Last season, only 7 of the 48 teams that made the playoff field had four losses. And now, as we enter week number four of the 2014 season, any team that has two or three losses know they have very little room for any more mistakes! The warm up time is finished – every team needs to be, and should be playing their best football starting now.
In Class AAA, there were not a lot of surprises last week. The top three teams in the MetroNews Power Poll all won and for the most part won rather easily. The Point Pleasant Big Blacks proved they are a team to be dealt with as they dismantled Class AA #1 Wayne by 24 points! In looking at their schedule, Point Pleasant may have taken care of the only team that could have prevented them from going undefeated, however with Ravenswood still looming down the road, Coach David Darst knows his Big Blacks will have to continue to take one game at a time and not look past anyone. This week, Point Pleasant will entertain once beaten Logan. There were a couple of teams in the Class AAA MetroNews Power Poll that suffered their first defeat of the season as South Charleston rolled over #6 Spring Valley 43-14…..Parkersburg South got a big win by beating #5 Morgantown by 9 points and winless Brooke came out on top over #10 University by 7 points.
In Class AA, as mentioned, #1 Wayne went on the road to Point Pleasant and found themselves on the short end of a 38-14 score. It marked the first time the Pioneers had lost a regular season game since September 30, 2011 when they fell by a score of 16-14 to, you guessed it, Point Pleasant! Since that loss in 2011, Wayne had won 36 of 37 games, losing only to Bridgeport in last year’s Class AA title game! The Pioneers have this weekend off before welcoming Mingo Central to Wayne in two weeks. Also this past week in Class AA, the 6th ranked Falcons of Frankfort got a nice win as they defeated the 3rd ranked Flying Eagles of Robert C. Byrd 27-21 in double overtime. The 4th ranked Bridgeport Indians bounced back from a four point loss to Wheeling Park by scratching out a seven point win over Lewis County but 5th ranked Keyser went down to defeat for the first time this season by dropping an eight point game at home against Fort Hill, Md.
In Class A, the Blue Devils of St. Marys continued to light up the scoreboard as they ran past Parkersburg Catholic 42-13. So far, in three wins this season, St. Marys has scored 47 – 43 and 42 points for an average of 44 points per game. However, it was not all smiles at the top in Class A, as previously unbeaten and 2nd ranked Greenbrier West fell to Magnolia 33-20. Number four Bishop Donahue also fell from the unbeaten ranks as #7 Clay-Battelle prevailed 33-28. Number three Williamstown beat a good Marietta, Ohio team by 9 points, but #5 and previously undefeated Man lost to Class AA Westside 28-22.
Coming up this week, some of the big games to watch will find undefeated Cabell Midland at once beaten Huntington – Parkersburg traveling to Laidley Field to take on undefeated Capital – undefeated Jefferson hosting once beaten Musselman – Wheeling Park traveling to University and the undefeated and top ranked Martinsburg Bulldogs playing host to the only team that beat them last year, the Huskies of Tuscarora, Va. who are also 3-0 and have outscored their opponents 123-21 this season. In Class AA this week, Bluefield is back after being idle last week and they will travel to Gate City, Va. – the once beaten Indians of Bridgeport will have a big matchup as they welcome once beaten Robert C. Byrd – Independence will try and stay undefeated as they travel to Class AAA Shady Spring – Mingo Central will put their unbeated streak on the line as they host undefeated Westside – and Scott will try and stay undefeated as they travel to Sissonville. In Class A, undefeated Buffalo will travel to once beaten Greenbrier West – St. Marys will travel to Tyler Consolidated and Wheeling Central will try to keep winning as they battle intercity rival Linsly in Wheeling.
Don’t forget, this week is the first week of the WVSSAC official rankings and that will be the list all teams will be looking at and trying to figure out a way to stay in the top 16.
High School GAMENIGHT will be on the air this Friday night at 9:30 on 41 radio stations across the state and don’t forget you can also follow the show on line with both the audio and video streams of the program at wvmetronews.com.