2023 Football Frenzy First Look: St. Marys Blue Devils

ST. MARYS, W.Va. (WTAP) -

The St. Marys Blue Devils football team enters the 2023 season and will have to play earlier than almost every other team in the state, as they are part of the WVSSAC kickoff game on Wednesday night against Doddridge County.

St. Marys is coming off a 7-4 season in 2022, but will have to replace many seniors with starting experience that were also a part of their championship team in 2020.

Head Coach Jodi Mote says he wants to continue to see progression from his young players, as they will have to step up in key situations this year.

“Everyday I’m learning and trying to get better as a coach,” Mote said. ”And these young men are trying and hopefully learning and trying to get better as a football player every day, and I believe they are.”

St. Marys knows they could face adversity during parts of the season, and the coaches are preaching perseverance as their theme for the 2023 season, and the players are taking it to heart.

“You’re going to get hit, you got to get back up and you always got to keep fighting,” said Sam Miller, a senior linebacker. “We’re going to have to fight for everything we earn, and I think we’ll be fine.”

Even though Mote has been the coach of two championship teams at St. Marys, he says a successful season is not decided by a win-loss record, but by how much a team has developed throughout the course of a season.

“If you see improvement and growth from July 31st, and I have, from different individuals and us as a team, then I think that’s what’s important just seeing growth and development.”

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