From the November 23, 1994 edition of The New Castle Record
Craig County had rockets in nine positions when the All-Pioneer District Football team was announced. The Rockets also grabbed two of the high-profile awards, as Robby Huffman was named Pioneer Offensive Player-of-the-Year and Greg Stick was named Coach-of-the-Year.
All this comes on the coat tails of a 4-6 season, not great by most standards but a far cry from the past two years, when Craig won just one game total. Six different boys were named to the none spots, with Huffman first team on both offense and defense and Chris Blankenship named in three spots.
“I think it’s a tribute to the effort the kids have put in,” said Stick. “The seniors have been with me for three years now, and five of our six seniors were named to the all-district team. That speaks highly of our program.”
Huffman was first team quarterback, first team defensive back, and Offensive-Player-of-the-year. Robby passed 1,023 yards and ran for 446, amassing almost 1,500 yards of offense. He also led the team with five interceptions.
“He was a consensus choice at quarterback,” said Stick. “No one else was even nominated for quarterback. They knew he was it.”
Huffman is hoping to play college ball next year. He’s had some offers from Division I and I-AA schools, and is also considering some Division III schools.
“I feel sure he’ll be playing football somewhere next fall,” said Stick.
Senior Chris Blankenship was named first team at wide receiver, first team punter, and second team linebacker. The only surprise is that Chris wasn’t named first team at linebacker.
“He had a tremendous year,” said Stick. “I thought he was the best linebacker in the district.”
Zachery Peters was named first team return specialist, and Craig has two on the second team offense. John Hall at tight end and James Huffman at tackle. James is the only non-senior to win honors for Craig.
On defense, Jason Via was second team at defensive back. He had three interceptions and was in on many tackles.
Stick was named the Pioneer Coach-of-the-Year. He sees that as a tribute to the program. “I think that reflects on our whole program,” he said. “The kids worked hard and the assistants did a heck of a job. I accept it as a program award.”
In fact, Stick feels Craig could have done even better.
“We could have won two or three more games,” he said. “I think we still have a way to go. We need to have more kids out for the team. After the Glenvar game(a 6-0 Craig win) a lot of kids came up to me at school and said they were coming our for the team next year. I hope so, but it’s a long way to August.”
Stick was humble about the award, spreading the credit around.
“I think the head coach gets too much credit when you win, and too much of the blame when you lose,” he said. “What this (the award) tells me is that we’re heading in the right direction.
