| Game to Bring Out Many Emotions, Memories for Tygarts Valley's Collett
theintermountain.com
By Edgar Kelley
Sports Editor
The Inter-Mountain
MILL CREEK â Emotions will be running high for Tygarts Valley coach Russ Collett when he and his squad race onto the field for their playoff encounter with Calhoun County on Saturday.
And for more reasons than one.
The joy of seeing his Bulldogs (8-2), who struggled to just three wins the past three years, take to the field â not just for an ordinary game but for a playoff one â will be admittedly overwhelming for the coach.
"It's going to be very special moment," said Collett, who is in his fourth season at TVHS. "When I took this job four years ago, I told them it was going to be a struggle for a while. But I also told them, most of which were freshman, that when they were seniors, we would be where we want to be. And now we are there.
"This senior class definitely has a special place in my heart and because of everything they've went through, this is going to be a playoff game that is going to be something special for me the rest of my life."
The fact that Tygarts Valley will be playing the game at Wimer Stadium in Elkins will also have an effect on the coach.
Collett, a 1985 graduate of Elkins High School, lined up as an offensive and defensive lineman back in his playing days as a Tiger.
"That's definitely going to add to the hoopla," Collett said of playing the game on his old stomping grounds. "I have a lot of good memories of playing on that field. It should be interesting."
Collett said the last time he saw live football action of any sort at Wimer Stadium was during his last game as a high school gridder on senior night.
"That was a hard night for me, because I knew it was over and that I was never going play on that field again," he said. "But now I have a chance to get back out there on my old field and it's all because of the dedication and hard work this group of kids have put forth â it's all about them, not me."
Collett was an assistant coach at Etowah High School in Georgia the for four years before taking the Tygarts Valley job.
"To come back home and to have this program where it is now is very special," he said. "It's been an emotional season and a very big week for everyone involved with Tygarts Valley High School. It's a big, big honor to coach this group of kids and I'm sure they'll be pumped up ready to go on Saturday."
Kickoff for the contest is slated for 1:30 p.m.
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