By Wes McKinney for WVMetroNews.com
Class AA No. 8 Point Pleasant (5-1) at Class AA No. 1 Bluefield (6-0)
Point Pleasant won comfortably against Parkersburg South, 49-3, to set up a big matchup at Mitchell Stadium against Bluefield.
“It was one of those nights where we played pretty well,” Point Pleasant head coach David Darst said.
“We had a chance to get some guys into the game—it’s always nice when you can do that. We tried to play more kids last week. We’re working on depth all the time.”
The Big Blacks have won easily since grinding out a win at James Monroe during the season’s second week.
“I think our defense is getting better,” Darst said of his team’s progression.
“We have good cohesiveness on the offense. We’re really starting to do some things on that side of the ball. Obviously when you have a quarterback like Cason Payne — I thought he played an outstanding game against Parkersburg South. Justin Brumfield is just a grinder at running back. We’re catching the ball really well.”
Now comes the biggest test for Point Pleasant since the contest in Lindside against James Monroe.
“The kids know Bluefield is ranked number one,” Darst said.
“Our job will be putting together a game plan and making sure everyone stays focused. We need to go down there with our game faces on. Coach Simon had done an outstanding job of putting together a football team this year—they have playmakers everywhere. We have to know where they’re at and stay disciplined. Offensively, we’ll have to take advantage of any opportunities we get. That’s a well-coached football team.”
The catalyst for the Beavers is Mookie Collier who accounted for all four touchdowns in Bluefield’s 28-14 against Richland last week.
“I’m not sure you can stop him,” Darst said.
“You have to play good blanket defense and keep him contained. We did a decent job of keeping him contained last year, but he faked a 99-yard punt on us—that’s the kind of player he is. We have to be aware of where he’s at and make sure we’re not giving him opportunities based on our alignment defensively.”
Point Pleasant won last year’s meeting 45-24.
Belfry, Kentucky at Class AAA No. 9 Cabell Midland (3-2)
Cabell Midland’s bye week couldn’t have come soon enough.
The Knights pulled away from Woodrow Wilson late to secure a 44-13 road win, and did it while battling the injury bug.
“It was perfect timing for the kids, really everyone,” Cabell Midland head coach Luke Salmons said of his team’s injury bug. “The last two or three weeks we’ve been really thin at our skill positions.”
At 3-2 and ready to start the second half of the season, Salmons knows the potential of his team.
“I like our position because we don’t get a lot of press for being 3-2,” Salmons said. “I feel confident in our guys. We’ve been banged up and haven’t gotten a few breaks, but we know how capable we are. The kids are excited. The off week was unbelievable with practice. We have to win these big games.”
And the Knights will have five big-time games on the backend of their schedule with dates against Belfry, St. Albans, Parkersburg, Spring Valley and Huntington to close the season.
“This is another huge challenge for our kids,” Salmons said. “I thought we played pretty well on defense against Belfry last season. They’ve always been a good team even when I coached in Kentucky. There’s no secret to what they do.”
Even in a 35-21 loss, the game at Belfry was a bit of turning point for a young Cabell Midland squad last season.
“Belfry looks like us in a lot of ways,” Salmons said. “They have two formations with about six plays. They only average about five passes per game. They run a great system and they do it at a high level.”
Class AAA No. 8 Spring Valley (3-2) at Riverside (3-3)
Spring Valley head coach Brad Dingess didn’t mince words about his team’s 41-21 loss last week at Hurricane.
“We made mistakes. We got outplayed. The better team won,” Dingess said.
The Timberwolves allowed three long touchdown passes to the Redskins in the contest.
Perhaps one of the reasons Spring Valley couldn’t slow down the potent Hurricane offense was the lack of pressure from a normally stingy Timberwolves’ defensive line.
“They did a good job of blocking us up front,” Dingess said.
“I thought we moved the ball ok. We just made a bunch of mistakes and that was our fault. They did a good job of causing to make those mistakes. You could point to a number of things—costly penalties, not lining up right.”
Spring Valley will have to quickly put last week in the rearview mirror as the Timberwolves travel to eastern Kanawha County to face Riverside.
“Coach Davis is doing a heck of a job with them,” Dingess said.
“They are well-coached on both sides of the ball. They are doing things the right way. They have been close in a lot games this year—even the ones they’ve lost. We don’t play well when we go to Riverside. It’s going to be tough for us to go up there and get a win.”
Another stellar signal caller will matchup against Spring Valley in Riverside’s Mark Scites.
“We have to do a better job of getting to the quarterback and putting some pressure on him,” Dingess said.
“The big thing for us is we need to be where we’re supposed to be on defense and just play sound football. Hopefully, we learned from what happened against Hurricane, and if we didn’t we’ll go to Riverside and get beat.”
Nitro (2-4) at Class AA No. 2 Mingo Central (5-0)
Mingo Central cruised to a 62-8 win against Poca prior to its bye week.
Jeremy Dillon attempted just nine passes, but tossed three touchdowns in the win. Dawson Elia accounted for three total touchdowns in the contest.
The Miners used their off week to heal and compete within the team.
“It was probably some of the most intense practices we’ve had since the season started,” Mingo Central head coach Joey Fields said. “It was really about taking care of us. Guys were competing and having fun. We got a lot out of our three or four days last week.”
As Mingo Central begins to navigate the second half of its schedule this week, there are still some things Fields and his staff are tweaking.
“Guys are understanding that we still have to play well regardless of what the situation is,” Fields said. “We practice four days a week to play 48 minutes. Guys have to do a better job of taking advantage of those 48 minutes. I know our guys believe in that mantra.”
The Miners welcome Nitro who is coming off its second win of the season against Logan.
“Those coaches have won at different places,” Fields said. “They have a good little staff. They’ll be prepared well for us. It comes down to whether we can do our job better than theirs.”
Herbert Hoover at Class AA No. 11 Wayne (4-1)
Wayne erased a small 20-14 deficit at halftime against Scott as the Pioneers downed the Skyhawks 38-20.
The Pioneers have been a huge second-half team in 2017 as they have outscored their opponents 120-29, including holding Scott scoreless last week in the second half.
Head coach Tom Harmon continues to close in on 200 career wins as the veteran head coach now stands within three victories of the milestone.
Wayne hosts Herbert Hoover before an important two-game road stretch against Sissonville and Chapmanville the following two weeks.
Class A No. 15 Van (3-3) at Richwood (2-3)
Van had a setback last week as it fell to Shenandoah, Ohio 44-22.
This week’s game is vital to the playoff hopes to the Bulldogs with a matchup in week eight with Madonna before closing out the season versus Paden City in week nine.
The Bulldogs won a shootout with Richwood last season, 49-30.
Lincoln County (3-2) at Valley (Fayette) (1-5)
Lincoln County pitched a shutout of Man as the Panthers earned a 14-0 win last week.
It was the second shutout of the season for Lincoln County after blanking Roane County, 27-0, in week two of the season.
Lincoln County will seek its fourth win of the season at Valley. The Panthers haven’t won four
Other Games:
Class A No. 9 Mount View (4-2) at Tolsia (1-5)
Scott (2-3) at Logan (1-5)
Class AA No. 6 Keyser (4-1) at Man (1-4)
Hannan (2-3) at Beallsville, Ohio