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Looking For Three State Champions!

The 2014 high school football season has ended for all but 48 teams in the state and out of those 48, three state champions will be crowned on Wheeling Island the weekend of December 5 & 6!

As the first week of the playoffs begin, we know the state will recognize at least one new champion.  Last year in Class A, Madonna capped off a perfect 14-0 season with a 24-14 defeat of Greenbrier West in the 2013 Class A title game!  In fact, during their playoff run last season, the Blue Dons outscored their four playoff opponents 195-92.  If you add that to their season point totals, Madonna outscored their 2013 opponents 657-106….an average of 47-14 per game.  Of course, a lot of that high powered offense and stingy defense graduated from Madonna and this year the young Blue Dons struggled through a 2-8 mark.  So, with Madonna failing to get in to the field of 16, Class A is guaranteed a new champion in 2014.  In Class AA, the Bridgeport Indians are back to try and win back-to-back titles and entered the playoff field as the #1 seed in the class.  In the big schools division, the Martinsburg Bulldogs are back and will be trying to win an unprecedented fifth straight championship, however the Dave Walker led group of talented athletes from the Eastern Panhandle will enter the playoff field this weekend as the #4 seed and if both teams advance, Martinsburg would have to square off against undefeated and #1 Capital in the semi-final round.  Certainly a lot of football has to be played before we get to that point, but it is fun to look ahead.

There are a couple of interesting notes about the playoffs that will begin this Friday night, November 14th.  Number one……there is a serious lack of games on Friday night, November 14th.  In fact, I can’t remember the last time we had the few number of games we will see when the games kick off at 7:30 this Friday night.  In Class AAA, only two games will be played Friday……in Class AA, just half of the eight games will be played and in Class A, only one game of the eight scheduled will be played Friday night.  That is a total of just seven out of twenty four being played when the Friday Night Lights shine their brightest.  That leaves us with two games being played on Saturday night, November 15th, and fifteen kicking off at 1:30 on Saturday afternoon when you don’t even need lights!!  I am still not real sure why there will be so many Saturday afternoon games in round number one of the playoffs……..at the WVSSAC meetings on Sunday, I heard some reasons being miles that need to be traveled by the visiting teams and in some cases, those trips will exceed 300 miles one way so I get that.  I also heard teams saying they had a lot of injuries, but let’s be honest, if an athlete is hurting at 7:30 on Friday night, chances are he is still going to be hurting 16 hours later.  But, I also understand looking out for the best interests of the young athlete.  So bottom line is, for whatever reason for the first time in a very long time, 17 of the 24 first round games will be played on a Saturday!

Now, when you look at some of those first round games you will find five that will be a rematch from the regular season….three in Class AAA and one each in the other two classes.  In Class AAA, #15 Parkersburg will travel to Ona to take on #2 Cabell Midland in a rematch of a game that was played September 12th in Parkersburg and resulted in a 42-21 Cabell Midland victory.  The 6th seeded Black Eagles of South Charleston will welcome the 11th seed Spring Valley this Friday night in a rematch of a game that was also played on September 12th and ended with South Charleston winning on the same field by a final of 43-14.  The other rematch in Class AAA will find #10 Hurricane travelling to Bob Sang Stadium in Huntington this Saturday afternoon to take on the 7th seeded Highlanders.  These two teams met on that same field the first night of high school football in August and Huntington prevailed 37-6.  In Class AA, the only rematch in the first round will find #13 Sissonville travelling to #4 Mingo Central to take on the Miners in a repeat of one of the very best games of the season.  Back on September 12th, Mingo Central made the trip to Sissonville and escaped with a 28-27 one point win.  In Class A, the only rematch will find a repeat of a game that just took place a couple of weeks ago.  It was Halloween night when Tug Valley made the trip to Logan County and left with a very hard fought 26-20 victory over the Man Hillbillies.  This Saturday afternoon, the 15th ranked Hillbillies will travel to Delbarton, WV to take on the 2nd ranked Panthers in a 1:30 contest.

It would appear we have the opportunity to witness some great high school football games this weekend.  Try and find one in your area and support these young athletes.  And, even though we will only have seven game scores to give you on Friday night, Dave Jecklin and I will be around at our normal time for GAMENIGHT….so join us beginning at 9:30 this Friday night on many radio stations around the state and at wvmetronews.com!







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