NEWTOWN- Mingo Central will look to avoid history Friday night when they welcome winless Tolsia to James “Buck” Harless Stadium.
Losers of four straight, the Miners will look to avoid a fifth straight loss. The current four-game losing streak is tied for the longest losing streak in school history set during Mingo Central’s inaugural season in 2011.
Could history repeat itself? Ironically in 2011, Mingo Central defeated a winless Tolsia team to snap its four-game losing streak and will look to do the same Friday night on Miner Mountain.
The Miners hope to have senior running back Norman Kennedy back in the lineup this week. Kennedy, the team’s leading rusher and scorer, missed last week’s game against Greenbrier East with an illness.
Kaedon Bolding, starting in the place of Kennedy, rushed for 61 yards on 14 carries while Kenneth Runyon threw for 72 yards on 5-of-14 passing. Runyon threw for one touchdown but was intercepted three times in his first start under center.
With a healthy Kennedy in the backfield, the Miners will look to take advantage of a Rebel run defense that gave up over 350 yards on the ground last week in a 41-0 loss to Tug Valley.
In four games this season, Tolsia has been outscored 149-54 and has struggled offensively. Last week the Rebels were held to 158 yards, all of which coming on the ground, and no points.
It will be the ninth all-time meeting between the two schools. Mingo Central leads the series 6-2-0 and has won the last two meetings including last season’s 28-22 contest played at Tolsia.