By: Michael Minnich
Mineral Daily News Tribune
Whether 0-10 or 10-0 last year, everything resets to zero this weekend. 2016 will stand on its own.
Eastern (D.C.) at Class AAA No. 1 Martinsburg, Friday, 7 p.m.
For most programs, a trip to the quarterfinal is a good year.
Not at Martinsburg – not after four straight titles from 2010 to 2013.
But the Bulldogs are back on top of the MetroNews rankings entering 2016.
After an 0-2 start, Martinsburg won seven straight to close out their abbreviated regular season last year, then defeated Greenbrier East before losing by five points to eventual state runner-up Capital.
“There are a lot of kids back and I know I’m probably going to miss (mentioning) somebody, but I’m excited about the group we have,” Martinsburg coach Dave Walker said to MetroNews. “We always have high expectations and we’re very fortunate that our kids work hard and we have great support from our parents and the community.”
Junior Tyson Bagent passed for 2,100 yards after stepping in for the injured Carter Walburn.
“He’s really worked hard, he has grown and he’s gotten a lot bigger. We’re expecting some big things out of him,” Walker told MetroNews.
Eastern lost to Sidwell Friends, 44-38, in the D.C. Class A championship game last year and were 9-5 on the season.
The two schools did not meet last year.
Class A No. 5 East Hardy at Page County (Va.), Friday, 7 p.m.
East Hardy lost just four starters from last year’s state runner-up and will begin their quest to get that one final win by going out of state, visiting Page County, Va.
“The season was a really special time for us and we really enjoyed it, but we hated to see the way it ended,” said East Hardy coach Chad Williams to MetroNews. “Magnolia had a heck of a football team and it was one of those nights where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.”
Corey McDonald threw for 2,981 yards and 36 touchdowns last year and also ran for a dozen scores.
“Corey (McDonald) is a really competitive kid,” Williams said. “He’s really worked hard at developing his ability as a pure passer. He understands the offense as well as anyone could—he’s right on the same page as me right now. If I call a play, I know he’s going to make the read and he’s probably going to see the same thing I’m seeing.”
He’ll have top target Brett Tharp, who had 1,199 receiving yards and 14 TDs back, as well.
“We have five AA schools on the schedule and we feel like if we can go undefeated, we can secure ourselves home field to the Island,” Williams said to MetroNews. “That’s the goal, not to have to go on the road in the playoffs.
East Hardy didn’t last year, getting the 2-seed after a 9-1 season that included a 62-18 win over Page County in the opener.
Page County went 1-9.
Petersburg at Class AA No. 6 Keyser, Friday, 7 p.m.
Keyser lost a beefy line, but returns plenty of speed from last spring’s state track championship team, including junior quarterback Brady Ours and senior running back Deavonta Johnson.
Last year, the kids looked to him, but they really look to him this year. He’s the guy,” said Keyser coach Sean Biser of Ours.
“We’re blessed with skill kids, but we’re just running low on linemen. A lot of times, it’s the other way around,” said Biser. “I’ll take my little line and just be a little quicker than last year.”
Keyser handed three-time defending Maryland 1A state champion Fort Hill their only loss of the last three years and lost to only AA state champion Bridgeport, and, in an upset, to Hampshire in the regular season last year, then mowed down Westside, 45-14, in the first round before falling at Fairmont Senior, 58-42, in the second round.
The Golden Tornado will face No. 1 Bridgeport, No. 7 Robert C. Byrd, and No. 8 Weir and two Maryland playoff teams in Fort Hill and Allegany; Biser noted that a slew of schools were called to fill the vacancy left by Northern Garrett’s departure, and Weir was the only one that said yes.
That doesn’t leave much margin for error in an expanded Class AA: Biser thinks that 6-4 may not be enough to make the playoffs.
That journey starts against a Petersburg team looking to make history in Kevin Board’s second year after going from zero wins in 2014 to six last year.
“Our team goal is to make the playoffs. We’ve only had one team do it in school history. They have the opportunity to do something special. And then they can make history if they were to win the first game, because no one here has ever won a playoff game,” said Board. “Their goal is to set themselves apart from every team that’s played here.”
And he knows the challenge his team will face on Friday.
“It’s tough. Keyser is one of the best teams in the state, regardless of class. They’re a top-tier program. They’re in the playoffs every year,” he said. “They played into the quarterfinals last year. Coach Biser has done a phenomenal job. But it’s about not worrying about the color or the name on their jersey and just playing our game.
