Mid-Ohio Valley Playoff Report: Quarterfinals

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By: Eric Little – Seven Ranges Radio

In the “credit where credit is due” department, I need to recognize a very important person to this weekly roundup, as it pertains to the playoffs. For the past several years, I’ve been joined at the weekly SSAC meetings (where many of the state’s media gather to talk to head coaches about their teams) by my good friend Craig Dutton.

I called games with Craig for four years and though our game assignments together are more and more infrequent these days, Craig provides a valuable second perspective during interviews and a helpful hand that allows me to “be in two places at once.” I couldn’t provide the coverage I provide without his help, not to mention the fact that he’s pretty good company at the meetings too. So thanks, Craig!

After last Saturday, how much stranger can things get…right? Right?!?! We’ll find out in the quarterfinal round. Here are this week’s games/times:

 

Class AA #14 Ravenswood (8-3) at #6 Westside (9-2) (Saturday 1:30)

Admit it. No matter where you were last Saturday – whether you were attending a game, sitting at home and following along with the action, or covering a game and getting texts about other games from your brother (Thanks, Andrew!) – you had an eye on the Ravenswood-Bluefield game.

First, Ravenswood grabbed your attention after jumping out to a 35-7 lead. Then, Bluefield grabbed your attention – and the lead – when the Beavers reeled off 34 unanswered points to go up 41-35. Finally, Ravenswood grabbed it back when Rhys Jelich connected with Isaac Crow for the game-winning 10-yard touchdown pass in the final minute.

For Bluefield, a last-ditch attempt to regain the lead fell short and a team that many people had on Wheeling Island at season’s end was instead done for the year. For Ravenswood head coach Mick Price, a number of factors put his Red Devils in the position to take a win away from Mitchell Stadium.

“We knew where we were going and what we had to do, so our kids were ready to play. I think it was a perfect storm. Their kids had just come back from Wayne and with them beating us last year as a 3-seed and us as a 14-seed – they might have been overlooking us a bit,” Price said. “We kinda felt like if we could get out early and get things going that maybe we could put some stress on them.”

The game with Bluefield wasn’t short on individual performances. Beavers’ senior DJ Stewart finished his career with an effort that yielded 304 rushing yards and three scores. And Jelich…let’s just say many high school athletes would be happy to take his performance from Saturday over the course of a full season. Jelich accounted for six touchdowns and a total of 519 offensive yards for the Red Devils. Not bad for the Kennedy Award candidate.

“I think Rhys is one of the best in the state for a number of reasons. Number one, he’s a very intelligent kid. Number two, he has a passion for the game of football. And number three, he’s got that heart that doesn’t quit,” Price said. “He did so many things for us both throwing and rushing.”

But it wasn’t just Jelich that led the Red Devils to the big early lead and then the late rally. Price says a total team effort led to Ravenswood’s quarterfinal appearance this weekend.

“We have 16 seniors and they don’t want to turn their stuff in,” Price said. “We probably finished the season as terrible as anyone in the state. We just lost three out of four games and didn’t play very well. But we had to get some confidence back. Now, we’ve got some work to do this week.”

As is usually the case, a fair share of the unsung heroes resided up front for Ravenswood.

“The offensive line did a great job yesterday. Cory Wratchford’s a sophomore, he’s our center. Kyle Hickman’s a returning first-team All-Stater. Trey Hatcher. Roy Bush. Connor Jelich. Guys that have been there for two years and really worked hard at it,” Price said. “On the defensive side, Colt McClung was a defensive down man yesterday. Matt Starcher did a great job yesterday.”

Westside advanced to the quarterfinals after rallying from a 10-point deficit in the second half to pick up a 56-52 win over Weir. (An ironic score to win with to face Ravenswood – a team led by Price, a state champion basketball coach). Price knows it’ll be an excited Wyoming County crowd, ready for their second Saturday in a row of postseason football. Nonetheless, his Red Devils are ready for THEIR second straight weekend business trip down the West Virginia Turnpike.

“I know Mary and Alice and all the ladies at the toll gate and we just wave now. I will be going to their family reunions in August,” Price quipped, in regards to his team’s destination this weekend. “Seriously, (Westside is) really well-coached and they rally around their team down there. We know we’re going into another hornet’s nest”

After taking out one of the favorites in the field, the Red Devils are well aware of the fact that they’re beyond the survive and advance phase of this postseason. Ravenswood knows that with an effort like the one put forth last weekend, they can get past anyone.

“I felt toward the end of the season that I lost my team’s fervor. I lost their enthusiasm. I don’t think our kids thought they could lose to St. Marys. I don’t think they thought they could get beat by Ripley. And I think they took those two teams lightly. And no matter what we say as coaches, the kids still have to go out there and do it,” Price said. “In tournament play, the first round you survive. The second round, you’re playing to see who’s going to Wheeling because you have got to keep it going.”

 

Class A #9 Moorefield (9-2) at #1 St. Marys (11-0) (Saturday 1:30)

Moorefield and St. Marys met four times during the regular season back in the middle part of the last decade. Fans on both sides of the matchup have easy memories of those games. For starters, all four games were close – and many were decided in the final minute, with a crucial mistake swinging the pendulum toward the winner. But the odd thing about this matchup, and the one that might provide a little worry to the top-seeded Blue Devils, is the fact that in all four games…the road team came away with the win.

