Patriots look to march to a return to the state championship this season with additional offseason talent

COAL CITY, WV (WVNS) – At Independence High School – state championship contention is the standard every season.

“I have a lot of expectations for our team. I expect to be one of the best teams in the state – if not the best,” remarks Senior Center and Defensive Tackle Levi Phalin

But in typical “coach” fashion, legendary Patriots Head Coach John Lilly says it’s not time to be talking playoffs in Coal City just yet.

“You know, the biggest expectation for us is to take it one week at a time. Because I’ll tell you – perfume smells good but it’s poison if you drink it,” states Coach Lilly.

The Patriots return some familiar faces from last year. QB Brock Green, who owns the single-season program passing record, is back. So is first team all-state Defensive Lineman Isaiah Conley and second-team all-state Receiver KJ Viars.

Players tell us the Patriots also brought in a lot of talent this offseason with transfers.

“We have a lot of transfers. Last year we got maybe two transfers, but this year we have Carson Treadway, Anton Hicks, Harrison. We have all kinds of transfers that came in and they’re going to step up for us,” says Phalin.

“Lesean Nichols and Peyton Wade, one came from Shady and the other one from Oak Hill. But they’re going to help us out. Lesean’s going to help us on the D-line and Peyton’s going to help us on the O-line,” comments Senior Linebacker and Kicker, Micah Cuthbert.

With tons of talent returning and even more coming in through the transfer portal, the Patriots will have to gel quickly as they face a very unique schedule.

Many local teams have taken the Patriots off their schedules, so Independence will face teams from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington DC, and all across West Virginia.

Although it’s an unusual challenge – the Patriots say they’re looking forward to it.

“Going to the Eastern Panhandle – that should be pretty cool. I’ve never really been there before,” remarks Cuthbert.

“You know, at first we were aggravated with it. And then last year we kind of enjoyed it. You know we got to play on a college campus. We got three scholarship offers from playing there. You know, it was really fun. You know, we were really nervous about it. Can we compete with the out-of-state guys? We went 3-0,” states Lilly.

“I like it. I think it’s great for our program. I think it’s good for us to get out there and get exposure. And all of these local teams that won’t play us – I’m not really sure why but it will be alright,” comments Phalin.

The Patriots welcome Armstrong High School from Pennsylvania to Coal City in Week one. A school twice the size of Independence. They believe they’ve got what it takes to hang with anyone – regardless of who will or won’t put them on the schedule.

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