AAA No. 6 Spring Valley (2-0) at AAA No. 3 South Charleston (2-0)
The annual matchup between the Timberwolves and Black Eagles is usually a rough and rowdy affair, but after Spring Valley’s upset win in overtime last week against Huntington, this game took on a whole new complexion.
Spring Valley is riding a wave of confidence into the game, which should ratchet up an already well established level of physical play. South Charleston is 2-0 and owns an impressive blowout win against George Washington. The game gives South Charleston another early chance to prove the Black Eagles are back.
Coach Donnie Mays said the task will include matching physical play with physical play.
“Last year we challenged our kids to be as physical as Spring Valley was and that challenge was reissued at halftime,” Mays said. “Our kids stepped up and I think from that time on we’ve only had one game where we weren’t a physical football team. If we can do that and use our speed, I like our chances.”
Class AAA No. 2 Capital (1-0) at Princeton (1-1)
After a fairly easy win on opening night over Riverside 60-12, Capital will travel to Mercer County and meet a good Princeton ball club at Ann S. Honeycutt Stadium.
The Cougars have speed in spades. Senior Tyrell Davis emerged last week with 10 carries for 67 yards and three touchdowns — he had a receiving touchdown as well. Dorian Ethridge was a one man demolition crew on defense. Tyhree Pratt, with another year of experience under his belt, has emerged in complete command of the Cougars’ offense. Pratt finished last week’s game with four total touchdowns and 137 rushing yards.
Princeton will likely try to keep this one from becoming a track meet, but with so much pure speed across the line of scrimmage, it will be a tall order.
St. Albans (0-2) at George Washington (1-1)
The Patriot’s pulled out a hard fought victory over a solid Ashland Paul Blazer, Kentucky team a week ago 27-26. The win served as a significant confidence boost to Steve Edwards Jr.’s squad which, a week earlier, was battered by South Charleston.
With 28 seconds left in the game, George Washington’s Druw Bowen returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, giving the Patriots the needed one point win. Bowen added six catches for 106 yards in the win, while quarterback Kaleb Mackey completed 14 of 25 passes for 193 yards.
This week, George Washington welcomes St. Albans to Steve Edwards Senior Field. The Red Dragons are hungry and looking for the first win of the 2014 season.
Riverside (0-2) at Hurricane (1-1)
Much like St. Albans, Riverside is a hungry team in search of a victory. The Warriors role into Hurricane Friday night with a question mark at quarterback. Cole Sigman suffered an injury against Capital which required him to be taken off the field on a stretcher. Much of the aftermath was precautionary and he returned to practice this week according to head coach Steve Freeman.
Whether he plays will be a gametime decision. Freshman quarterback Mark Scites came into the game after Sigman’s injury and immediately threw a touchdown pass on his first varsity play. Freeman said they’ll rely on the play of others like Darius Booker to step up and take the pressure off the young quarterback.
Hurricane head coach Jeremy Taylor wonders which team he’ll field Friday. Through two games, the Redskins have shown two different sides. They lost in a mistake prone contest against Huntington, but lit up the scoreboard in a blow out win over Nitro.
Taylor believes first-year quarterback Dylan Tinsley is starting to get the hang of the new offense, engineered by his uncle, Scott Tinsley. It will also be Hurricane’s first home game of the season.
AA No. 8 Mingo Central (2-0) at AA No. 7 Sissonville (1-1)
The Indians will try to get the ship back on track after swallowing a bitter pill a week ago to top ranked Wayne, 20-14. Sissonville couldn’t capitalize on a very uncharacteristic five Wayne turnovers in the game and fell by a touchdown. Coach Eddie Smoulder and his team will put that one in the rearview mirror again — as they have for the last two years — and concentrate on returning to the win column as the Miners come to town.
Sissonville, in an unusual quirk of scheduling, plays its first four games at home, then hits the road for all but one of the remaining contests.
Buffalo (2-0) at Poca (0-2)
The Bison have done a 180 from 2013. A year after the dismal 0-10 season, Buffalo is now at 2-0 and looking strong. Coach Mike Sawyer attributes experience to the turn around.
“It’s pretty much the same kids as last year, but they have another year of experience and a year of experience in high school is huge,” Sawyer said. “They apparently learned from it and got in the weight room in the off season. So far it’s paying off.”
Sawyer calls Jordan Tucker the teams quiet leader. He always looks for Tucker to have a good game and to anchor Buffalo’s attack. The senior finished last week’s 55-32 win over River View with 109 yards on 16 carries and four total touchdowns.
Other games in the Kanawha Valley:
Winfield at Ripley
River View at Hoover
Nitro — OPEN