“That’s not a slight at Keyser. It’s focusing on what you do,” Board continued. “It’s a tough task and it’s your opening week, so you don’t have time to build up. You have to hope that your summer has paid off. It’s about playing that hunger card. ‘Before last year, you’d never beaten Frankfort, but you went out and did it, and competed with everyone you played against.”
Petersburg’s last win in a series that’s been played sporadically came in 1975; last year’s game went Keyser’s way by a 61-13 score.
Class A No. 7 Moorefield at Frankfort, Friday, 7 p.m.
Two teams with a lot of returnees from last year clash in a game that’s served as a barometer to both schools’ fates in the past.
Last year, Moorefield won, 41-31, en route to a 9-1 regular season and a trip to the Class A semifinals, where they fell to eventual champ Magnolia, 13-7.
“Having four of the five offensive lineman coming back and those guys being three-year starters, it’s a lot easier to be able to transition and teach some other guys some other things,” said Jackets coach Josh See. “It feels so good to be able to do that, to walk up to say, ‘We need to do this’ and those guys say ‘We got it, Coach’ and we roll.”
They’ll roll into Short Gap on Friday looking for their first road win over the Falcons in the See era.
“You come in and you want to win that first one and right now Frankfort is that first one,” said See. “You want that monkey off your back from the get-go.”
It’s a critical game for the Falcons, according to Craig Scott, who is serving as Frankfort’s interim coach with Kevin Whiteman suspended indefinitely for an unspecified reason.
“This first game is really important to us, I really think, for confidence for the kids, confidence in the coaches, just confidence, period. I think that first game will mean a whole lot to us. It can be the difference between us being an average team and a playoff team, I think,” said Scott.
The Falcons slipped to 3-7 after going to the Class AA state championship game in 2014 with a program record 13 wins, but plenty of young players gained valuable experience.
“I would say they’ve grown a good bit. I know they’ve gotten stronger. That’s one of the main things that worries me this week. Moorefield’s got a really strong, experienced line. I know Coach See is very proud of it. I just wonder how we’re going to match up, line to line,” said Scott.
Class AAA No. 10 Jefferson at Millbrook (Va.), Friday, 7 p.m.
Jefferson was upset in the first round of last year’s Class AAA playoffs by South Charleston and are keen to improve in 2016.
“The season went well overall,” said coach Craig Hunter to MetroNews. “It didn’t end the way that we wanted it to. We wanted to get past the first round, but it didn’t happen. … I thought it was a great season and something to build on for this year with a lot of kids coming back.”
Gone are star receiver Christian Johnson, to Towson, and defensive back/tight end DeLonte Berry to the Naval Academy Prep School, but the Cougars still have plenty to work with.
“We lost two linemen and a few other key guys. But we lost eight seniors, so it wasn’t that many and we have a lot of guys coming back to keep it going,” said Hunter.
Jefferson defeated Millbrook, 25-13, in last year’s opener; Millbrook went on to finish 8-4, losing in the second round of the playoffs.
Spring Mills at Musselman, Friday, 7 p.m.
Both schools made first-round exits from the playoffs last year: in just their third year of existence, Spring Mills fell to Capital, 62-7, while Musselman went out to Point Pleasant, 54-14.
Both teams are well-equipped for 2016: Musselman lost only four seniors who played and return a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Jacob Northcraft and Latrell Warr, while Spring Mills brings back the elusive Demetreus Jalepes, who also broke the 1,000-yard barrier, and Logan McCulley, who went 4-0 as a starter in the regular season after being inserted into the lineup at quarterback.
Spring Mills started their run last year with a 31-0 victory over Musselman to open the season.
Washington at Hedgesville, Thursday, 7 p.m.
Washington picked up their only win of the season last year in this game, 59-0; they didn’t break 20 points the rest of the year.
Hedgesville also went 1-9, defeating Preston, 19-7, midway through the season, which was one of two times that they scored in double figures.
Hampshire at Preston, Friday, 7 p.m.
Hampshire showed what was possible for their program in a 17-14 upset over Keyser, their first in the yearly series since 2001, but lost seven games by two touchdowns or less.
“I think our defense is going to be solid up front. I think we’ve got solid linebackers,” said Hampshire coach Darren Grace. “As long as our offensive line and our secondary come around, I think we can play solid football. I’m not saying we’re going to set the world on fire, but I think we got some quality kids that we can play some good football.”
Preston won last year’s game, 30-20.
BYE: Berkeley Springs