In high school football it doesn’t matter if it’s week one of the regular season or week one of the playoffs…..there are always going to be upsets! And this season held true to form. Last week, 24 games were played in round one of the playoffs and in six of those twenty four games, there were upsets. Ironically, we had two upsets in each class. In Class AAA, #11 South Charleston beat #6 Jefferson 28 to 8 and #9 Brooke avenged an earlier regular season loss by downing #8 Morgantown 27-14. In Class AA, #11 Herbert Hoover beat #6 James Monroe in a shootout 55-40 and #9 Robert C. Byrd took care of #8 Chapmanville 42-14. In Class A, we also saw a #11 seed upset a #6 seed as St. Marys disposed of previously unbeaten Buffalo 23-21. Also in Class A, #12 Tug Valley avenged an earlier regular season loss to Man as the Panthers defeated the 5th seeded Hillbillies 38 to 28.
Now with those upsets noted, we should also point out the top four seeds in each class all moved on to the quarter final round as Cabell Midland, Point Pleasant, Wheeling Park and Capital won in Class AAA…..Bridgeport, Bluefield, Tolsia and Fairmont Senior picked up victories in Class AA…and in the small schools division, the top four winners were Magnolia, East Hardy, South Harrison and Moorefield.
So, what does the quarter-final round hold for the 24 teams moving on? Well, of the twelve games being played, four will feature a rematch from the regular season – two in Class AA and two in Class A. In Class AA, #9 Robert C. Byrd will meet up once again with #1 Bridgeport….the Indians won on September 18th 48-21. Also in Class AA, #11 Herbert Hoover will travel to #3 Tolsia again and try to avenge a 32-7 defeat they suffered at the hands the Rebels back on September 18th. In Class A, #8 Williamstown lost to #1 Magnolia 21-14 during week number two of the season and #11 St. Marys will try and change the outcome of their October 23rd game against #3 South Harrison when the Blue Devils lost to the Hawks 20-13.
Which team has to travel the farthest this weekend? That would be Class AAA Martinsburg as the 5th seeded Bulldogs will make the 305 mile trip from the Eastern Panhandle to the Capital City to battle the 4th seeded Capital Cougars. Also close to that long distance award is Tug Valley as the Class A Panthers will travel 287 miles to Moorefield to battle the 4th seeded Yellow Jackets. What team could probably walk to their away game? That would be the Flying Eagles of Class AA Robert C. Byrd as they are located just six miles from Bridgeport where they will meet the Indians on Saturday night! As we get set for weekend play, we still have four undefeated teams in the playoff field…..Cabell Midland and Point Pleasant in Class AAA…..Bridgeport in Class AA and Magnolia in Class A.
There will be seven of the twelve games this weekend played on Friday night and that means High School GAMENIGHT will be heard at the shows regular time of 9:30 to Midnight this Friday night, November 20th. Join us on your local radio station or tune in at wvmetronews.com.