WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) — Justin Fox entered the Magnolia football program four years ago as a pure athlete, a player that didn’t quite have a defined role. He leaves as the all-time passing leader at the school in every statistical category, shattering the previous records of Mark Cisar.
Not only that, but he’s the winningest quarterback in state history, having won 45 games in 53 tries and played in an unthinkable 53 of a possible 56 games, including a 28-13 victory against top-ranked Ravenswood in the Dec. 3 Class AA title game.
“It will probably take a while (to set in),” Fox said. “There was a lot of stuff we did this year.
“That’s a great honor to be No. 1, especially with the quarterbacks that have gone through Magnolia.”
The two QBs will be forever linked, and not only because of the records, Like Cisar, who did it twice, Fox will forever be known as West Virginia Player of the Year.
In one of the closest votes in the 62 years the honor has been bestowed, Fox edged 2009 winner Tyler Harris of South Charleston for the Harrison H. Kennedy Award, which is presented annually to the best prep football player in the state by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
David Gladden of Class AAA champion Martinsburg, Joey Musick of state semifinalist Morgantown, and Keion Wright, who led Capital to the quarterfinals, finished in a three-way tie for third.
George Washington’s Felix Mollett, Bridgeport’s Corey Wagner, Ravenswood’s Cole Starcher, Brooke’s Ryan Lazear, and Bishop Donahue’s Ryan Jones rounded out the Top 10 in voting.
Magnolia is tied for second in Kennedy winners, one behind leader Morgantown (four). Fox is the first Ohio Valley Athletic Conference performer to take home the award since Weir’s Quincy Wilson shared it with J.R. House in 1998.
“This is unbelievable. I’m awestruck,” Fox said. “In the back of my mind I was thinking ‘yeah, there was still that hope.’
“Winning the championship, setting the records and getting all those awards, the only thing that would complete it is getting the Kennedy.
“Wow.”
Fox, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound senior, hasn’t gotten to this level on athletic ability alone. Magnolia coach Mark Batton has spoken numerous times about a work ethic that has become legendary in a town — New Martinsville — that churns out one blue-collar human being after another.
“A lot of times when he was younger he was just focused on one guy and threw the ball to that guy,” Batton said. “These last two years, it’s been because he sat down and studied film all summer long.”
He spent a lot of time this summer preparing for all the teams we’ve faced.
“That’s how Justin has matured. He knows going in on Friday night what he’s going to see.”
That preparation led to astounding success, both individually and for his team. Fox completed 149 passes for 2,474 yards and 29 touchdowns, while also running for 176 yards and nine scores. He never came off the field as he returned punts, was the team’s kicker (71 PATs), its punter, and also served as one of the top cover-corners around, having been named an all-stater at the position a season ago.
Fox might have also had a built-in advantage in the form of his father, Jeff, who led Paden City to a 1979 crown. The two have worked vigorously the last four years in hopes of one day reaching this point.
“Ever since I was little I was out passing football with my dad and my brother,” said Fox, also one of the top baseball players around. “My dad was teaching me everything he did.”
As good a football player as Fox, with the help of his coaching staff, has become, his legacy is certain to be more far-reaching than any stat or award can indicate.
“His character, if you would see him around the young kids,” Batton said. “We went to youth practice and had pizza, and I just watched these kids gathered around Justin Fox. They’re saying ‘I want to be Justin Fox,’ and what a program builder that is.
“He’s well respected by the administration and is a young man that dots all his I’s and crosses his T’s. His potential in life is just great.”
Fox will receive his award at the annual Victory Awards Dinner slated for early May 2011. The site for the awards dinner has not been selected at this time.
