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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Fire devastates Tolsia team
A Tuesday, October 13, 2009, fire destroyed the Tolsia High School football facilities building.
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GLENHAYES, W.Va. -- This is the week in October when the atmosphere is normally filled with anticipation for the annual Wayne-Tolsia high school football rivalry.
Instead, a Tuesday morning fire at Tolsia's Wilts Salmons Athletic Complex destroyed the football field house and left students and administration somber as the air around them reeked of 21 years of charred football history.
The fire, which is believed to be arson, according to a joint investigation with the state Fire Marshal's office and the Wayne County Sheriff's Department, left the football program in a state of shock.
"I got a call about 3:45 this morning and it was (Tolsia head football) coach (Drew) Waller," Tolsia Principal Matt Stanley said. "I didn't even know what time it was. He called and said, 'I've got to go to the field. The field house is on fire.' ... He told me and I couldn't believe it.
"When I came around the curve (just before the school), I could see the light," Stanley said. "It was probably 75 feet in the air.
"I'm without words. There's nothing left. It's all gone. I poured the floors, I carried the block. I don't know what else to say. It's all gone."
Many of Tolsia's players were so upset that they did not come to school. Others walked around looking outside at the remnants of where they used to prepare for battle.
"I've been up here four years and all the memories that we've made in there -- it's pretty much my home," Tolsia senior wide receiver Graham Ayers said. "I spent more time up here than any other place, and it's all gone now."
The team's locker rooms, weight room, film room, Wall of Fame, coaches' offices and equipment room were all within the walls of the burned field house.
All that remains are 32 jerseys that were at the cleaners following Friday's 24-18 home win over Buffalo, leading to a 4-2 record for the season.
There are no helmets, no shoulder pads to go with the 32 jerseys -- just a heap of smoky, melted remains of equipment that serve as a physical embodiment of aggravation for the Class AA school in Glenhayes.
"It's definitely irritating to us to know that someone did this, whether it was towards us (coaches), toward the kids or whatever," Waller said. "All the memories that took place, all the history and equipment that burned, someone is pretty low to do that to Tolsia High School."
The fire came just days after most Tolsia students received some other upsetting news. They learned that Vern Stanfill, a broadcasting teacher and co-founder/radio engineer for WFGH 90.7-FM (located at Tolsia High School), died on Saturday night.
After learning of the fire on Tuesday, many from across the Tri-State and beyond reached out a helping hand to the Rebels' football program to ensure that the football season and this week's rivalry game with Wayne would not be lost, too.
The fire is devastating, but for the seniors on Tolsia's team, it would become that much more difficult if the game with the rival Pioneers was also lost.
Members of the Wayne County Board of Education huddled in offices with administrators from both Wayne and Tolsia to hash out a plan to move the game at Wayne to 7:30 p.m. Saturday. That is still contingent on equipment being received on time.
As officials were making the tentative game plan, representatives from Glenn's Sporting Goods in Huntington joined with Tolsia's assistant coaches frantically getting players measured to get the equipment order completed as soon as possible.
During this time, Tolsia High School also learned that it has several friends in the community willing to assist if equipment cannot be shipped in time.
Both Spring Valley and Wayne called early in the day to let Stanley know that equipment was available. By day's end, Fairland and Lawrence County (Ky.) had done the same along with Hannan -- a school of less than 200. The school also heard from Magnolia -- a fellow Class AA foe from New Martinsville, who said that two trucks were ready to ship if equipment was needed.
"It's been great -- people coming and wanting to help out, but usually that's what community is all about," Waller said. "It's pretty typical that when things go bad, everyone seems to step in and help."
At the end of school Tuesday, the football team had a walk-through in the gym in preparation for Saturday's rivalry matchup.
That walk-through served not only as the first steps to rebuilding what was lost in Tuesday's fire, but returning to what was not lost -- the 2009 season.
Tolsia-Wayne moved to Saturday
The Tolsia-Wayne matchup that was scheduled for Friday night has been switched to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Pioneer Field in Wayne.
Officials from both schools and the Wayne County Board of Education met on Tuesday afternoon and decided to move the game following the approval of West Virginia Secondary Schools Athletics Commission president Gary Ray.
