Stickles back on Oak Glen sideline

NEW MANCHESTER, W.Va. -- The men set to lead their teams into the annual battle for the Carl Hamill Trophy tonight may be new in their roles, but are far from new to the rivalry.

Weir High's Chris Hill and Oak Glen's Derrick Stickles are set to make their debuts as the head coaches of their alma maters at 7 p.m. today at the Bears Den.

Hill is making his head coaching debut after several stops as an assistant -- including a successful tenure at Oak Glen -- and looking to mold the program he once won a state title with back into form.

"It's definitely special," Hill said. "That's what I was telling the kids, Oak Glen is kind of like a second home to me. I spent a lot of years up there teaching, quite a few years up there coaching. So, it's one of those bittersweet moments with all the good memories I had up there and all the success we had up there with Coach (Ted) Arneault and going up there to play a big one to start off at my alma mater is definitely exciting, and exciting to see some old faces.

"It's definitely something that's a little unique having two coaches make their debut at their alma maters against each other. I coached up there with Tony Filberto and Derrick was on the staff, so I got to know him a little bit."

Stickles has been a head coach before, though not for nearly a decade. He recently spent several seasons as an assistant on Mike McKenzie's staff at Beaver Local. He was an all-state player for the Golden Bears in his playing days.

"The whole experience has been exciting for me just to come back to my alma mater and get the opportunity to coach," Stickles said. "This isn't the stadium that I played in, but it's the same environment, the same community, the same group of people that were there whenever I was growing up playing in the Newell Stadium.

"It's very exciting to get this opportunity to be a part of this."

A new coaching match up has its challenges as well.

"There's really not too much to go off of," Stickles said. "I've been out of the game for about ten years, and this is Chris' first go around as head coach. So, we really don't know what his philosophy is as a head coach. It makes things a little bit more difficult. Chris has been around for a while as an assistant and a coordinator, but I don't know too much about him as a head coach. It's a challenge to prepare for."

Oak Glen won last year's meeting at Weir High, 32-14. The last decade of the rivalry has seen a back-and-forth battle, with Weir winning the prior three-straight and Oak Glen the three before that. Overall, the last 10 meetings are 6-4 Red Riders. Going back two decades, it's 12-8 Weir High.

The Red Riders' win in 2024, the last time the game took place at Oak Glen, is actually the last time Weir High won a game. They will be looking to snap a 19-game losing streak tonight, a streak that is uncharacteristic of the tradition-rich program and that ending is at the top of the priority list for Hill.

"That was the last time these kids have won, and a lot of my seniors and my juniors were starters on that team," Hill said. "They're hungry to get on the right side of the win column again. I think if we can do that, it can parlay us into some success throughout the season."

The Golden Bears, on the flip side, are coming off of a playoff season a year ago, going 7-4 propelled by that good start at Jimmy Carey Stadium last August.

"Everyone wants to get off to a good start," Stickles said. "Our guys are excited to be preparing for a game."