"Perfect in '72" - Rewinding for a Look at Bridgeport's 12-0 Season and Class AAA State Championship
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on January 27, 2024
Editor's Note: Story below is published as submitted and written by David Sotelo, a member of the championship squad.
BY DAVID SOTELO
Originally Published in Goldenseal Magazine
West Virginia Sports History will show that Bridgeport High School won the 1972 AAA Football Championship in Parkersburg by defeating DuPont High School on November 25th by a score of 16-14 to complete the first perfect 12-0 season. The following is the back story of that historic team.
BHS had completed a near perfect 9-1 season in 1971. However the 1972 team had very few returning starters. The nucleus of our team 
would be Steve Stout a superb RB, punter and defender, Barry Meyers who would go on to be The Hunt Award winner as the states best lineman and Steve Burkett a hard-nosed LB on defense and a Guard. I had just moved to Bridgeport that summer along with another future starter Joe Pecarro. BHS was predicted to finish 4th in the upcoming 1972 Big 10 Conference. Our coach Wayne Jamison was a stickler for the fundamentals and he would go on to achieve iconic coaching status in West Virginia.
would be Steve Stout a superb RB, punter and defender, Barry Meyers who would go on to be The Hunt Award winner as the states best lineman and Steve Burkett a hard-nosed LB on defense and a Guard. I had just moved to Bridgeport that summer along with another future starter Joe Pecarro. BHS was predicted to finish 4th in the upcoming 1972 Big 10 Conference. Our coach Wayne Jamison was a stickler for the fundamentals and he would go on to achieve iconic coaching status in West Virginia.
Back in those days we did not have an off season strength and conditioning program. Most of my summer consisted of pick-up basketball games at The Benedum Civic Center court beside the pool. Our practices started on August 1st with 2 a day sessions. We installed about 8 offensive plays (1 passing) and ran those hundreds of times till they were perfect. Our base 4-3 defense became our trademark. We did have a competitive mile run to test our conditioning wherein I took 2nd place behind Larry Moore, not bad for a defensive end. Unlike most teams of the day we could get out of a drill for a quick drink of water as needed.
Our season started off with a 20-0 win over Shinnston which was the first of an amazing 7 shut outs our defense would earn over the course of our 10 game regular season. Our only real test was a narrow hard fought 8-0 win over rival Washington-Irving when W.I. fumbled a punt snap close to their own goal line which Barry Meyers recovered. Coach Jamison had installed our Stick I offense with 2 Tight Ends and 4 backs in a straight line behind Center to eat up yardage and the clock depriving our opponents of possessions. His system worked to perfection in 1972!
Our first opponent in the new 4 team playoff format in 72 was the St. Albans Dragons. They had about 2 times the number of players we had on our team. Our defense surrendered a season high 15 points but our offense scored 18. The win was sealed by a late game interception by our defense. The AAA State title game was also in Parkersburg against the DuPont Panthers led by QB Danny Williams (a Parade All-American and future WVU QB). The Panthers were bigger but way over confident! Bridgeport RB Steve Stout set the pace with 125 rushing yards and the 18-14 win that was sealed by a 2-point conversion pass from QB Mark Altizer to Tim Manchin.
Ironically Bridgeport was the smallest AAA school by enrollment in 1972 as there were no less than 20 AA schools with more students! Our entire team, coaching staff, cheerleaders and support staff enjoyed a celebration dinner afterwards in Parkersburg. However I will always remember the after party celebration at The Green Parrot after all these years!
Bridgeport High School now has a total of 10 WV State Football Championships! There will always be disputes among BHS fans as to which Bridgeport football team was the best. The very best was the perfect team of 1972!
