By: Wes McKinney, WVMetroNews.com
AAA No. 5 Huntington (1-0) at AAA No. 3 Spring Valley (1-0)
Both teams are coming off impressive victories in week one as Huntington handled Brooke 49-6 while Spring Valley made perhaps the biggest statement in the state by leveling Cabell Midland 55-26 on the Knights’ home field.
Spring Valley quarterback Derek Johnson ran wild on Cabell Midland to the tune of 185 yards and four touchdowns in a spread offensive look for the Timberwolves.
“Derek is probably one of the fastest kids in the state,” Spring Valley head coach Brad Dingess said. “He makes some really good decisions. He threw the ball really well. He’s starting to step up as a leader too.”
Across Cabell County, Huntington signal caller Luke Zban threw for over 200 yards against Brooke to pace the Highlanders.
“We feel like this is the deepest we’ve been at wide receiver,” Huntington head coach Billy Seals said.
“Luke has done a nice job at quarterback. He distributes the ball and knows where it needs to go. I can’t tell you the last time in a game we were winning that we threw for 200 yards. We have to be able to do that to help our run game out.”
Last season, the Highlanders blanked Spring Valley 38-0 at home, but the Timberwolves are coming off one of their biggest wins in recent memory.
“We talked about fighting through adversity because we knew bad things would happen,” Dingess said of his team coming back from a 13-0 deficit at Cabell Midland. “Our kids fought through it. Our kids stayed focused and kept their eye on the goal. Nobody hit the panic button.”
Even though both teams have quarterbacks riding a high early in the season, this game still comes down to Seals and his stout defense versus Riley Locklear, Doug Nester and the Timberwolves huge offensive line.
“Spring Valley is able to get great movement on the offensive line,” Seals said. “Their best football players are on their offensive line. The game is going to be won up front, no doubt, we have to be able to control the line of scrimmage. We have to win first down, and put them in 2nd-down and long situations.”
Dingess has the same feeling saying, “Coach Seals does a great job of teaching discipline with his team. Year-in, year-out they have one of the best defenses in the state, and it’s like that again this year.
“They have some kids up front that can stop the run and they have good linebackers,” he continued. “Ryan Mills is one the best defensive lineman in the whole state. They are very tough to run on—we’ve never run on them successfully.”
However, the ability to throw the ball will be just one intangible, outside of controlling the line, to winning the game.
“We threw against Cabell Midland and got people out the box,” Dingess said. “Derek is the type of the quarterback that allows us to be a little bit more non-traditional, for us. We have some kids that can catch and run with it.”
Meanwhile, Seals had this take on the game, “Whoever wins the turnover battle has a great chance to win the game.
“Field position is going to be big as well—we can’t give them the ball on the plus-40 or on our side of the field,” he continued. “For us, we have to be able to throw the football some. We won’t be able to line up and just run the ball whenever we want. Spring Valley is too big and too physical for that to work. Their two linebackers are some of the best we will see this year—they flat get after it.”
A No. 3 Tolsia (1-0) at AA No. 4 Mingo Central (1-0)
Mingo Central crushed Wyoming East for a second straight season, beating the Warriors 58-13 on the road as Jeremy Dillon threw for 205 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
“We were a little sloppy early on,” Mingo Central head coach Yogi Kinder said. “We got better as the game went on. The first quarter we had two touchdowns called back, a bad snap and just some mental mistakes. After that, we got it going pretty good.”
Tolsia was just as impressive as it stymied Wayne 26-8, holding the Pioneers to 172 yards of offense. Additionally, Brian Campbell accounted for all four Tolsia touchdowns and recovered a fumble in week one.
Mingo Central hasn’t forgotten the sour taste that the Rebels left in their mouths, not once, but twice last season. Tolsia won a 44-41 decision in the regular season before blanking the Miners 22-0 in the Class AA semifinals.
And because of the two defeats at the hands of Tolsia, Kinder continues to preach conditioning to his team. “I think we are a lot better conditioned this year than we were at this time last year,” Kinder said.
“Guys were worn out last year in both games against Tolsia. I think we’ve fixed that problem.”
AAA No. 7 South Charleston (1-0) at AAA No. 8 Cabell Midland (0-1)
Cabell Midland was humbled at home last week as it was outscored 55-13 after jumping out to a 13-0 lead early in the game against Spring Valley.
“Give credit to Spring Valley they caught us off guard,” Cabell Midland head coach Luke Salmons said. “We had four fumbles which really hurt us. Spring Valley is a veteran team. We found out a lot about our team Friday night. We will make the necessary adjustments and keep moving forward.”
Salmons sees a team with a lot of potential by the end of the season if the Knights continue to mature throughout the year.
