For four seasons Brittain Virden, the Planters Bank Player of the Week, has been anchoring the lines of the St. Joseph Catholic School football team.
Virden will be the foundation one more time this Friday when his Fighting Irish take on Indianola Academy in the MAIS Class 3A State Championship game.
Over that time Virden, who now stands 6-foot-2 and 270 pounds, said he has not only grown as a player but as a person.
As a young freshman he was following the advice of the upperclassmen on his team. Now, he is teaching his younger teammates what it takes to lead.
“It has been my job to help these players live up to the standard that is set here at St. Joseph,” the big red head said. “We did not become a great program in one day. It took years of hard work.”
Giving 100 percent effort is expected when you play for the Fighting Irish, Virden said, and he expects all of his teammates to do that once more in the state championship.
“We have an opportunity to win our third straight championship, and I have an opportunity to be a champion in my last game. It is really important that we win the game, and it is such an opportunity,” Virden said.
This season Virden has not just been a force as the four-year center of the offense, but he also helped the Fighting Irish become a stout offensive line. Virden had five total tackles last Friday night in the Irish’s 20-18 home victory over Carroll County in the state semifinals. In that game the Rebels moved down the field quickly for the first two scores of the game, but then Virden and the rest of his fellow defensive linemen steadied the fort and stifled the Carroll County rushing attack, for the most part.
“Brittain had a great game last Friday, and been a key for us all season long,” St. Joseph coach John Baker said. “He is also a good character kid who we know that we can rely on.”
