from Jesse Muncy as the Rebels beat Mount View 28-12.
A few other players could have easily been on the all state team if the season wasn’t cut short in my opinion. Seniors Gavin Meadows, TJ Jackson, and Zack Ball all had really good years.
COACH’S COMMENTS
Tolsia Assistant Coach and Athletic Director Wade Cyrus
“… Tanner came in as a freshman and played QB on JV. It wasn’t long into the season we moved him up to Varsity. He played corner and WR for about 2/3 of the season. Near the end we decided to practice for the future and moved some players around and ended up moving him to QB. Which translated well into his sophomore season. Played really well that year and had two 5TD games(passing, rushing). His junior year was full of promise with having him and Jesse Muncy to play the QB role. Tanner again had multiple TD games as both a QB,RB, and WR. We installed a new Defense and moved Tanner to the outside linebacker position and it seemed to fit him well. He had a great year up until week 8 and suffered a knee injury. He continued to play but was hampered. His senior year was more of the same. He played RB, WR, QB, FB. We were held back from the Corona Virus and only got to play 6 games. Made the playoffs again but did not get to play. It’s not every year you get a kid that can play multiple positions on both sides of the ball.”
“… John was another kid that came in as a freshman and you could see the promise he had. He made his way into Varsity and never looked back. He was a 4 year starter at Linebacker , 3 year starter at Tailback. He went over 1000 yards as a junior and would have done the same as a senior had we gotten to play more than 6 games. John is the kind of kid every coach wants to have. Never missed practice, weights. Always there to get better. As a junior John had multiple 200 yard games that led us into the playoffs. In the final game of this season versus Mount View John suffered a ankle injury. He worked every single day with our trainer to get back to 100% by week one of the playoffs and unfortunately didn’t get that chance. John will be missed tremendously on both sides of the football.”
“… As for this Seniors, this was a class to remember. Fun to coach, tons of talent. Seemed like adversity never held them back.
Most of them played or were 4 year starters. We all know how the All – State selections work and that’s out of our hands but we had several kids that I would put up against anyone on the first team. It’s just a shame their high school careers ended the way they did. We had a chance on the field but no chance against the WV covid color map.”
