| Cunningham has been consummate team player for FSU
By Duane Cochran
For the Times West Virginian
www.timeswv.com
FAIRMONT â Saturday's 1 p.m. season finale with Webber International may be a bit more emotional for Fairmont State head coach Rusty Elliott and defensive coordinator Mike Lopez than normal.
Among this year's group of seniors are numerous players the pair recruited during their first season directing the Falcons' program five years ago.
One of those individuals is senior defensive end/linebacker Evan Cunningham, who throughout his career at FSU has been the consummate team player.
Cunningham, a 6-1, 225-pounder from Grantsville, has played several different positions on defense for the Falcons during his career and has been a special teams standout.
"My career here has been a great learning experience for me," said Cunningham, who has 17 tackles, including one for a loss this fall.
"My first few years here I played behind (All-American Matt) Vance at inside linebacker and then the need arose for me to move to defensive end so I made that move and learned a lot there as well from coach (Mike) Fortier. I've also played a wealth on specials teams.
"Over the years I've gotten my fair share of reps. I wouldn't change a thing for the world here concerning my career. The guys I've gotten to play with and the friends and people I've met here during my career mean a lot to me. Getting the chance to play college football is special. There's a bunch of guys on this team that I came in with five years ago and we're all very close. Camp that first year was rough, but we made it through it. It's just hard to believe that it's five years later and we're getting ready for our final game. It goes by quick."
Playing different positions in FSU's 3-5-3 odd-stack defense has been a good experience for Cunningham. He says it has prepared him well if he ever desires to coach in the future.
"Coach Lopez is a great coach and I've learned so much from him and coach Fortier, as well as coach Elliott, but I don't deal with him as much because he works with the offense," said Cunningham.
"Getting the chance to play linebacker and defensive end in this defense has allowed me to have a very good understanding of the 3-5-3 odd stack. If I want to coach in the future I feel like I know the defense pretty well and I'll be comfortable teaching it.
"We take a lot of pride in playing defense and playing it well here. The coaches have instilled that in all of us."
Cunningham's nickname on the squad is Cappy. He credits FSU strength coach and inside linebacker coach Josh Ison with tagging him with the moniker.
"It was my third year here and at the start of the season I came to practice one day with a Douglas neck collar on, a long towel, a long belt and high socks and coach Ison said I looked like one of those create-a-players on the video games," said Cunningham.
"From there it got abbreviated to Cap and then it evolved into Cappy. Believe me, I could have worse nicknames."
Cunningham is majoring in information systems at FSU. In the future he plans on working in the field of computer networking. - Times West Virginia
Editor's Note: Evan is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Cunningham of Big Springs
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