“I never lost on their field and they never beat me on mine,” said Moorefield head coach Josh See. “But they were some of the hardest-hitting games of my head coaching career so far. I expect it to be the same way. It was always loud there and always a playoff environment during the regular season when we played St. Marys. I don’t expect it to be any different.”

The Blue Devils advanced to the quarterfinals with an 11-0 record for the second straight year with a 40-20 win over Wahama that wasn’t as close as the scoreboard would indicate. Jeremy Pratt ran for 164 yards and four touchdowns for St. Marys while Jason Allen and Jared Bills added touchdown runs.

The White Falcons scored all 20 of their points in garbage time against the St. Marys second team defense. Blue Devils’ head coach Jodi Mote knows that even though it was Pratt that racked up the four touchdowns, he’s supported by a pretty good fullback in Corey Stewart. The two are good friends, and each one supports the other’s success – especially if that success leads to team success.

“At least with those two running backs, they credit the line. They credit the quarterbacks. They credit the receivers,” Mote said. “I think it’s just the morale of the team. And that’s something we’ve got to focus on with Moorefield”.

The Blue Devils have also been able to get the most out of a two-quarterback system that’s featured Evan Illar and Wesley Parsons sharing time at the position. Against Wahama, Illar provided the spark for the Blue Devils. Illar was 8-12 throwing the football for 106 yards and helped move the Blue Devils offense. Like with Pratt and Stewart, the quarterback situation works because of the unselfishness of Illar and Parsons and the friendship between the two.

“I felt like Evan had a good game. And next week it may be another kid,” Mote said. “With Evan and Wesley both, they stretch together. They’re just unselfish players. It’s hard to describe. But we just go with what works. If they can take that offensive group down the field and stick it in the end zone, that’s all that matters.”

Moorefield is here because of an impressive rally against Tyler Consolidated in a 44-24 win Saturday. After trailing 24-12 halfway through the second quarter, the Yellowjackets rode 32 unanswered points to victory. Moorefield also survived three first half turnovers and a slew of penalties. For See, the message to his players at halftime was pretty simple.

“We just told them to cut out the mistakes. The three turnovers and 80 yards of penalties in the first half – if we get those out of the way, we’re going to beat this team,” See said of Tyler Consolidated. “We went out on the field in the second half and executed that offense pretty daggone good.”

Offensively, Moorefield is led by running back Wil Schoonover – a threat not lost on Mote. His St. Marys team has already had to gameplan against singular threats like Jelich and Williamstown’s Dakota Watson this season. For Moorefield, the trick is to switch up the offensive sets and let the variety dictate the winning formula.

“We have the ability to be able to jump in and out of several different sets. It’s difficult for a team to prepare for that.” See said. “So we’ll try and figure out which one they didn’t prepare for that week and that’s the one we’ll stick with.”

Even with the recent history between the schools, Moorefield knows they come into Saturday’s matchup as the hunter and St. Marys knows they enter the ring as the hunted.

“Everybody’s talked about St. Marys all season long, even in the preseason,” See said. “The state championship goes through St. Marys and we’re up for that challenge.”

“One team will go home Saturday and one will stay and play,” Mote said. “Hopefully, we’re the one that sticks around.”

This game can be heard locally on Lite Rock 93R (93.9 FM) and online at www.literock93r.com.

 

Class A #14 East Hardy (8-3) at #6 Williamstown (9-2) (Saturday 7:30)

East Hardy visits Williamstown as the second-half of this weekend’s Eastern Panhandle versus the Mid-Ohio Valley tag-team matchup. With a 30-22 upset win over No. 3 Notre Dame, East Hardy has a much-longer trip to look forward to in the second round. Terry Smith’s Williamstown Yellowjackets were impressive in all phases in their 24-0 opening round win over Pendleton County. Dakota Watson ran for 130 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while completing eight of his 13 passes.

Though he liked the balance of his offense, Smith would like to see his Yellowjackets throw the football a little more.

“I wish we could throw a little more. I think you run the ball better if you can complete some passes,” Smith said. “But we played good defense. I thought we moved the ball pretty well. We didn’t punch it in or score a lot, but our defense played well.”

Though Smith enjoyed the shutout, putting the zero on the scoreboard isn’t a preoccupation for the Yellowjackets.

“I don’t worry about that,” Smith said of defensive shutouts. “We just want to win and play next week and we did that.”

Almost immediately following Saturday’s win, Smith and his staff loaded up and took off for Bridgeport to watch the East Hardy-Notre Dame contest, so the Yellowjackets got a good impression of what they’ll see this weekend.

“They throw the ball a lot. They spread you out and they don’t huddle and you gotta be ready for that stuff. They keep you on your toes. You gotta be prepared,” Smith said of East Hardy. “We don’t see a lot of it, so you gotta practice it. I always think you have to practice it because if you don’t practice it, the kids won’t do it.”

According to their head coach, the biggest thing the Yellowjackets learned is the intensity and the increased pace of playoff football.

“I think we learned that the playoffs are the playoffs. Everybody plays a little better. Everybody’s intense,” Smith said. “Nobody’s worried about who you played or what you did. It’s serious football.”





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