By: Michael Minnich
Mineral Daily News Tribune
Week nine is the thinnest on the eastern panhandle schedule, with three teams, including East Hardy and Keyser squads fresh off of signature wins, on their bye. Still, there’s a tasty AAA matchup on the docket.
Martinsburg (7-1) at Jefferson (5-2), 7 p.m.
Martinsburg devoured Hedgesville last week, 63-0, scoring 36 first-quarter points on only five offensive plays.
Despite the win, the Bulldogs sagged to sixth in the tightly packed WVSSAC Class AAA rankings, though they did retain the second spot in MetroNews’ poll. Martinsburg ends the year with this game against five-win Jefferson and then against 5-win Musselman.
“We have two of our local rivals at the end of the year and they’re two good football teams,” Martinsburg coach Dave Walker said on the MetroNews High School Sportsline. “This is going to be a big two weeks for us.”
Jefferson lost a hard-fought 28-20 battle at home to Keyser last week, running out of time in the shadow of the end zone.
Andrew King and Christian Johnson hooked up for all three touchdowns through the air. Jefferson fell out of the top ten in the MetroNews rankings but is still ninth in the WVSSAC’s tabulations.
Martinsburg won last year’s meeting between the two teams, 54-13.
Frankfort (7-0) at Oak Glen (2-6), 7 p.m.
Frankfort’s game last week against Petersburg was stopped in the fourth quarter by a power outage, but they really could have halted things earlier and it wouldn’t have mattered.
The Falcons, the only undefeated team left in Class AA, scored 42 points in the first 13 minutes of their contest against Petersburg, giving the starters a long rest in a 49-13 win.
Noah Bible scored two long touchdowns for the Falcons, who are 23-4 in the regular season since 2012.
Oak Glen is 2-6 and has struggled offensively, managing just 91 points in eight games. They took a 40-7 loss at John Marshall last week.
This is the first-ever meeting between these two schools.
Washington (1-6) at Musselman (5-3), 7 p.m.
Musselman needed a win over fading Morgantown to keep their playoff hopes alive last week, and they got it: Deonte Glover’s scoop-and-score with seconds remaining handed the Applemen a 27-20 victory.
Glover also cashed in the pigskin with a pair of 91-yard kickoff returns.
The Applemen now cling to the 16th and final playoff spot.
Washington was off last week after losing to Skyline, Va., by a 34-21 score two weeks ago. Washington won last year’s contest, 21-7.
** A MetroNews High School Sportsline interview with Musselman coach Brian Thomas is posted at the top of the page
Petersburg (0-7) at Moorefield (5-2), 7:30 p.m.
Both teams will be looking to get back on the winning track after losses last week.
Petersburg, as mentioned earlier, was buried early by Frankfort before a power outage halted play in the fourth quarter.
Moorefield fell into a 12-0 hole against rival East Hardy last week, then took a 16-12 lead on pairs of passing touchdowns and two-point conversions from Dakota Vetter.
But East Hardy got the last laugh on a 39-yard pass from Corey McDonald to Ricky Robinson to pull out an 18-16 victory.
Moorefield dropped to No. 12in the WVSSAC rankings and out of the MetroNews top 10. This was the season opener last year, and Petersburg nearly pulled the upset, losing 29-25.
Hedgesville (0-7) at Hampshire (3-4), 7 p.m.
Hampshire took an early 21-8 lead at Spring Mills last week only to see the Cardinals rally to tie the score at 28-all in the fourth quarter.
But Zach Rhodes’ 3-yard TD run put the Trojans over the top to keep flickering playoff hopes alive.
Hedgesville went 40 yards in the wrong direction against Martinsburg last week and didn’t gain a first down that wasn’t via penalty.
Hampshire won a high-scoring affair last year, 50-34.
Spring Mills (3-4) at Clear Spring, Md. (3-4), 7 p.m.
Spring Mills did well to fight back from an early deficit against Hampshire last week, but came up short, 35-28.
Clear Spring ended a two-game skid with a 25-14 win over Berkeley Springs last week. Spring Mills picked up their first win in program history in this fixture last year, 21-14.
BYE: Berkeley Springs (2-6), East Hardy (6-2), Keyser (6-2)
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