By: Jack Withrow, WVMetroNews.com
New faces and new places for several teams as the 2016 WV high school football season begins in the Kanawha Valley. Capital looks to replace Kennedy Award winner TyRhee Pratt, Scott Tinsley takes over the helm at St. Albans, while Nitro and Winfield have new homes in Class AA and the Cardinal Conference.
AAA No. 8 South Charleston (0-0) at No. 9 George Washington (0-0) – Thursday, 7:00
Things heat up quickly in the first week as South Charleston, ranked No. 8 in the MetroNews Power Rankings, visits No. 9 George Washington on Thursday night in the MetroNews High School Football Kickoff.
MetroNews will produce a live video broadcast of the game at the MetroNews Channel of WVMetroNews.com with Fred Persinger (play-by-play), Rasheed Marshall (color analyst) and Brad Howe (sidelines) on the call.
The Black Eagles will look to replace QB Kentre Grier who graduated as the school’s all-time leading passer. Junior Trae Murphy and sophomore Bryce Damous have battled in the preseason for the starting job. Head coach Donnie Mays said on Tuesday’s Statewide Sportsline that he expects Murphy to get the start on Thursday.
South Charleston will rely heavily on a few key returning seniors, including Derrek Pitts, a Penn State football commit. At 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, Pitts will lineup at multiple positions on offense as well as anchor the defensive secondary at the safety position.
The Black Eagles return an experienced defensive front highlighted by 6-3, 260-pound senior Mateo Arroyo, 5-10, 280-pound senior Nate Parrish and 6-3, 245-pound senior Tamon Scruggs.
George Washington coach Steve Edwards, Jr., who begins his 21st season as the head coach of the Patriots will also look to replace a few key losses in quarterback Kaleb Mackey, running back Nunu Miller and receiver Druw Bowen. Miller and Bowen led the Mountain State Athletic Conference last year in rushing and receiving, respectively.
“We’re fairly young in a lot spots. We’re pretty old up front which is a good thing for us,” said Edwards, Jr.
Grant Wells, a 6-0, 185-pound sophomore, will take over the starting quarterback duties for the Patriots. However, Wells is no newcomer to the system, as he alternated series with Mackey during the 2015 season, throwing for 778 yards and 9 touchdowns.
“He’s a pretty good quarterback,” added Edwards. “He can run the ball well, he can throw the ball well and he moves out of the pocket. He’s a really good athlete.”
The Patriots will look at several options to replace Miller in the backfield, including juniors Jonathan McClung and JaQuan Hall and sophomores Aidan Johnson and Anthony Phillips.
South Charleston defeated George Washington 48-21 in their meeting last year.
Class AAA Hurricane (0-0) at Class AA Winfield (0-0) – Friday, 7:30
Winfield finds itself back in Class AA and the Cardinal Conference but will continue to play county rival Hurricane.
The Generals welcome back junior quarterback Andrew Huff as well as several returning starters on the offensive line. Huff will have a few big targets to throw to in 6-0 senior Chris Farha, 6-4 senior Trent Shubert and 6-4 junior Brian Fisher.
Coach Craig Snyder will count on junior Zach Bratton (5-8, 175-pounds) and senior Trystan Willard (5-10, 175) to carry most of the load at the running back position. However, junior Ethan Raines (6-0, 190) and freshman Nick Vance (6-0, 170) will also see valuable time in the Generals’ backfield.
For the third year in a row, Hurricane will start the season off with a new face at the quarterback position. This year, Redskins’ coach Jeremy Taylor will go with 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior Dylan Plumley. For the past three seasons, Plumley spent time at tight end and defensive end.
Nick Williams will be the Redskins workhorse out of the backfield. A 5-9, 175-pound senior, Williams’ hard work in the offseason has allowed him to pack on extra pounds while increasing his speed.
Senior Lucas Cooper will anchor the Hurricane defense as the returning tackler from a season ago.
Hurricane downed visiting Winfield last year 21-7 at Redskins Stadium.
Class AAA No. 2 Capital (0-0) at Johnson Central KY (0-0) – Friday, 7:30
Capital is yet another Kanawha Valley team that will need to replace big contributors from that last four years. The Cougars, coming off consecutive trips to the Super Six Championship game, will have to replace Kennedy Award winner TyRhee Pratt at quarterback, as well as receiver Crunchy Bays, linebacker Devon Adkins and lineman Savion Brown.
The good thing for Capital and Coach Jon Carpenter is there is plenty of talent coming back that could fill those roles.
Senior Silas Nazario (5-10, 165-pounds) returns to lead a talented backfield. Nazario rushed for 1,296 yards and 20 touchdowns a season ago. Also, returning with experience at running back are 6-1, 256-pound sophomore Kalai Clark and 6-0, 165-pound sophomore DeShaun James.
Although he took most of the offensive snaps at the receiver position last year, sophomore Kerry Martin is in the running to replace Pratt at the quarterback position along with 6-2, 185-pound junior Jack Grimm.
Senior linebacker Dorian Etheridge (6-3, 220) will be the anchor for the Cougars’ defense. Etheridge, a University of Louisville football commit, will get plenty of help from senior lineman Turan Rush (6-1, 224) as well as Martin, who returns to the secondary.
Johnson Central is coming off an impressive 12-2 campaign which included a trip to the 2015 Kentucky Class 4A state championship, where they lost 36-6 to South Warren. This will be the first meeting of the two schools as the Golden Eagles will host South Charleston on September 9th.
Parkersburg Catholic (0-0) at Class A No. 8 Buffalo (0-0) – Friday, 7:30
It’ll be tough to top the undefeated regular season that the Bison had last year. But, with a heart-breaking opening round playoff loss to St. Marys, Buffalo will have plenty of motivation to get back to the postseason.
They’ll also have plenty of experience coming back, including junior quarterback Ethan Burgess. Burgess is always a threat to both the passing and rushing attack for the Bison as he threw for 1,173 yards and 20 touchdowns while rushing for 484 yards and five more scores in 2015.
Also back is senior running back Dylan Lucas. Lucas ran for just shy of 2,000 yards and scored 29 touchdowns as a junior. Lucas amassed 314 total yards and scored three touchdowns as Buffalo defeated Parkersburg Catholic 53-20 in last year’s meeting.
Other matchups around the Kanawha Valley:
Parkersburg (0-0) at St. Albans (0-0)
Nitro (0-0) at Poca (0-0)
Herbert Hoover (0-0) at Scott (0-0)
Chapmanville (0-0) at Sissonville (0-0)