MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Two matchups between ranked teams out of Class AA and Class A were the main highlights from week seven of the high school football season.
Class A No. 4 Magnolia stayed unbeaten with a dramatic rally in the game’s final minute, giving Class AA No. 10 Weir (5-2) a 29-28 loss.
The Blue Eagles (7-0), ranked No. 1 out of Class A in the MetroNews Power Rankings, trailed 28-21 before quarterback Nick Priem connected with Kyle Ritz for a touchdown with just 33.6 seconds to go, tightening the game at 28-27.
Opting to go for two and the win, Magnolia went right back to that Priem-Ritz combination, successfully converting the conversion an ultimately winning the game by one point.
“That was definitely a little bit nerve wracking, I’ll say that,” said Magnolia coach Josh Sims. “A game like tonight is why you do it. Give credit to Weir and to our kids.”
The decision to go for two was easy for Sims.
“There really wasn’t much of a conversation, I felt the momentum was on our side,” Sims said. “And these kids showed a lot of guts tonight. To be in that position, I thought that our kids deserved to have a chance to win it. We went with a slant into the flat, a little pick-play and Kyle (Ritz) was wide open. Nick (Priem) did a great job of getting it to the spot.”
Priem finished 8 of 15 through the air for 84 yards and a touchdown. Tyler Anderson rushed for 75 and two touchdowns, along with two interceptions defensively for the Blue Eagles. Ritz finished with four catches for 46 yards, a touchdown a couple of two point conversions – he also recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for another score.
The Blue Eagles will have to move on from the win quickly as another big matchup looms next week against unbeaten St. Marys. The No. 5 Blue Devils (6-0) Friday night pulled away in the second half for a 54-18 win over Calhoun County. Bret Fetty finished with 160 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 11 carries, a touchdown reception, fumble recovery and interception in the win.
It was another exciting finish between Class AA No. 4 Chapmanville and Class A No. 1 Man. Chapmanville (7-0) scored the game winning touchdown with just 15 seconds left on an Alex Berry pass to Noah Dingess, giving the Tigers a 35-28 win.
“It feels pretty great, it was a total team effort tonight,” Berry said. “They started to make a comeback at the end, but we just kept fighting and made some big plays – it worked out well for us. We had total confidence in our offense and knew we needed a game winning drive at the end.”
Prior to that late touchdown, Man (5-1) had made a furious comeback, completely erasing a 28-6 deficit with under four minutes to go in the third quarter. The Hillbillies tied the game up at 28-28 on a touchdown pass from John Thomas Keffer to Marquel Brown and then a successful two-point conversion at the 2:52 mark of the fourth quarter.
For Chapmanville, Berry finished 14 of 23 on the night for 214 yards and three touchdown passes. Jacob Dingess had nine catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns as well for the Tigers.
Class AAA saw No. 2 Point Pleasant (7-0) beat Oak Hill 55-8 as Cody Mitchell finished with 103 yards rushing and five total touchdowns in the win.
No. 9 Wheeling Park (4-1-1), meanwhile, turned a 14-7 halftime lead over No. 4 Morgantown (5-2) into a 35-7 win as receiver Elijah Bell collected a school record 227 yards and three touchdowns on nine catches.
Sophomore quarterback Cross Wilkinson went 12 of 17 through the air for 276 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Patriots’ senior running back Savion Johnson added 167 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.
No. 7 George Washington (5-1) beat No. 14 Hurricane (3-3) 32-14 behind Nu Nu Miller’s 280 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries.
No. 14 Parkersburg South (4-2) picked up a needed win over John Marshall (4-2) 37-20. Patriots’ running back JT Kemp led the way with 176 rushing yards and three scores in the victory, along with a blocked punt.
In Class AA, No. 1 Fairmont Senior beat University 49-20 as quarterback Dominic Smith threw for 250 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Nick Davisson brought in six catches for 119 yards and three of those scores for the Polar Bears – he also had two interceptions and a fumble recovery on defense.
No. 2 Bridgeport (6-0-1) dominated No. 7 Keyser (5-2) 38-0. Dylan Tonkery rushed for 178 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown in the win, to go along with 114 yards and three touchdowns on seven carries from Dante Bonamico.
No. 3 James Monroe improved to 6-0 with a 28-20 win over Westside. No. 8 Roane County (6-1) beat Clay County 35-14 with quarterback Tyler May totaling 290 yards and a touchdown on 48 carries in the win.
No. 12 Summers County (6-1) edged No. 13 Independence (5-2) 13-9 with two touchdown runs from quarterback Matt Ryan.
Another Class A matchup had Clay-Battelle (2-4) knocking off No. 7 Bishop Donahue (6-1) 35-20. All of the scores are posted on the MetroNews scoreboard.