“We know it’s going to take some time for us,” he said. “Every week is a process especially when you’re younger than you were last year. We will continue to tweak things.”
Cabell Midland will play a second-straight ranked team at home to start the season as it welcomes South Charleston. Last season, the Knights stole a victory away from the Black Eagles, scoring late to win 33-29.
“They have good players, especially their linebackers in the 4-3 defense,” Salmons said.
“It’s just another good team that we have to play. South Charleston is going to take their shots down the field. I’m sure they want revenge from last year. I know it wasn’t pretty, but they found a way to win against George Washington.”
No. 2 AA Point Pleasant (1-0) at Ripley (1-0)
Point Pleasant beat the heat and Lincoln County for a 44-6 win over the Panthers Friday night on the road.
“I can’t remember the last time it was quite that hot,” Point Pleasant head coach David Darst said.
“The humidity was up at Lincoln County and it was hot. I was blessed that we have several people playing one way. Our kids did a good job of hydrating prior to the game as well.”
The Big Blacks had good balance as three different players went over 100 yards rushing as they outgained LCHS 491-117. Senior running back Grant Safford led the way for Point Pleasant by totaling 167 yards on the ground.
Now, Safford and company turn their attention to a rivalry game with Ripley that dates back to 1932. For the first time since the series was renewed in 2013, the Vikings are 1-0 after a 14-7 win over Parkersburg South.
“Offensively they are a much improved football team,” Darst said. “They are running a lot of the same stuff that Coach Smolder used to run at Sissonville with the wing-T look and unbalanced offensive line. He does a good job of making adjustments as the game goes along.
“We have to do a good job this week of getting ourselves lined up correctly,” he continued. “Defensively, Ripley plays a 3-3 stack and they bring people from every different direction.”
Even though Point Pleasant has allowed just one touchdown to Ripley the last two seasons, Darst sees a much different football team that Smolder has put together.
“We will have to be disciplined and hopefully we will hit some big plays when we get the chance,” Darst said. “Going to Ripley means we will have to weather an early storm and the emotions of going into their place. Coach Smolder is a hometown boy and he takes a lot of pride in rebuilding that football program.”
Poca (0-1) at AA No. 10 Logan (1-0)
Logan and its freshman quarterback David Early handled Man on Thursday night, winning 48-13, to snap a two-game losing streak to the Hillbillies.
The impressive win was enough to vault Logan from a team that received just two votes in week one to being ranked 10th in the Metronews Power Rankings in week two.
Now, with the rivalry game against Man in the rearview mirror, the Wildcats can look ahead to consecutive games against non-playoff qualifiers from a season ago in Poca and Lincoln County.
Additionally, Logan can also focus on life in Class AA.
“I I don’t think Class AA is easy by any stretch of the imagination,” Logan head coach Gary Mullins said. “From top to bottom, it might be the best class. It gives us an opportunity to compete against schools of the same size.”
The matchup between the Wildcats and Dots will mark the first time the teams have played since 2008 as Logan won 20-17.
AA No. 9 Herbert Hoover (1-0) at Chapmanville (0-1)
The Rob Dial era at Chapmanville did not get off to a successful start as the Tigers fell on the road at Sissonville, 22-15.
When Herbert Hoover and Chapmanville got together in week two of the 2015 season, it turned into one of the best regular season games in Class AA. Champanville’s Tanner Dillon nailed a 35-yard field goal in the dying seconds of last year’s game to lift CRHS to a 38-35 win.
After this week, the schedule appears to get a bit easier for the Tigers with back-to-back games against Poca and Scott.
Sissonville (1-0) at Wayne (0-1)
Wayne saw one get away against county rival Tolsia as the Rebels scored 20 points in the fourth quarter and defeated the Pioneers 26-8.
The good news for Wayne is that it will host a Sissonville program that it has had significant success against since 2010, winning eight in a row, including a 49-20 win on the road last season, following a defeat at the hands of Tolsia.
Van (1-0) at Phelps, KY
After sneaking into the playoffs last season, Van carried the momentum into 2016 as it downed Meadow Bridge at home 20-6 to start the year.
With the win, the Bulldogs have now won six of their last seven regular games dating back to 2015. Van travels to Phelps, Kentucky, a team that it handled with ease last season winning 47-0.
Other Games:
Mount View (1-0) at Man (0-1)
Sherman (1-0) at Calhoun County (0-1)
Scott (0-1) at Winfield (0-1)
Roane County (1-0) at Lincoln County (0-1)
Green, Ohio at Hannan (0-1)
Tug Valley (0-1) at Meadow Bridge (1-0)