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By: Eric Little – Seven Ranges Radio
Late-season road tests are the name of the game for many area teams in Week 9. Here are this week’s games:
Parkersburg South (5-2) at Greenbrier East (4-4)
After scoring 14 points total in their last two games – with one of them being a win – Parkersburg South’s offense had quite the breakout in a 45-13 win last Friday against Brooke. The Patriots racked up 536 total yards with quarterback Garrett Gilkeson throwing for 331 of those – just five yards fewer than the number of total yards Brooke finished with all night.
Gilkeson fired four touchdown passes – two each to Cole Day and Brendan Schwendeman. Schwendeman added a rushing touchdown as well. To be fair, Parkersburg South’s last two games came against Point Pleasant’s stifling defense and John Marshall, a team jockeying for position themselves.
Even so, head coach Mike Eddy and staff have to be pleased with the effort. This week, the Patriots make their longest trip of the season – and their only remaining game to be played outside Wood County – when they visit Greenbrier East.
The Spartans come in off a 42-19 win against Logan last week. It was the first time in over a month that Greenbrier East eclipsed the 40-point mark and just the second time all season. After a three-game losing streak in the middle of the season, the Spartans have back-to-back wins and are making a late-season surge.
If Greenbrier East wants any chance to make the postseason, Friday’s matchup with Parkersburg South is a must-win. Their biggest challenge will be to stop the Patriots’ passing attack, and if last week was any indication, that’s a passing attack that’s operating like a well-oiled machine at exactly the right time of the year to do so.
Parkersburg South has wins in four of their last five games and if they can survive the long road trip, they stand a good chance to pick up another. This game can be heard locally on V96.9 (96.9 FM) and online at www.v969radio.net.
Parkersburg (3-4) at George Washington (4-3)
Parkersburg fell behind 27-0 before reaching the end zone in an eventual 41-6 loss to the Huntington Highlanders. The Big Reds piled up rather anemic offensive numbers in the loss with just five first downs and 85 total yards of offense. Defensively, the Big Reds surrendered more than 400 yards. 257 of those came on 50 carries, showing that the Highlanders had no trouble with the idea of running the Parkersburg into submission.
For Parkersburg, if a winning season or a playoff berth is a possibility, answers must come quickly. So maybe this isn’t such a horrible time to pay George Washington a visit. The Patriots have dropped back-to-back contests and at 4-3, George Washington needs a win to stay in the postseason hunt with Capital looming in Week 11.
Last week, the Patriots fell 49-7 to a Cabell Midland squad that’s piled up some prolific offensive numbers this year. The Big Reds will need to bring one of their best defensive efforts of the season, because there’s no margin for error this week. George Washington must control the pace of game and find the same weaknesses in the Parkersburg defense that others have exploited this season.
This is a winnable game for both sides and it may be decided by the kick or punt return teams from one of these schools. Either way, it could serve as an elimination game for whichever school finds themselves on the short end of the stick.
Ravenswood (6-1) at Clay County (4-3)
Ravenswood played tough against one of the best Class AAA teams in the state before succumbing in the second half in a 37-20 loss to Point Pleasant. The Red Devils actually grabbed a lead in the middle of the second quarter on Rhys Jelich’s second touchdown run of the night. However, Point Pleasant’s Jon Peterson ran the ensuing kickoff to the house from 78 yards out to stem the tide of the visitors from Jackson County.
A two-point conversion tied things at 14 and Ravenswood would draw no closer. Point Pleasant outgained Ravenswood 447 to 254, but the 20 points Ravenswood scored are the most anyone has scored in a single game against the Big Blacks all year.
So with that as slight consolation, the Red Devils turn their focus to Clay County – a team with playoff hopes teetering on the brink after a 27-20 loss to Sissonville last week. The Panthers have struggled with consistency all season. With a Week One win coming as a result of a forfeit, Clay County has spent the rest of the year alternating wins and losses.
And those wins have come by the narrowest of margins in some cases. They include two shutouts by scores of 8-0 and 14-0 and a one-point victory against Fayetteville two weeks ago. Defensively, Clay County has slipped in the last three weeks, allowing 82 total points in a 1-2 stretch.
Ravenswood is a team that can score points aplenty and expect the Red Devils to do so as they get things readjusted heading down the stretch.
St. Marys (7-0) at South Harrison (4-3)
Addison O’Brien helped spark a St. Marys team that trailed at halftime for the first time all year in a win against Magnolia on Friday. O’Brien hauled in a pass that led to a 60-yard touchdown play to tie things early in the third quarter. Then, O’Brien’s 55-yard punt return on the final play of the third quarter gave St. Marys a lead they wouldn’t lose in a 27-7 win against the Blue Eagles – a win that all but sank Magnolia’s playoff hopes.
Corey Stewart would add a pair of fourth quarter rushing touchdowns to put things out of reach for the Blue Devils. It was a grind it out effort last week for St. Marys, picking up 184 rushing yards on 42 carries. But a win is what St. Marys needed in their toughest road test of the year, aside from Williamstown. And with that, the Blue Devils play what they hope is their final road game in a very long time, if not the rest of the season, with a trip to Lost Creek to face the South Harrison Hawks.
