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WEIRTON -- The wait is almost over for Madonna fans to watch their team play in their home town.
After starting their comeback season on the road last week, the Blue Dons play their first home game since restarting the program Friday night when Van comes to Jimmy Carey Stadium.
"It's exciting," Madonna head coach Shawn McKinnon said. "The community is excited. They're ready to go. The parents are excited. The kids are excited. We're ready to go."
The matchup is a battle of teams looking for their first win of the season as both teams suffered losses in the opening week of the West Virginia season.
Madonna dropped a tough 66-12 contest four hours across the state at state-ranked perennial power East Hardy, while Van fell to Greater Beckley Christian at home in its opener, 46-12.
While it was not the start to the season they hoped for, McKinnon saw a lot of positive things the Blue Dons can work with and build on moving forward.
The biggest reason for optimism is now the Blue Dons, youthful in experience, have now been on the field and have Friday night game experience, as well as game tape they can look at and use to get better.
"I think it helps a bunch," McKinnon said. "A lot of the kids, especially the ones that hadn't played in a few years, really got their first experience in a full game. We took our licks here and there, but I thought our offensive line held up pretty good. Our running back Thomas Davidson rushed for over 180 yards on 15 carries. I think we have some things going for us we can build on.
"It was just a lot of fundamental issues that we had. I think that being our first game was really big for us seeing what we have and the big things that we need to work on in practice this week -- a lot of tackling and making sure we know our plays and a lot of execution stuff."
There is a big difference between competing practice and scrimmages compared to being in game situations, and at a small school like Madonna with limited numbers, that difference is even larger.
McKinnon believes the team will continue to improve as the season progresses and they get more and more of that experience under the lights on game night.
"I think it makes a huge difference," McKinnon said. "We started off in the early summer with numbers around 14 or 15 kids. Since school started, we're up to about 21 or 22 kids right now. We haven't had a scout team for practices, so everything that we've run has been on air. We've had to be careful with how we hit at practice. We've got to keep guys healthy. The only full contact was the few scrimmages that we had. Going into that game, that was these kids' first real experience with football and playing four quarters, too. I think it was a lot for some of our kids and it was an experience for them, but I think they're starting to understand how fast and how physical the game needs to be played.
"A lot of the kids did really well when it came to the physicality. A lot of our stuff was just execution and fundamental football stuff, which is hard to work on in practice when you don't really have the numbers to go up against each other. You're relying on getting experience from games to give you the looks for the kids to learn the game."
Van, he knows, is a school with similarly low numbers and battling a lot of the same challenges, making Friday's game a more even match up.
"Their program has been around for a long time," he said. "They're very well coached. They're struggling with numbers just like we are. This could be their last season that they have football.
"We're just trying to come out, compete, and try to get a win on the board."
The opening kick Friday night for Madonna's first home game since 2024 is set for 7 p.m.