Isn’t high school football great? I mean, just two weeks into the 2017 season and we have already experienced just about every emotion one could experience! Once again, this past weekend delivered in the way of tremendous games and unbelievable individual performances from some of the best athletes in the State!
Blowouts??? – we certainly had our share! Beginning at the top in Class AAA, the Bulldogs of Martinsburg sent Eastern High School of Washington D.C. back to the nation’s capital wearing a 63 point loss as Head Coach Dave Walker’s team won 70-6! Martinsburg has now won 16 in a row and outscored those 16 opponents 845 to 126, or an average of 53 to 8 in each game! Another blowout this week in Class AAA, found #7 Cabell Midland on the road at #8 South Charleston and the Knights, who were in search of win #1 of the season, took no mercy on the Black Eagles as Luke Salmon’s team ran past the Black Eagles of Head Coach Donnie Mays 49-17. I think it’s safe to say a lot of folks found that final score a little surprising! How about two more blowouts in the big school’s division? The Capital Cougars were trying to shake off an eleven point defeat they had handed to them by Johnson Central, Ky. in week number one and they did so in easy fashion as they defeated Riverside 44-14. In that game, Jr. Quarterback Kerry Martin, Jr. ran for 3 touchdowns and passed for two more as the Cougars righted the ship. The University Hawks looked to junior receiver Amir Richardson for a spark and he certainly came through as UHS rolled past Parkersburg South 49-24. Richardson finished the night with 80 yards receiving and three touchdowns on six catches. And, this game provided us with the “one-handed catch” I highlighted in the title of this article. In the 2nd quarter of the game, University quarterback Clay Bailey targeted Richardson and the young man takes it from there…..“I got out of my break, going towards the corner of the end zone and I didn’t expect the ball to be in the air,” Richardson said. “But it was – and the defender was holding me by my left arm. I went up with one hand, pinned it on my helmet and hit the ground hard. It was the best catch that I’ve ever had in my life.”
We were also “treated” to some blowouts in Class AA and Class A. The undefeated Bluefield Beavers ventured into Class AAA play and left no doubt in a battle of two Mercer County foes as the Class AA Beavers romped past the Class AAA Princeton Tigers 62-0. Head Coach Fred Simon will try to keep the Beavers rolling this Friday night as they travel to Raleigh County to take on another Class AAA team in the Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles…a team that beat the Beavers last year in overtime. Also in Class AA this past weekend, Mingo Central…..Fairmont Senior….Keyser….and Weir remained undefeated as they rolled to easy wins. In Class A, the top teams had little trouble in picking up wins as St. Marys, East Hardy, South Harrison and Cameron all remained undefeated. And, how about the Blue Eagles of Magnolia? In the MetroNews Class A Game of the Week, Magnolia went on the road and defeated a very good Williamstown ballclub by 15 points. Coming off a 2-8 campaign last year, Magnolia seems ready to prove they are a much better team in 2017.
Now last weekend also provided some very exciting games as Class AAA powers Huntington, Hurricane, George Washington and Musselman picked up some hard-fought wins as did Bridgeport, Point Pleasant, Sissonville, Scott and Nicholas County in Class AA and Fayetteville, Midland Trail and Mount View did in Class A.
What’s coming up this weekend? Well, Huntington will travel to George Washington…Hurricane will visit Ona, WV to try to cool down high scoring Cabell Midland….and South Charleston will entertain Johnson Central, Ky. In Class AA, Bluefield will try to avenge last year’s overtime loss to Woodrow Wilson as they travel to Beckley to take on the Flying Eagles……Keyser will venture into Maryland to battle Fort Hill and 2-0 Scott will travel to Sissonville to battle the 2-0 Indians. In Class A, the biggest game of week #3 finds #6 Wheeling Central on the road to battle #2 East Hardy!
Don’t forget, it’s also week number three of High School GAMENIGHT and we invite you to join us beginning at 9:30 on great radio stations around the state and @wvmetronews.com! I promise all the scores and all the stories from week 3 of high school football. Talk to you then!!