Brad Jett’s Hawks have won three of their last four and moved above .500 on the season with a 28-0 win over Webster County last Friday. Three of South Harrison’s four wins this year have been shutouts and two of their three losses have come by six points or fewer. So while this is an improved team from where things were a year ago, it’s still a South Harrison team on the cusp of so much more.
They’ll face what is without question their toughest test of the year this week. And for a team known for racking up some big numbers in the run game, St. Marys will be looking to top their 184 rushing yards from last week. And against a Blue Devil defense that’s allowed just 58 points through seven games, they’ll need a big night offensively and to slow the game to a crawl to get past St. Marys.
Expect St. Marys to take their peerless record back home for what will be a HUGE showdown on Halloween Night against the Ravenswood Red Devils. This game can be heard locally on Lite Rock 93R (93.9 FM) and online at www.literock93r.com.
Herbert Hoover (4-3) at Roane County (3-4)
In a game they really needed to have, the Roane County Raiders fell one point short in a 7-6 loss to Tolsia on Friday. With a week one forfeit factored in, the Raiders are now 3-4 with games against Wirt County and Williamstown after this week’s meeting with the Huskies. Making the playoff isn’t an impossible task, but it would’ve been an easier one with a win against Tolsia.
So the Raiders go back to the drawing board this week to see what they can do against Herbert Hoover. After back-to-back losses, Herbert Hoover finds themselves needing to pile up as many wins as possible in an effort to reach the postseason themselves. Perhaps most impressively, Herbert Hoover stayed within 14 points of Wayne last week in a 28-14 loss to the Pioneers.
This game is another that could serve as an elimination game for the team that falls short this week. Homefield advantage may push the Raiders over the top in this one, but it won’t be easy.
Parkersburg Catholic (2-5) at Williamstown (5-2)
It’s almost like Dakota Watson decided to make up for the offensive output he didn’t put forth during a bye week in Williamstown’s 72-8 win over Wirt County. After having the previous week off, Watson made up for lost time with a five-touchdown performance against the Tigers. He ran for two scores, threw for two more and even returned an interception 69 yards for a score late in the first quarter.
Mason Adkins ran for three second-half touchdowns for the Yellowjackets as well. All told, it was a Williamstown offensive effort that tallied 438 yards of total offense and spurred the Yellowjackets to a 50-0 halftime lead. With two losses coming before that bye week, Williamstown needed a big effort to drive a late-season push. That’s exactly what they got.
This week, the Yellowjackets face a talented, but overmatched Parkersburg Catholic squad in a battle of Wood County’s two Class A teams. The Crusaders are talented, but lack depth. On Saturday, they dropped a 33-14 decision to a Belpre, Ohio team that boasts one of the area’s best running games.
It’ll be a matchup of Williamstown’s defense versus the speed of Parkersburg Catholic on the perimeter. And when you factor in the lack of depth that Parkersburg Catholic has, that’ll swing the pendulum in favor of the Yellowjackets in what has always been an intensely-fought game.
Tyler Consolidated (5-2) at Magnolia (2-5)
In the middle of their second year under head coach Ryan Walton, the Tyler Consolidated Silver Knights are 10-7 since Walton became head coach of the Silver Knights. Off to their best start in years, there will be no greater measuring stick for this program than Friday’s game at Magnolia.
Though the Blue Eagles have five losses, the losses have been close – with the exception of last week’s 20-point setback to St. Marys – and they’ve come against very good teams. Tyler Consolidated had last week off after a 6-0 win against South Harrison and is poised to prove that they’ve arrived as a program on the Class A scene in the Mid-Ohio Valley.
Playoff fever is in the air around Tyler County. If Tyler Consolidated’s two-headed offensive monster of Jordan Baker and Jace Reed can get things going against the Blue Eagles’ defense, then the Silver Knights could pull away with a victory. But remember, Magnolia held the dominant St. Marys running game scoreless in the first half last week.
The Blue Eagles stand a very solid chance to get a victory in a game that would only be a big upset on paper if Magnolia can pull off the win. If Tyler Consolidated plays like it’s record indicates they’re capable of, then the Silver Knights will show they’ve arrived – at least in some measure – as a legitimate contender in the area. This game can be heard locally on WXCR-FM (92.3 FM) and online at www.wxcr.com.
Wahama (5-3) at Miller, Ohio (1-7)
The Wahama White Falcons continue their playoff push with a 44-32 win against a South Gallia, Ohio team that needed to win to have any shot at the Ohio state playoffs. This week’s test shouldn’t be nearly as tough as Wahama visits the one-win Miller Falcons.
Miller has only topped 20 points once this year, but is probably at least a little better than their record indicates. Two of Miller’s losses have come by just one point while another came in double overtime.
Even so, Wahama will likely use this game as little more than a tune up for their showdown with Buffalo at the end of the season – the only real test the White Falcons have left in the regular season and the game that will, more likely than not, decide whether Wahama will make a return trip to the state playoffs.
Other Games:
Lincoln County (0-8) at Ripley (2-5)
Calhoun County (2-6) at Wirt County (0-7)
Paden City (3-4) at Toronto, Ohio (6-2)