By Rick Kozlowski
West Virginia Sports Writers Association
MARTINSBURG — Koi Fagan looked, he saw and he conquered.
When Fagan stood in the shotgun at quarterback for Martinsburg late in the tied state Class AAAA championship game, the senior, using his imagination, viewed nothing but a wide open field in front of him.
He didn’t see a single defender from the team that allowed just 3 points per game and posted nine shutouts in 14 games.
Fagan’s gaze into his personal crystal ball of sorts proved right.
After faking a handoff after taking the snap, he took a couple of quick hop steps and again danced into a real opening, racing 80 yards for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown, as the Bulldogs defeated Spring Mills 24-17 in the inaugural Quad-A final. The Bulldogs won their second championship in a row and 11th since 2010.
The play was emblematic of the kind of season Fagan produced.
Just as he ran away from the Cardinals, he bolted from lots of opposing players and teams during a season in which Martinsburg won all 14 of its games on the field but saw one taken away in an office for an illegal player.
For all of his successes, which included some marvelous improvised plays in the passing game, the 6-foot, 175-pound senior has been named the Kennedy Award winner — top player in the Mountain State — by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
The honor represents the crowning jewel for Fagan, who has won similar honors from other organizations.
“I’m really just thankful for every award,” Fagan said. “They all mean a lot and show how much work I put in.
“It’s not just my award. It means a lot to my coaches, teammates and everyone who has helped me. It really means a lot.”
Fagan’s 80-yard sprint to the end zone in the title game at the University of Charleston Stadium enabled him to finish the game with 29 carries for 345 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also passed for a score as the Bulldogs edged their Berkeley County neighbor and Eastern Panhandle Athletic Conference compatriot.
Fagan finished the season with 1,848 yards rushing, an average of 9.63 yards per carry. Passing-wise, he completed 133 of 211 attempts for 2,264 yards.
Between running and passing, Fagan accounted for 61 touchdowns.
Sixty-one TDs.
“That is crazy,” Fagan said. “It did exceed my goals and expectations by a lot.
“There’s no doubt he’s as good as anyone we’ve had at Martinsburg,” Martinsburg coach David Walker said.
As a player and a person, people speak positively of Fagan, seeing him equally as great of an individual as he is a player.
“He’s a special player,” Walker said. “He was a guy our players look to and someone who works extremely hard and put himself in position to have the season he had.
“I’m just proud of him.”
Fagan played mostly running back in 2023 and earned second-team all-state honors.
That running ability showed up on the victorious touchdown in the state final.
He sensed the touchdown coming, too.
“When we run that play right, that is meant to be the result,” Fagan said. “The linemen blocked well, the linemen and the receivers.
“When we run that play right, that’s what happens.”
His mind’s eye saw it all coming after Spring Mills tied the game at 17 on quarterback Max Anderson’s second TD run with 1:58 to play.
“I just knew we had to score on this drive because the game was tied,” Fagan said. “As soon as we got the play, I said, ‘It’s going to go.’
“I can envision myself before the play by how it looks.”
He also ran 58 yards for a touchdown but lost a pair of fumbles, one right in front of the goal line after a long run. He threw an interception, as well.
Fagan, though, displayed some other aspects of his athletic ability in throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Boston Todd.
He had to corral a snap from center that sailed over his head and pushed him back to the 20-yard line. He launched a pass that Todd hauled in to provide a lead at the time.
“He has such a great ability to make something happen,” Walker said, then joked, “I don’t know if he’s that good or that lucky.”
It wasn’t the first time Fagan, who mentioned being a little lucky, turned into a magician on a bad snap.
He had pulled one off against Morgantown.
Then, in a video-winning touchdown play, Fagan had to chase a snap to his right as a screen pass was set up to his left side. After fetching the football and about to be mobbed by defenders from Washington, Fagan virtually shotputted the ball to running back Nicholas Busky. Busky took the pass, followed the blockers and scored a touchdown from midfield.
“It was a little more animated,” Fagan said. “I heard him say my name, and I looked over at him.”
Fagan rated the pass to Todd as the best of making something from nothing, based on the importance of the touchdown and how effortless Todd made a difficult catch look.
“It was amazing,” Fagan said.
He had an amazing season and has received his share of recruiting interest from assorted divisions of play.
Fagan is being recruited as a quarterback, which is his preference.
“I think Koi can do whatever he wants to do,” Walker said. “He’s mentally and physically ready.”
For Fagan, he was delighted by winning another state championship and the vital role he played.
“I was just happy I got the captain’s spot on the all-state team, and it was cool (teammate) Ace (Flores) got to be all-state captain on defense, too,” he said.
A pair of quarterbacks finished second and third, respectively, to Fagan in the Kennedy race. They are Hurricane’s Noah Vellaithambi and Herbert Hoover’s Dane Hatfield.
An interesting note, despite Martinsburg’s dynastic 11 state championships since 2010, Fagan is the Bulldogs’ first Kennedy winner since a run of three in a row from 2002-04 with Brandon Barrett winning two and Nate Sowers one.
Fagan will receive his honor May 4 during the 78th annual Victory Awards Dinner to take place at the Bridgeport Conference Center.
