Countdown to Kickoff (Edition 30): Calhoun County have a small team but big aspirations

Calhoun County, W.Va. (WCHS) — The upcoming season is the second year with Jeff Goodrich as the head man of Calhoun County High School football and he's hoping his second Red Devil team can begin enjoying the sweet taste of victory once again.

The former Red Devil All-Stater is working with a low turnout of just 17 players for the season.

"Got low numbers this year but my upper class is where I'm lacking I’ve got one each junior and senior but I've got 15 kids between my freshman and sophomore classes,” Goodrich said. We’re probably going to gain about 11 next year from my middle school.”

Calhoun's last non-losing season was a 5-5 mark in 2015. Goodrich feels despite the low numbers, there's a chance for this year’s team in a variety of ways.

"If we can hang on the football and limit penalties, I mean we'll close the gap at least points was 15 points easy," he said.

Despite the small squad, Goodrich loves this team’s hunger for success.

"They're workers,” he said. “They've given me a hundred percent throughout the summer, throughout the offseason, through flex and it's carried over into start of season. They push each other there's a lot of leadership on this team that I feel like we've kind of lacked from a team perspective for a couple years but this group of kids, they're taking the team by themselves. I mean they're the ones leading it so that helps out a lot."

This leadership will be important, especially from the two upperclassmen to share their experience with the team.

"I think having just one senior out here, I can really focus on being like a leader to the rest of my team and for the upcoming years, I think it'll be something special," said senior Logan Tingler, a tight end/linebacker.

Experience is something that this Red Devil team has.

"I have probably five to six kids that got significant reps as freshmen. Several of them are up front guys, of course a couple of them I'm having to interchange between up front and in the backfield depending on what we might be trying to do because numbers being small you got to move kids around room riddle,” Goodrich said. “He was a third team all-conference player last year that that was from an upfront perspective he'll be they'll be getting a lot of reps for us in the backfield this season."

The players feel Goodrich has the program headed in the right direction.

"It's always something different, but it's always something that helps,” Landon Hardway, junior running back and linebacker, said. “There's never something old. It's always improving. I like that.”

This season Calhoun will honor coaching legend Mike Stump, who passed away earlier this year.

"He was he was just a wonderful man great coach and somebody's going to be hard to replace in this in the state of West Virginia," Goodrich said.

The Red Devils will open the season at home in Mt. Zion against the Gilmer County Titans on August 30