Michael Minnich – Clarksburg Exponent Telegram for WVMetroNews.com
Robert C. Byrd at Class AA No. 2 Fairmont Senior, Thursday, 7 p.m.
The SSAC Kickoff game will pit the defending state runner-up Polar Bears against an RCB team that is traditionally one of the programs to watch in Class AA.
Fairmont Senior returns lineman Dante Stills, who will announce his verbal commitment to either Oklahoma, Florida, or WVU on Thursday afternoon, as well as all-state back Bryson Gilbert.
They will have a new coach, though, as J.L. Abbott stepped down and defensive coordinator Nick Bartic was promoted.
RCB, which missed the playoffs last season for the first time since moving down to Class AA in 2012, will move Tre Junkins from quarterback back to wide receiver, where he figures to be one of AA’s most dangerous targets.
FSHS won last year’s opener between the two schools, 49-12.
The game will be streamed on the MetroNews Channel of WVMetroNews.com.
Class AA No. 3 Bridgeport at Lewis County, 7 p.m.
For the first time since 2013, Bridgeport opens the season as something other than the defending state champion.
Still, a perfect regular season and a trip to the semifinals would be a season to remember for just about every other program in the state, and the Indians still haven’t lost a regular season game in Class AA since 2012.
This year, they’ll have a new coach in John Cole as they try to regain the top spot.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a tougher first two weeks than what faces Lewis County: The Minutemen, coming off of a 5-5 season that saw them fall just short of the postseason, face Bridgeport and Fairmont Senior to kick off 2017.
Bridgeport won last year’s opener between the two schools, 44-20.
Class A No. 5 South Harrison at Doddridge County, 7:30 p.m.
Keep your eye on this one, as both of these teams have the talent to make a deep run into November in Class A.
The Hawks return both Barnettes and speedster Freddy Canary from a team that went 9-1 last year and had the misfortune of running into a red-hot Williamstown team in the first round of the playoffs.
Doddridge just missed the field of 16 with a 6-4 mark but did win six of eight after an 0-2 start.
Soutth Harrison won last year’s game, 42-0.
John Marshall at Class AAA No. 7 University, 7:30 p.m.
Junior receiver Amir Richardson, who has scholarship offers from WVU and Marshall, headlines a Hawks team hungry to build on an 8-3 season last year, with the losses coming to AAA semifinal Morgantown, AA finalist Fairmont Senior, and AAA quarterfinalist Hurricane.
John Marshall is coming off of a 2-8 season.
University won last year’s game, 41-14.
Class AAA No. 9 Morgantown at North Allegheny (Pa.), 7:30 p.m.
After opening with Anacostia (D.C.) last year, it’s another out-of-state foe for the Mohigans to kick off the 2017 campaign.
With the transferred Logan Holgorsen and the graduated Jordan Page, Camron Henderson, and Ben Waibogha gone from last year’s state semifinalists, there will be plenty of opportunities for new blood to be tested.
And tested they will be: North Allegheny went 8-2 last year in the regular season and advanced to the WPIAL semifinals, where they lost, 28-27.
Braxton County at Lincoln, 7 p.m.
A historic 2016 season for Lincoln included the program’s first playoff win.
It also included a surprising Week 1 loss to the Eagles by a 36-27 final; the only other regular season blemish for the Cougars came against undefeated Bridgeport, who also knocked LHS out in the quarterfinals.
Quarterback Kobie Carpenter leads a solid group of returnees for Lincoln.
Braxton County couldn’t sustain a 2-0 start last year, finishing 4-6 and out of the playoffs.
East Fairmont at North Marion, 7 p.m.
This Marion County rivalry game will be an interesting marker for both teams.
East Fairmont is beginning a new era under Wes Eddy, while North Marion is hoping to build on last year’s playoff berth and near-upset of Point Pleasant.
The two schools met in late October last year and North snapped East’s two-game winning streak emphatically, 40-3.
Philip Barbour at Grafton, 7 p.m.
Philip Barbour is under new management, former Tygarts Valley coach Russ Collett, while Grafton begins its second season under Rich Bord.
The Colts would love to get their first win since 2014 against their border rival, while the Bearcats, decimated by injuries a year ago, are pushing for their first playoff berth since 2011.
Grafton pitched a 23-0 shutout in last year’s opener.
Tucker County at Pocahontas County, 7 p.m.
Pocahontas County may have been the best 5-5 team in the state last year, losing to three Class A quarterfinalists, including eventual finalist East Hardy, and four playoff teams, plus Moorefield before the injury bug bit the Yellow Jackets.
Tucker County, a traditional Class A power, is looking to return to the playoffs after a 3-7 campaign last year.
Last year, Pocahontas grinded out a 7-0 win in this series.
Class A No. 6 Pendleton County at Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m.
The Irish return Ryan LaAsmar at quarterback after a 3-7 season, but will face a tough challenge in the Wildcats, who made the Class A semis last year after an 8-2 season.
Pendleton County won last year’s opener, 48-20.
Princeton at Buckhannon-Upshur, 7:30 p.m.
This may be one that you look back at in November as a critical game: Both teams finished 5-5 last year, with B-U’s base points carrying them into the playoffs for the second time in three years.
Princeton did win the head-to-head game by a 35-6 final on September 23 last year, but their fates flipped after that: The Bucs finished the season 4-1, while the Tigers dropped four of five.
Other games:
Clay-Battelle vs. Hundred, 7 p.m.
Clay County at Gilmer County, 7:30 p.m.
Valley Wetzel at Tygarts Valley, 7 p.m.
Preston at Hampshire, 7 p.m.
BYE: AA RV Liberty, Elkins