By: Eric Little – Seven Ranges Radio
If you weren’t already aware, high school football in the Mid-Ohio Valley is back with authority after a slew of thrilling finishes a week ago. What excitement will Week 3 offer? Here are this week’s games:
AAA No. 8 Cabell Midland (2-0) at Parkersburg (1-0)
In a couple ways, Parkersburg High School’s 800th ever football win was a throwback to Big Reds’ football of yesteryear. For starters, PHS football was built for many years on the foundation of tough defense.
On their milestone night, the Big Reds pulled out to a 28-2 halftime lead before winding up with a 41-22 win over Warren Local, Ohio. And their head coach, Don Reeves – a member of the 1978 state champion Big Reds – was in the center of the celebration. But after a bye week, it’s back to business for Parkersburg as the Big Reds welcome Cabell Midland to Stadium Field for their home opener.
The Knights have opened their 2014 campaign with a pair of blowout wins, most recently pitching a 48-0 shutout against Winfield – a team that hasn’t scored yet this year. This is Cabell Midland’s first road test. For the Big Reds, Dan Fox threw for a touchdown and ran for another in Parkersburg’s Opening Week win over Warren. Jordan Colebank hauled in that touchdown pass and scored a second time on a third quarter interception return – one of two defensive scores the Big Reds picked up.
All told, the Big Reds defense suffocated Warren to the tune of allowing just 45 total yards of offense all night. They’ll need a similar effort, including some points from their defense, if a win against Cabell Midland is in the making this week.
Parkersburg South (1-1) at AAA No. 5 Morgantown (2-0)
Against a team regarded as one of the state’s best in Class AAA, Parkersburg South proved its mettle in a 20-13 loss to University last week. The Hawks were only able to seal their second win of the year after recovering an onside kick with 1:21 to play. Parkersburg South fell behind early, but never quit on defense and gave University an above average test.
The Patriots actually outgained University in total yards 287-227. Quarterback Garrett Gilkeson connected with Cody Boggs on a five-yard touchdown strike early in the fourth quarter to give the Patriots their only touchdown of the night. This week’s test is tougher for two reasons. The first is that Parkersburg South hits the road for the first time all year.
The second is that of the two Morgantown-based schools, the Mohigans have the stronger team. After two solid wins against Anacostia, DC and Brooke, Morgantown is in the top-five in most state rankings and hasn’t had a problem replacing the top-level talent they lost to graduation.
With two intriguing games looming at the turn of the month – a home test against Martinsburg that’ll prove whether or not the Bulldogs are for real and a trek to play last year’s Class AA runners-up, Wayne – this game could be a trap for the Mohigans if they don’t take things seriously enough. But that’s a longshot to happen for a Morgantown team that’s usually well-prepared to take care of business on home turf.
A No. 3 Williamstown (2-0) at Marietta, Ohio (1-1)
Perhaps no area team had a more impressive win in week two than the Williamstown Yellowjackets. Trailing 21-10 after Magnolia returned a fumble for a touchdown, the Yellowjackets scored the game’s final 15 points to spoil the head coaching debut of Magnolia’s Josh Sims and steal a 25-21 win from the Blue Eagles.
Williamstown quarterback Dakota Watson shook off a rough start to rumble for the go-ahead score in the game’s closing minutes. Impressive, considering Watson was deep in negative rushing yardage late in the third quarter. Michael Beck chipped in a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Yellowjackets to help bolster Williamstown.
This week, Williamstown travels right across the river to play Marietta, Ohio. (Seriously, for those of you that aren’t from the area, the bridge connecting Williamstown and Marietta ends on the Ohio side at Marietta’s Don Drumm Stadium. You’ll be hard pressed even in intra-city matchups to find anybody with less of a trip for a road game than Williamstown has this week.)
The Tigers opened with a blowout win before falling to Warren Local, Ohio last week. Marietta held a slim 8-6 lead before the Warriors rallied to score 14 points in the game’s final four minutes to take away the win. The Tigers racked up just 179 yards of total offense in the win, and they’ll need more to knock off the Yellowjackets, but Marietta’s defense shone. The Tigers held Warren to just 82 yards offensively.
Williamstown struggled out of the gate last Friday, but their conditioning showed late and was the difference in their win against Magnolia. It might be the difference again this week. This game presents a huge opportunity for Williamstown, as a win against Marietta would give the Yellowjackets bonus points equivalent to a win against a West Virginia AAA school.
This game will air on a tape-delayed basis on Suddenlink cable’s Network West Virginia on Saturday at 8 p.m. and online at www.networkwestvirginia.com. Suddenlink subscribers will also be able to access this game On-Demand next week.
Roane County (1-1) at AA No. 9 Ravenswood (2-0)
Ravenswood needed just three quarters to score 65 points in a 65-40 win over Webster County. The offense was clicking on all cylinders, with Rhys Jelich throwing for a touchdown and running for two others. Thomas Sturm also caught and ran for touchdowns in the win.
The blowout allowed the Red Devils to get valuable varsity playing time late for many of their younger players – an often overlooked byproduct of a blowout win, but one that goes as far as anything else toward building a school’s football program. This week, Ravenswood faces a Roane County team that dropped a 19-14 game last week against Ritchie County.
Cody May ran for two touchdowns as part of a 155-yard rushing night for the Raiders in the loss. Roane County tallied a total of 227 rushing yards on a whopping 43 attempts against the Rebels. They’ll need similar production from their ground game is they’re to pull off the upset against Ravenswood this week.
