From the Bench: Not One, Not Two, but Three Firsts in History of Bridgeport High Football Coming Soon
By Jeff Toquinto on August 06, 2023 from Sports Blog
There has been a losing season, although you’d have to go back more than 50 years to find one. There has been a year when there were no playoffs, but you’d have to go back several decades to find that.
In Bridgeport High School football history there have been teams that go undefeated, teams that have played less than 10 regular season games and ones that have had more home regular season games than road ones and vice versa. When you have been around as along the Indians football program has been around, finding firsts is a rarity.
This year, however, there is a first coming up. Actually, there are what look like three firsts with the football team taking place on the same 
day.
day.
While we cannot say with 100 percent certainty, yours truly and the Voice of the Indians Travis Jones, along with input from current Coach Tyler Phares and long-time coach John Cole, believes the Indians will be participating in a “group scrimmage” or a “Grid-O-Rama” for the first time ever.
The second part? They will be competing out of state.
The third first I am 100 percent sure of it being a first. Among the teams they will compete against in the scrimmage is a team from Canada. I did not even ask anyone on the coaching staff about that.
“I’ve not aware of the program ever leaving the state for a preseason or regular season game,” said Phares.
Assistant Coach John Cole, whose time with the program goes back to the mid-1980s, agreed with that assessment.
“I don’t think it’s ever happened. There’s definitely not a case I can ever remember,” said Cole.
So, what and when is it?
On Saturday, August 19, Bridgeport will be competing in the Queen City Quad. It will be on the campus of Fort Hill High School in Maryland. Participating along with Bridgeport and Fort Hill will be St. Frances out of Baltimore and Clarkson North out of Ontario, Canada.
The scrimmage will be the second of the season. The first will be this coming Saturday when the Indians will host fellow Class AAA tradition-laden school Parkersburg at Wayne Jamison Field. The scrimmage will be at 10 a.m.
Last year, the Indians only were able to utilize one scrimmage. This year, Phares was going to make certain that they got in at least two.
“We were trying to look for a taxing second scrimmage; something to get us ready for the season,” said Phares. “Last year, we had a team or three step away from us at the last second and didn’t follow through on a scrimmage, which didn’t allow us the opportunity to be in a physical setting just prior to the start of the season.”
Phares said one of the things the Indians were hoping to find on the search was a “hard-nosed, wing-T” squad. The reason? One of their first opponents runs the offense that is hard to defend and is not easily duplicated in a week of prep time prior to a game.
“Morgantown runs that offense, and they’re good. Fort Hill is one of the best wing-T teams in the immediate area and when we saw an opening that matched our available scrimmage date to play against quality opponents, we jumped on it,” said Phares. “We think it’s going
to be a great challenge.”
to be a great challenge.”
Phares said he is pretty sure they will get to face off against everyone that is part of the event. However, he said how it will shake out will be known once things start.
“We’ve never been in one, but think you’ll see a situation where you’ll play 10 plays on offense against one team and then 10 plays on defense against another and then flip back the other way against different teams,” said Phares. “I imagine there will be down and distance stuff and some where you have so many plays and if you don’t get a first down or score it ends. We’ll find out soon.”
Phares said the Indians are not opposed to being an annual participant in the event. He said the only downside is that Maryland football starts a week later than it does in West Virginia. Because of that, it will be the first scrimmage for the other teams.
“We don’t think that will be an issue, but we know the scrimmage will be a little more game simulated,” said Phares.
One thing that has been steady is the scrimmage each year against Parkersburg. Parkersburg’s conference schedule consists of nine games and one open date, which sees them play against rival Parkersburg South. Because of that, the Indians have a definite opponent locked in on the scrimmage slate for the foreseeable future.
“It’s huge to have a reliable scrimmage partner and not have to chase people down. The big thing with Parkersburg is they also have a freshman and jayvee program that will allow us to scrimmage,” said Phares. “We’ll essentially have three programs getting in a scrimmage (this Saturday).”
For those thinking that Bridgeport participated in the old Big 10 “Grid-O-Rama,” Cole said he remembers it. He also said BHS did not participate in it.
“It wasn’t a bad idea, but we didn’t want to scrimmage against a conference opponent when they were having that,” said Cole.
For those wondering if Bridgeport has ever played an out-of-state opponent, the answer is yes. However, it happened at Wayne Jamison Field. In 2008, Bridgeport hosted Calvin Coolidge High School out of Washington, D.C. and won 46-25. The Indians also had the rarity of six home games that year during the regular season.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows Tyler Phares in last season's win against Parkersburg South in a photo by Joe LaRocca. Bottom portrait shot is a file photo by Ben Queen Photography.
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