CLASS AAA
No. 6 South Charleston (9-2) at No. 3 University (10-1): Friday, 7:30 p.m.
A couple of contrasting styles will meet on Friday night for a spot in the Class AAA semifinals as South Charleston brings its up-tempo offense into Morgantown.
“It’s an interesting matchup. University slowed it down a little bit (against Woodrow Wilson) and we want to go as fast as we can,” said South Charleston coach Donnie Mays. “Defensively, they do some exotic style blitzing from the weak side a lot and we just try to attack the football as quickly as we can.”
University is coming off of a 28-6 win over Woodrow Wilson in the quarterfinals where the Hawks defensively held Beckley to just 28 yards rushing in the win.
Offensively, University has several athletic play-makers, including quarterback Jeremy Eckels, running backs Jace Neville and Isaiah Utt, receiver Tristan Lucas and all-around athlete Michael Ramsey.
“Their quarterback is like a magician with the ball — he’ll make you think it’s a dive and then the next thing you know, he’s running around the end,” Mays said. “We have to be real disciplined in our option responsibilities. It’s going to be a real tough game — University is well coached. They get after it when they play and they don’t quit.”
South Charleston, meanwhile, is coming off of a 55-36 win over No. 11 Spring Valley in the opening round of the playoffs. Black Eagles’ quarterback Kentre Grier was 14 of 21 for 216 yards and five touchdown passes, to go along with two more scores on the ground. C.J. Perkins ran for 144 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, adding 66 yards receiving and two more scores as well in the win.
“They have a tremendous quarterback, maybe the best quarterback in the state. He’s a creator, he’s athletic and a pinpoint passer,” said University coach John Kelley. “I don’t know if there’s anyone in the state who throws the ball as accurate as he does. They have athletes all over the field. I quit watching film on them, because they scare me to death. The more I watch them, the more I think we can’t beat them.”
A win for South Charleston on Friday night would put the Black Eagles right back in the mix at the top of Class AAA, fighting for a spot in the state championship game. It’s something Mays has been building to get his program back to that level.
“We lost our mojo and we were trying to get it back,” Mays said. “Our guys are getting back to that feeling of winning ballgames — winning them when they’re close. I think our kids are starting to see that football is a four quarter sport, it takes a lot of hard work to get into the playoffs and it takes a lot of hard work each week to win a game. They’re buying in and it takes time to build that up, but we’re getting there.”
The winner on Friday night will face either Huntington or Cabell Midland in the semifinals.
No. 8 Wheeling Park (9-2) at No. 1 Capital (10-0): Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Neither team had much trouble in the quarterfinal round as Wheeling Park handled Lewis County 35-3. Capital rolled 16 seed Parkersburg South 70-0. Quarterback Tyrhee Pratt finished with over 300 yards passing and five total touchdowns in the win.
“I think he may get overlooked by media guys and all that because we don’t let him throw for 500 yards — so he doesn’t have the huge passing numbers,” said Capital coach Jon Carpenter. “He runs the option for us and every time he hands the ball off, he has to make a decision. I don’t think anyone asks more of a quarterback than what we do, and he’s handled it ever since he’s been here. He’s just outstanding.”
Last week for Wheeling Park, senior running back Theo Blackston finished with 181 rushing yards on 24 carries. Quarterback Killian Coyne completed 13-of-19 passes for 238 yards, with Elijah Bell catching seven passes for 103 yards in the win as well.
“I think they’re kind of similar to us,” Carpenter said. “They spread the ball out and run the zone offense. They’re probably more of a downhill running team than what we are. But they look to be well coached. They’re big and athletic as well, like a lot of teams we’ve played. We’ll have our work cutout for us.”
That size starts with Blackston, who stands in at 6-foot-1, 232-pounds.
“He’s bigger than anyone we’ve seen at running back,” Carpenter said. “He’s a big kid and you definitely don’t want to get him out there in the open space and have to try to jump on him very much.”
The winner of Saturday’s game will play either Point Pleasant or Martinsburg in the semifinals.
CLASS A
No. 10 Buffalo (9-2) at No. 2 Tug Valley (10-1) (from Mingo Central High School): Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Regardless of who wins Friday’s game between Buffalo and Tug Valley, it’ll be a new face in the Class A semfinals.
The Bison last week shutout No. 7 Doddridge County on the road 20-0. Buffalo’s Jordan Tucker scored two touchdowns and collected 92 yards on 21 carries in the win.
“Our defense was really the big thing in that game,” said Buffalo coach Mike Sawyer. “Our defense early in the year wasn’t very good and we’ve made some adjustments that have worked for us. Our kids are playing a lot better on that side of the ball and are flying around, they’ve grown up a lot.”
Tug Valley last week knocked off Man for the second time in three weeks, beating the Hillbillies 16-12.
“I don’t know the first thing about them, never seen film on them and have never seen them in person,” Sawyer said on Sunday before game week preparation. “We’ll just have to prepare like we have each week and try to keep do what we’ve been doing. Hopefully we’ll be in the ballgame at the end and have a chance to win.”
The 10 wins for Tug Valley are the most in school history. The winner of Friday’s game will move on to face either East Hardy or Williamstown in the semifinals.