Clay County (1-1) at Ritchie County (1-1)
The answers weren’t all there for the Ritchie County Rebels in a 19-14 win over Roane County, but enough of them were. A week after a devastating blowout in their opener against St. Marys, the Rebels picked themselves up off the mat and showed heart in a road win against the Raiders. Cory Farley ran for two scores and Tyler Reed rumbled for another to lead the way for Ritchie County.
Despite being outgained 290-240 and only throwing the ball for 49 yards, the Rebels held on late to earn their first win of the season. This week, the Rebels play in front of their home crowd for the first time all year and will face the Clay County Panthers. They come in at 1-1 after falling to the same Roane County squad that the Rebels dispatched on Friday and shutting out Braxton County 14-0.
Expect this one to be a low-scoring affair – three touchdowns might do the trick – and expect both teams to try and run the football a lot offensively. A score on defense or special teams might be the difference-maker in this matchup of two schools who are still trying to figure out how to click on all cylinders in 2014. This game will air locally on Lite Rock 93R (93.9 FM) and online at www.literock93r.com.
Doddridge County (1-1) at Calhoun County (1-1)
There might not have been a gutsier effort in a losing cause in the state, at least not at the small school level, than what Doddridge County showed on Friday night. The Bulldogs trailed Tyler Consolidated 33-12 before Doddridge County reeled off 18 points to pull to within three by the game’s final minutes. They recovered two onside kicks to lead to the last two scores.
But the third time wasn’t a charm for the Bulldogs; Doddridge County failed to recover a third consecutive onside kick and with 52 seconds to play, the Silver Knights were able to seal the win. Playing until the final gun has become a tradition for Doddridge County.
Two years ago, the Bulldogs defeated the Silver Knights on the game’s final play and last year, Doddridge County turned the trick on Wirt County. Certainly a sign of a program that’s doing at least a few of the little things right under head coach Bobby Burnside. Most impressively, though, was the fact that Doddridge County fell by only three points without a huge output from workhorse running back Wyatt Ford. He was held to just 34 yards on 15 carries.
Bulldog quarterback Christian Arbogast led the comeback, firing three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. This week, Doddridge County faces a Calhoun County squad that’s split their first two 2014 contests. After snapping an 18-game winless streak in their lidlifter, the Red Devils fell 47-6 last week to Sherman. Calhoun County will have an uphill battle this week against a tougher opponent and Doddridge County will have a strong chance to pick up a win and get some things back on track after last week’s loss.
A No. 1 St. Marys (2-0) at Parkersburg Catholic (1-1) (Saturday 7:30)
With a defense that may be even better than the unit that led the way to the school’s fourth-ever undefeated campaign in 2013, the St. Marys Blue Devils are 2-0 after a 43-13 win against Wirt County. The first-team unit hasn’t been scored upon all year.
In fact, the Blue Devil D forced a safety against the Tigers – meaning the first team has actually scored more points this year than they’ve allowed. Jeremy Pratt and Jason Allen ran for two Blue Devil touchdowns apiece while Corey Stewart and Wesley Parsons added one each. Parsons and Evan Illar continue to split time at quarterback for St. Marys, a team suffering from an injury at the center position.
Expect the Blue Devils to iron out some issues from last week with snapping the ball in time for their first road match-up of the year – a Saturday night date with the Parkersburg Catholic Crusaders. Jeff Campbell’s squad recovered from a heartbreaking one-point road loss to Buffalo in their opener to pick up a 34-14 win over Clarksburg Notre Dame a week ago.
I’ve had a lot of bad dates on Saturday nights, but none as rough as the Blue Devils might create for the Crusaders this week – if their defense shows up to play with the tenacity of the first two weeks. Parkersburg Catholic might not play a team all year more physical than St. Marys, and with their usual small numbers, attrition might play a factor in this one.
But St. Marys will be tested, because the Crusaders always have returning skill at the talent position – example this year, Jake Boice – and Parkersburg Catholic always plays until the final gun. This game will air locally on Lite Rock 93R (93.9 FM) and online at www.literock93r.com.
Cameron (0-2) at Tyler Consolidated (1-1)
With a monster game from Jace Reed, and some luck the third time around from their hands team, Tyler Consolidated held on for a 33-30 win over Doddridge County on Friday. Reed ran for 168 yards on 24 carries, tallying three touchdowns in Tyler Consolidated’s first 2014 win.
All told, Tyler Consolidated racked up nearly 400 yards of total offense and bounced back nicely from an opening week loss to Williamstown. Late in the game, Tyler Consolidated weathered an 18-point Bulldog barrage after Doddridge County recovered back-to-back onside kicks and cashed those in for touchdowns. But a third onside kick was recovered by the Silver Knights to seal the win.
The Silver Knights did lose four fumbles in the win over Doddridge County, something that will surely be addressed this week by head coach Ryan Walton. Cameron comes in off back-to-back losses to Bishop Donahue and Valley-Wetzel and has only scored 18 points all season. Look for the Silver Knights to move above .500 with a strong effort Friday. This game will air locally on WXCR Radio (92.3 FM) and online at www.wxcr.com.
Other games:
Winfield (0-2) at Ripley (0-2)
Wirt County (0-2) at Gilmer County (0-2)
Southern, Ohio (1-1) at Wahama (1-1)
Paden City (0-1) at Beallsville, Ohio (1-1)