With week number three of the high school football season in the books and with the first release of the WVSSAC rankings coming out this week, a lot of folks dare to ask the question “is the cream rising to the top”? Well, if you have paid attention to the MetroNews High School Football Rankings that have been released since the week before the season started and if you have been watching the scores each week, you will probably agree with me that the “cream” has been at the top all season long…..in all three classes!
To prove the validity of the power rankings, there are 30 voters from around the state, made up of high school football game broadcasters and some newspaper folks that see a lot of games all season long. All individuals are professionals who take their voting duties seriously and they work diligently each week to get their ballots in to Garrett Cullen who is then tasked with the job of figuring out all of the votes, adding them up and putting them on a huge spread sheet. He then makes sure the final top ten lists for each class are distributed and posted on our website at wvmetronews.com!
Now, to prove my point about the “cream” being at the top all season long, think about this….in Class AAA, the #1 team in the pre-season poll was Martinsburg….in Class AA the #1 team was Mingo Central and in Class A, the #1 team was St. Marys. Now that was an easy poll to vote in….all reigning state champions from 2016 were the number one teams to start 2017. Also in that first pre-season poll, in Class AAA Spring Valley was #2, in Class AA Fairmont Senior was #2 and in Class A, the #2 team was East Hardy. All three of those teams were runners-up in 2016….again, easy choices. However, in the three weeks of polls that have followed, Martinsburg has maintained that #1 ranking in Class AAA while the #2 spot in the last two polls have found Huntington replacing Spring Valley. In Class AA, in all four polls, Mingo Central has been #1, Fairmont Senior has been #2 and, talking about that cream again, Bridgeport has been #3! In Class A, St. Marys has been #1 in every poll, while East Hardy has been #2! All I’m saying is, the teams I have outlined above have all said, “here we are….come and get us”! And now that we are entering week number four of the season, the time to go get them is now! Let’s look at some of the more interesting contests coming up this weekend….
In Class AAA, Martinsburg will battle their first in-state opponent of the season when they entertain the (2-1) Cardinals of Spring Mills, while Huntington will try to protect their home turf as they welcome the Big Reds of Parkersburg. Also in Class AAA, we find three more very intriguing games as Capital will travel to Ona to take on the Knights of Cabell Midland …..George Washington will try to improve to .500 as they head toward the Huntington area to take on once beaten Spring Valley, and in what might be the best game in the big schools division, University (3-0) will travel to newly renovated Wheeling Island Stadium to take on (2-1) Wheeling Park. In Class AA this weekend, the game everyone is looking forward to will take place in Bridgeport as the (3-0) Indians welcome the (3-0) Polar Bears of Fairmont Senior. The last time these two clubs met was November 25, 2016 in the semi-finals of last year’s playoffs and the Polar Bears prevailed 22-21 to earn a trip to the Class AA title game! Another Class AA game that will bring together two unbeaten teams will take place in Matewan as (3-0) Mingo Central will host (3-0) Sissonville. In Class A, undefeated Pocahontas County (3-0) will travel to Baker to take on (3-0) East Hardy and in a game that a lot of folks will be watching, (1-2) Williamstown will travel to Wheeling to battle winless (0-2) Central Catholic. You know it is either a rebuilding year or just tough scheduling for some schools in the Class A bracket when you consider Williamstown, Wheeling Central and Moorefield, three teams that have won 15 of the last 20 Class A Championships, are a combined (1-7)!!
Don’t forget to tune in GAMENIGHT this Friday night from 9:30 to Midnight on a number of great radio stations around the state as we enter week #4 of our 16th season. If you can’t find us on a radio station near you, the check out the live audio and video of the show at www.wvmetronews.com!